Jonba – Yes, a proper bonk is a triumphant a rite of passage…Speed dropped to a wobbly 3 miles an hour, head down, legs shaking and the longest 5 miles home you’ll ever ride.

overtaking cars descending a col

First 24hr solo

First day on crutches (today as it happens)

That zen like moment on a long trip when everything is just right.
Smiling from head to toe ,you feel tuned in to everything .
🙂

fixing someones bike in your LBS when you only went in for a brew

being asked for advice:

‘what bike should i buy’

etc.

Borrowing your sisters jeans,
Your grandmas cardigan,
Your dads “hush puppies”,
Your mothers beard,
Your NHS glasses from the 70’s you purchased from a Pop Up in Brick Lane,
Your 70’s Peugeot roadie with flipped up bars,

Then getting ended by an Addison Lee minibus.

overtaking cars descending a col

Overtaking cars on the flat 😉

overtaking cars descending a col

Overtaking cars on the flat

Overtaking cars climbing a hill

Fitting and adjusting front derailleur.

Bunnyhop

First post on STW 😉

Climbing a very high mountain in Spain, when you thought there was no way you were going to do that today. Coming down from said mountain and crying at my achievement.
Replacing rear shock seal kit and it working afterwards.
Replacing gear cables and indexing them perfectly.

First actual mountain
First uplift
First race
First DNF because you realise halfway through it’s not any fun
First ride in a foreign country
First time you get faster than the people who got you into riding
And at the risk of upsetting certain people, first black route.

First time hearing “the beeps” at the start of a DH race run.

indexing a rear mech perfectly

How long have indexed gears been around? Lots of years and still not managed that.

Getting the bar tape on a road bike right….

nor that, LBS is so cheap and does a perfect job I have no wish to learn this 🙂

already covered the stuff I was going to list. First ride on clipless and falling over.

realistically 200mile and 24hr solo probably won’t happen 🙁

The first time you get that moment of complete silence just before the ‘whump’ as the wheels hit the ground again and you’re still the right way up and rolling…

This still gives me a big grin every time it happens.

groin area meeting a quill stem

aaaah yes ^^^

First Shin/Platform Pedal with Long Pins Interface

Also – First 30mph >>> Baggy Chain Link Fence Interface [deeply impressive front-flips result]

Also – First 30mph >>> Baggy Chain Link Fence Interface

didn’t think that was a right of passage, thought it was just me 🙂 chain link fence caught on chainring for me, instant stop, relatively pain free somersault

Dare I say first time shaving your legs to see how it feels/ some other reason that you do it to justify it to your wife/others.

Dog crap bottle mouth sick
Moth mouth cough nose sick
BigBreakfast big hill peleton sick
Hangover too fast whoops sick

Last week I punctured and found out that the two spare tubes I had in my pack were also punctured. Doh! I’ve been riding for 15years and this was the first time I’d tried the knotted innertube trick. It worked a treat 🙂

mrblobby – Member

First post on STW

Using the wrong words in an STW thread title, totally changing the context of the phrase only for some pedant to come along and correct you in the most patronising manner.

Rights/Rites [/rolly eyes, Jean-Luc Picard facepalm img]

Have we had falling off ? 😀

I took my brother for his second ever mountain bike ride at the weekend, and his first proper crash- heard a big skid, looked over my shoulder to see trees getting shaken around. “You alright?” short pause. “That was BRILLIANT! Now get me out of this tree!”

So yeah, there’s one I reckon. Not just crashing, but embracing the crash.

First night ride

Pulling an all nighter fixing most of your bike after that 5 minute repair job you tried to do before bed sparks a cataclysmic chain of events.

recovering a stolen bike!

Taking all the skin off your shins with your pedals.
Ending up upside down in a ditch, still unable to get yourself unclipped, while your mates point at you and laugh.

Rights/Rites [/rolly eyes, Jean-Luc Picard facepalm img]

DOH!!!!!

Definitely Megavalanche

First nose blow that doesn’t go on your shorts

Explaining to your boss for the first time that, despite being a fully grown Adult, you broke your arm/shoulder/leg/finger playing with your push-bike in the woods.

Waking up warlier at the weekend to go riding than you can manage in the week to go to work – 20 years and still going strong on that one!

Seeing as this started with tubs:

Putting on your spare tub after getting a puncture in the rain. 🙂

Plank of wood to make a ramp. Jump over your pals lined up on the ground.

First time you end up upside down in a tree, bonus points for not quite being sure how you arrived there for a good few min

grounding your pedal going round a corner on a fixed gear

having to replace wheels because you’ve worn out the rim braking track through riding and racking up the miles

getting to the top of a climb that is well known and thinking afterwards ‘that wasn’t so bad, so what about…..’

going riding with someone who has a proper flash bike and a big mouth, and riding them off your wheel 🙂

Getting the gear shifts dialled for the first time.

Panicking about weather the LBS will open in time for a last minute part prior to a ride, and so not being left behind

Building your first frame up from scratch.