[Closed] Let’s hear your stories of tempting fate.

On holiday last August in the Highlands near Loch Ness.

Told the missus I'd organised to meet one of my mates at the Nevis Range for a days riding.

That's fine says she, just don't crash. Not to worry says I, was there in July and was all sorts of awesome I'm not going to crash.

4th run down Top Chief I rolled over a drop and there was a rock the size of my head in the middle of the trail, right where i wanted my front wheel to go.

I hit the ground hard, hole in my forearm and a shoulder subluxation and just generally battered all over. I was lucky to be able to drag myself back to the gondola as nothing was actually broken but the shoulder injury took a good few months before it was fully right.

On hearing my partner had made it to Chicago airport ready for his flight here, I did the supermarket shop last night. He was denied boarding due to his covid test result not coming through (48 hours after having it done). So now I have a fridge full of food. Hoping he'll get on a flight tonight instead. Otherwise tomorrow (my birthday) is going to involve a very sad party or a lot of comfort eating.

as Mrs NBT says, if I tell her "I'll see you at the bottom" that inevitably means I'll end u pin a heap around the first corner. Happened again just last week when I when down a lovely piece of singletrack, came round the corner to find the slight descent had been eroded into a gully with a wheel sized hole at the bottom. Didn;t get it right, wheel stoppedm, I didn't. Chin first into the ground. Thankfully just grazes and a couple of bruises, no major damage

My biggest one was kind of non-riding related. In my uni years I applied and was interviewed for product tester jobs at another bike mag/website, was close to getting the dream gig but just missed out. TWICE.

A few months later, got an email asking if I was interested in doing some freelance testing for them as I'd been highly recommended on the back of my interviews previously. PERFECT! Could finish my degree, get some experience testing and writing and having my works published. Cue every bugger under the sun having me blabbing in their ear I'd finally be doing what I'd worked towards for years... Then complete radio silence. Nothing. Emailed them asking what was going on... nothing. 7 years later and I'm still no closer to the dream of riding and writing about bikes for a living

I went out for a gentle ride around the byways of North Wales on Monday. It was a route I'd done a couple of times before, without a great deal of climbing and without any gnar. No need for a helmet or gloves then right? Cue me wiping out at about 15 mph on a gravel strewn bridleway, landing full force on my left shoulder and headbutting Wales. The only time I've been sans helmet in the last 9 years or so, and the only crash I've ever had where a helmet would have made any difference.

I suppose you could say it's a lesson learned. Though at least I don't have to fork out for a new helmet.

"No, I won't spend the 5 minutes finding the midge net" was a famous one a few years back, cue road bike puncture on a calm day at the side of the loch shore road in Argyll, in early June....

"Summer tyres will be fine"

In the spirit of mega procrastination I decided to fret dress and generally fettle my guitar. gathered all the specialist tool and materials.

The day the final tool arrived I picked up the guitar and something wasn't right... girlfriend had knocked it with the hoover snapped the headstock off.

One of my most recent rides I thought I won't take any tools/spares given I never have issues, cue my tubeless tape failing and my first flat tyre in years. Fortunately my riding buddy loaned me his pump which gave me a few minutes of tyre pressure to rush back to the car (with a few stops to pump it back up). It did start pissing it down just as I reached the car so I guess it was a blessing in disguise.

i have learnt form bitter experience to never call "once last run" when riding with friends at greno or wharncliffe - it clearly angers the gods who smite us down with mechanicals or crashes every time. we're now at the point where we seem to just reach a unspoken collective decision that we've pushed our lick for long enough and it's time to go home.

i also foolhardily was gentle mocking a ridding buddy a couple of weeks ago about how his bike is always broken and he destroys kit. since then i've killed a rear tyre, mech, chain and rear wheel across two bikes in several incidents after month and months of no mechanicals

26th June 2019.

I've got the day off work as LittleMissMC had a grade 4 flute exam at lunchtime. I'll have a lazy pootle on the 6 week old gravel bike round the local country park, get home, collect her from school and take her to the exam.

Took it steady, came past the farm yard on bridleway and coasted down the slope to the bridge over the stream before the climb up.

Turns out you can hit 20mph coasting down that slope. And just after the bridge, the farmer had put a big stout rope across the track to divert the cows he was going to move into the field entrance. But not put up any warning signs.

The details were explained to me by the other farm worker as he helped me clean the cuts and grazes to my face, before I rode 3 miles home on my unscathed bike one handed, as my left arm, from fingers to shoulder, was killing me.

Got home, rang MrsMC to see if she could take daughter to her exam while I went to Minor Injuries. MrsMC was in court (on the side of the goodies) and couldn't get out of it. Luckily, her disability means our cars are adapted for people who can't use their left hands, so I was able to collect daughter from school, take her to her exam, and return her to school while my grazes scabbed, bruises swelled and everyone made polite conversation while avoiding asking the obvious question.

Actually only broke my finger, but strained pretty much everything in my left shoulder, which still needs regular physio exercises to keep it pain-free.

The farmers insurers have just paid out on the injury claim, but I'm not sure I recommend this whole crash for cash thing.

I once said "oh Sod that, it's boiling" as a threw a set of elbow pads back into the Van, I can't extend my right arm now.

It's made me reasonably superstitious, whenever my Wife says "be careful" I always say "NEVER!" even though I ride like a wimp most of the time, I will avoid a 'last run' and whenever I go to PDS I ALWAYS start the first day by riding the XC from Morzine to Les Gets to 'get my eye in' even though I've been there loads of times.

My Wife will never tempt fate by saying 'Q U I E T' in work, in fact it seems to be a thing in her place, none of them do, she will also never say 'S P I D E R S' because it attracts them into the House, they're all called 'Bob' in our house.

Exploring Majorca using a German bird watching guide* as a route-finder, and a borrowed bike, I set off down a sandy but interesting little path near the cliffs at the north end of the island. I started to come up a small rise, and I could see that there was a lip at the top, so pumped and got the front wheel off the ground, but the ground was so soft (sandy trail remember) that on landing, the front washed to the side and I crashed in a tumble onto the front wheel...just as well as there was a near 300ft sheer drop just over the rise to the cliffs and rocky shore line below that had been unsighted by the rise in the path. had I actually managed to jump it properly I would've found out just how un-aerodynamic a GT Palomino was.

*In German, not German birds...

i have learnt form bitter experience to never call “once last run”

I may have contributed to my woes by saying ‘after this, I’m done’. I assume this is karmas way of telling me that it’s not the words but the thought that counts.

Sprained my ankle on a local trail loop, Feb '20. An hour's hobble off the hill. Recovery plus lockown meant not much running in 2020.

A year to the day on, in 2021, I ran the same loop for the first time since then. Running down a techy rock chute, there was someone coming up so I took my eyes off the trail to find the facemask dangling round my elbow, and crunch. Another hour's hobble.

My mum sent me a text saying she had been stung by a bumble bee.

I laughed and took the piss.

Later that day... In glentress mid descent sharp stabbing pain between my shoulder blades. Bastarding bumblebee stung me. Could do anything had to continue riding until the bottom where my other half at the time could scrape the sting out.

Very little sympathy from my mum.

1st and only visit to Aston hill, did a loop of the xc trail with our Young Godson, great fun. Reckon we can fit another loop in before we go home says I, cue torrential rain and the chalk turned to ice-spent most of the downhill sections on our backsides. Another time riding near home in the snow, beautiful day I thought, doesn’t get much better than this, cue front wheel washing out and me clouting my knee on the only rock in Cambridgeshire, hurt like hell and took months to heal

Well. Looks like my flagrant piss taking of the bike gods has been punished with a broken clavicle. 4-6 weeks in a sling. Great.