Falling off a bike

Mon 6 Apr 2009, 23:15

Or Divine intervention?

Mon 6 Apr 2009, 14:42

P.S. I'm not blaming St Mary's for what happened at all - it was entirely the fault of the cyclist.

Mon 6 Apr 2009, 14:39

Yes Jon, I was suggesting that had the chap been allowed to cycle through the churchyard then he wouldn't have fallen off his bike there. However, he may well have fallen off somewhere else instead! At least the grass in the churchyard afforded a softer landing place for him than the hard surface of The Bell carpark!

Mon 6 Apr 2009, 14:14

May I tentatively suggest that this unfortunate man fell off his bike because he got his foot stuck, not because he was in the churchyard? Had he stopped for a drink at the aforementioned Bell, he would have crashed to the ground there instead. He couldn't have stayed on his bike for ever.

You can't really blame this on St Mary's, can you? Bringing it up here at all suggests there is more than one agenda in play.

Mon 6 Apr 2009, 10:59

Talking of the churchyard, I witnessed an interesting occurrence there yesterday morning. Cycling back to The Bell from the Burford direction after completing a 36-mile hilly time trial, and being absolutely shattered after my exertions, I chose to take the shortcut (Church Lane+churchyard) rather than the infuriating "approved cycling route" around Nine Acres which would have added another three-quarters of a mile (largely uphill) to my journey. As I dismounted to walk through said churchyard I realized that another competitor in the time trial (quite an elderly gentleman) was following me. He did not dismount before passing through the open gates into the churchyard. I turned round to tell him that he would have to get off his bike as no cycling is allowed in the churchyard. Before I could do so, he attempted to dismount, failed to get his foot out of the pedal in time (possibly due to sheer exhaustion) and crashed heavily to the ground. He got up without help and told me he was OK, although obviously he was winded and slightly shaken up. This got me thinking: can anything possibly be done to avoid this sort of accident in future? Does anyone have any ideas?