Normally, I’m usually less forgiving to your kind. I don’t own a bell (I think those who have one, go overboard), so I sing out a yoohoo to break a would-be victim’s trance. But I was preoccupied myself this time as to the whereabouts of my BWL assignment. And had I not been riding on a late Monday morning perhaps too fast for those who haven’t had their 10 o’clock Krönung and Semelbrot, I could have reacted in way that saved us both a scare.
It didn’t help that there was a fairly thick Bordstein (curb) separating the bike lane from the outer sidewalk either. So I did what I could instinctively, hit the breaks, attempted to steer away from the oblivious peds, but the curb and bike had other plans so I went a tumbling. Honestly, the only thing that filled my head as my shoulder ate the sidewalk was, ‘great they see my underwear!
The shaken-up, old lady with the tacky white shirt and gold embroidery kept saying sorry and it was her fault for not looking. She even offered her phone number. But I wasn’t interested in a Kaffee und Kuchen affair. I was relieved that I had no broken bones and she didn’t need a hip replacement.
It’s always good to roll..
Thanks for posting that. I’ve been sitting on a couple such incidents over the course of the last 4 years — thankfully it’s been several since I’ve had one of those.
I thought it was just me for a long, long time!
Hey. You’re not alone, after all.
I hope to have this out of my system.
This post made me miss Europe. Dodging oblivious peds (or in your case, not so much) was one of my favorite parts of the day.
Oz is car country, unfortunately.
You missed a Prämie from the Deutsche Rentenversicherung!
(Okay, that was bad!)
@Chris: Yeah, it’s a favorite past time of mine
@Ingo: Ha, so there are ambulance chasers in Germany too! hehe.
I’m glad you’re okay! The story shows the difference between Münchners and Berliners though. I was in almost exactly the same situation back in Berlin, except I slipped a disc in my back, and the old lady started screaming at me about how I nearly shocked her to death and that I needed to watch where I was going.
@Christina G: Thx, not feeling so bruised today
Not sure if my story illustrates any trend. I think you just got very unlucky. (sorry about your back) And I got lucky.. this time.
I’ve been chewed out by so many old ladies (and crotchety men) here in Munich for much less. One of them even tried to crowd me off the bike path because I was on the wrong side of the road.
YEOUCH!! I’m glad you’re ok! Moments like these are always why I heed my mother’s advice to wear clean underwear
Ouch! Hope you’re recovering quickly.