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XC Stoke, almost ended by stupidity

2K views 18 replies 17 participants last post by  pfunk 
#1 ·
My wife is getting into riding. She went for a XC ride yesterday and had a really good time. On the way home she was all stoked, talking about how rad it was and how she was nervous but went through this tech section, getting further and further back on the bike until her butt was behind the seat and she cleaned it and she can't wait to go again and wants to bring a couple of her friends with her. Just totall stream of conciousness stokey talk. Until we pulled into our garage.

CRUNCH. Crap.

She stopped and I jumped out. Her bike was pinned, rack bent all to ****, and the vynil siding and garage door morphed like a scene from The Matrix. I decided it'd be best to try and undo the rack and free the bike instead of backing out and possibly further mangling the bike. After a bit, POP, the bike came loose and the garage, rack, and car flopped back into shape.

Somehow, her bike seems fine except for a torn seat. Nuts.

We're considering this our one idiot freebie, and thanking lucky stars.

So...you ever done this? Do you use any tricks to help you remember? I think we're gonna stick the garage door opener in a bag or soemthing that said "bike on board" until we get used to remembering.


J-
 
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#2 ·
I've never personally done this (that would involve having a garage that has enough space for a car..) But, I know of some friends that put a traffic cone in their garage spot when they leave. So, when the come back in the driveway, the see the cones and think "BIKES!"

Sounds like something I would need to do...If I ever get enough garage space, that is. :rolleyes:
 
#3 ·
I have a friend that came up with a great solution to keep this from happening. Take your remote for the garage door and throw it in the back seat. When you pull in, you will mindlessly go to push the botton and upon not finding it remember you have bikes on the roof. Since you have to get out to take the bikes off, there is really no extra effort in retreiving the remote.

BTW, Homeowners insurance should cover the damage to the garage, bike, car, and rack.
 
#4 ·
Also be wary of the Sugarhouse Wild Oats parking lots, the scene of many a rooftop bike masacre.
-Joe (TGR lurker flowtron)
 
#6 ·
There's been quite a few stories about that on here. My friend used to put a box with "Bikes on Rack" written on it in the middle of his garage. So after this one ride he comes home, moves the box, unloads his car (wheel, camelbak, etc -- you can probably see where this is going), gets back in and then drives into his garage with his bike still on top! I nearly died laughing when he was telling me. Everything was fine. There was no real damage. This just shows that no plan is foolproof :)
 
#8 ·
Me too...

New Titus on top of my suburban (yep....big ole gas guzzler...poor mans hummer)...pulled into brand new carport just added on to the side of the garage. ripped the yakima lock jaw off the rack. Bike has some good scratches in it but it fared pretty well only because the bike was facing backwards and the impact was to the seat and post....it would have been really bad if it was on the front facing rack..
 
#9 ·
Ride to the trail when possible

jayfrizzo said:
My wife is getting into riding. She went for a XC ride yesterday and had a really good time. On the way home she was all stoked, talking about how rad it was and how she was nervous but went through this tech section, getting further and further back on the bike until her butt was behind the seat and she cleaned it and she can't wait to go again and wants to bring a couple of her friends with her. Just totall stream of conciousness stokey talk. Until we pulled into our garage.

CRUNCH. Crap.

She stopped and I jumped out. Her bike was pinned, rack bent all to ****, and the vynil siding and garage door morphed like a scene from The Matrix. I decided it'd be best to try and undo the rack and free the bike instead of backing out and possibly further mangling the bike. After a bit, POP, the bike came loose and the garage, rack, and car flopped back into shape.

Somehow, her bike seems fine except for a torn seat. Nuts.

We're considering this our one idiot freebie, and thanking lucky stars.

So...you ever done this? Do you use any tricks to help you remember? I think we're gonna stick the garage door opener in a bag or soemthing that said "bike on board" until we get used to remembering.

J-
I once melted a brand new Panaracer with the muffler of my car.
A buddy had his bike rack with his and hers bikes fall off while driving.
 
#10 ·
Crunched bikes suck

Not quite the same, but this last May my Yakima rack with my and my wife's bike attached came off of the top of our truck. We didn't hear it because we'd been on the road for 1000 miles and were only 5 miles from our destination and we were singing along with Cake at the top of our lungs excited to get where we were going and looking forward to the next days ride. When we pulled into town some girls who were behind us told us what had happened(thanks again for not honking or anything) and we went back to find our bikes and the rack gone and just little plastic pieces everywhere. We stayed in town for three days calling the police, sheriff, and local radio constantly hoping for some word on the fate of our belongings.

We called our trip short due to the fact that we were looking at shelling out large amounts of cash we don't have to replace our bikes(she commutes every day and I require sanity). After driving another 1000 miles back home we got a call stating that bikes and rack had been turned in and we could come by and pick them up at the sharif's dept. We had a friend bring them back a month later when she was coming our way.

Yakima rack was compleately totaled and bikes had ~$500 worth of damage. Renter insurance would not cover the bikes because of a falling object clause in our policy, something like item damaged by falling object is covered, falling object is never covered. Bikes and rack were considered a falling object.

Long story less long, Yakima evaluated rack and determined that they were not at fault but still replaced rack and cut a check for 60% of repairs all I had to do was sign awa my right to sue(got the check two days ago in fact). My wife's bike has been put back together using parts from my bike and I've been stuck on just my road bike ever since. Yakima parts that I will never use again have been or are currently on eBay and the basic rack will be kept for canoe only.

My bike is still waiting for repair or replacement, planning on buying a Kona Unit here pretty soon and fixing my own bike for my brother at his cost.
 
#11 ·
In fear of my own bone-headedness, I installed a hitch on my Outback Wagon and use a Yakima Kingpin-2 rack. sure, someone might rear-end me and damage my bike but then their insurance will have to pay. the only drawback so far is the partial obstruction in the back window from the rack/bike.
 
#12 ·
ouch.

it'll probably only happen once. I did it a bunch of years ago and won't ever forget the moment.

the sound and the sudden horror is all you need to make sure it won't happen again. Just in case though, get a mirror tag that says "bike on" and put it up when you load the bikes.

Your thoughts on the garage opener are good as well.

glad to hear the bikes lived.

b.
 
#13 ·
Rode by a house in my neighborhood yesterday.

The garage door was open, and the folks had rigged a five-foot long cardboard sign that is attached to the garage door and very cleverly hangs down when the garage door is up.

The sign read: "Your Bikes!"

I got to laughing so hard, I just about fell off my bike.
 
#16 ·
Strafer said:
This is why I got Honda Element even though I am not a fan of Hondas.
Just roll the bike inside upright, secured with 1 bungee.
No racks needed, out of harm's way.
Honda Element: the perfect mtb vehicle!!! I've been able to get 3 bikes & 3 people in all at the same time. 2 bikes & a weeks worth of camping gear, no problem.
 
#17 ·
my new toy. The perfect mtb vechile

I destroyed my rack, two bikes and my roof on a low pine tree branch. I found a perfect solution though. This is the ultimate MTB vechile. Plenty of cargo space, four doors for passengers, 4WD, and muddy bikes don't destroy your interior or drop paint killing mud all over you roof. Besides, racks make tons of noise, suck gas, and leak at the clips.

My new toy
 

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#18 ·
tmccrohon said:
I destroyed my rack, two bikes and my roof on a low pine tree branch. I found a perfect solution though. This is the ultimate MTB vechile. Plenty of cargo space, four doors for passengers, 4WD, and muddy bikes don't destroy your interior or drop paint killing mud all over you roof. Besides, racks make tons of noise, suck gas, and leak at the clips.

My new toy
Yeah, but do you feel secure leaving your bike like that all day in a parking lot whil you work?
 
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