Bicycle Accident

IMG_1707
Originally uploaded by gregtaleck.

I rented a bicycle in Beijing today and went riding around the city.

I think it was the most dangerous thing I've done all year.

Every road is packed with bikers and cars and buses and trucks. I luckily made it unscathed on the roads but just had one accident.

I made it up to the Temple of Heaven, parked my bike, toured the Park and Temples for a couple of hours and returned to get my bike to grab some lunch, feeling the emptiness of my stomach. I got out of the park and back to the "bicycle parking lot", not unlike the one in the photo, and found my bike blocked by two others. I grabbed the first one and slid it out of the way.

Then, as I grabbed the second, the handle bar of the bike blocking mine got snagged on the spokes of the wheel of the bike next to it. Not seeing this, I still pulled it out, twisting the front wheel of the other bike.

Yeah, I think you know what happened next.

Thump.... Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump... Thuuuuuump... ThuThuThump... Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump... Thum Thum Thum Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump... Thuuuuump... Thump... Thump..Th... Th ThumThuThump.

Thump.

Must have been fifteen seconds for all of them to come tumbling, crashing down, wheels spinning, handle bars twisted together. I could only just stand there and stare in wild disbelief of what had just happened on this crisp, clear afternoon.

With my stomach growling for lunch, I whisked my bike out and onto the sidewalk in half a second and was pedaling away as fast as I could, looking only over my shoulder once, with the brief thought "Maybe I should take a photo of this..."