Gags,

You must be just down the road from me in Yallambie. Sorry to hear about
your accident, but I have to admire your self control in not taking it to
the driver. I am surpised he was not charged by the police assuming that
you reported it.

Kevin


"Gags" wrote in message
...
Claude

I changed my commute from Yallambie to Southbank from the road bike along
Heidelberg Rd to the mountain bike along the Yarra Trail. This was after
I
was "T-Boned" by a guy in a car who I could have swore was looking
straight
at me but he said he must have looked through me. This happened on
Wellington Road on the way home one arvo. I was pretty bruised on the left
calf where he hit me and the right bum cheek where I hit the ground (I was
doing about 35km/h at the time). Both wheels on the bike were buckled and
there were some minor scratches. After resisting the desire to do further
damage to his car and to him (not in that order), I found him to actually
be
a pretty good bloke. He gave me a ride home and signed a statement saying
that he was at fault and would pay for any damages. He got off pretty
light
as it was only $50 to get the wheels trued and $200 for a new helmet (head
hit the ground pretty hard).

Anyway, I rode in on the road a few more times but I was pretty well
getting
spooked by any cars that approached from the left and so for peace of mind
for both myself and the wife, I have switched routes to the Yarra Trail.
It
is about 23km as opposed to 18km by road and it takes me about 10 to 15
min
longer each way but I feel that the lack of traffic makes up for it. It
is
especially good in the mornings (I leave home at 0630h) when it is pitch
black and the home made front light comes into its own........gotta watch
for the reflection of dogs eyes as there are a few early risers out
walking
the woofers.

I just clicked over 1500km on the mountain bike today (all from commuting)
and tonight when I was working on a battery charger in the shed, I
realised
that my rear tyre on the bike was deflated (first flat in 1500km so I am
pretty happy with that - I reckon that the floor pump makes all the
difference).

Gags

"K&C Russell" wrote in message
...

"Claude" wrote in message
...
Riding along Heidelberg Rd in Clifton Hill about 6.30PM I got this
large
piece of very thick wire and metal stuck in my back wheel. Brought me
to
an
involuntary screaming halt and scared the bejeezus out of me. The
wire
has
wrapped itself around the hub about three times. Fortunately only one
spoke
is buggered and a bit of metal is gouged but everything seems to work
OK.
Funny thing was my wife cycled home about 3PM and remembers seeing the
same
hunk of junk lying there- next time she says she'll stop and pick that
sort
of debris up. First time this sort of thing is ever happened to me-
usually
just flat tyres and bad drivers (not to mention bad pedestrians and
bad
cyclists)


Claude,

I came through around 5:45pm and did not see anything on the road.
Guess
I
was lucky not to pick it up in the dark.

Kevin