There was the time Rhett Dawson and I were racing home from somewhere and as we got close to home we broke into a sprint. Now, we lived in the 1600 block of Iola Drive in Valdosta, Georgia at the time and our block was still a dirt road. Rhett always won these races but I was destined to win this one as all of a sudden his front wheel came off resulting in one of the most spectacular crashes ever. The front forks of his bicycle dug into the dirt road and the bicycle came to a screeching halt. Unfortunately for Rhett, he didn't come to a screeching halt. No, he kept on going... right over the handle bars and nose first into the dirt road. He still didn't come to a stop... he slid down the road for about 20 feet before finally coming to an agonizing halt. You should have seen his face. He must have swallowed about a gallon of dirt and it was obvious that the road won this round. I'll never forget that terrible wreck.
Even worse was the wreck Taylor Perryman had when he was trying to outrun me as we raced down College Street on our Schwinn Wasps to get a Coke and a Milky Way at Bray's Curb Store. Taylor made a fatal mistake that day. He looked back to see where I was. Bad move. When he turned to look back at me (I was usually in second place in these races.) his bike swerved just enough to crash into a parked car. Blam! Talk about coming to a sudden stop? THAT was a sudden stop... for the bicycle. Taylor went over the handle bars and onto the car in a heap. I don't remember how bad the bike was damaged but I do remember that it was a while before Taylor regained his senses. A terrible crash.
But the most memorable bicycle crash of all was the one I had involving my sister Peggy and me. Actually I was the only one who crashed. Okay, maybe I didn't really crash, but Peggy sure thought I had crashed. We were coming home from somewhere and it was getting dark. I figured I would play a trick on her and act like I had crashed my bike and see what she would do. Well, I found out when I laid the bike down in front of Troy Blasingame's house. It was a good place for a bicycle crash. There was this nice smooth ditch that was lined with grass. I had a nice soft landing and as soon as I went down I began to moan and groan as loudly as I could, trying to scare Peggy. Well, it worked. Peggy started screaming bloody murder and took off on her bike as fast as she could. And I mean FAST. Talk about panic... the girl was hysterical. I jumped on my bike and took off after her to tell her I was not hurt and that it was just a joke. Let me tell you something ladies and gentlemen, that was the fastest girl on a bike I have EVER seen. There was no way I was going to catch that girl. She must have thought I was a ghost or something. She was flying! I guess she beat me home by about half a mile or so and boy was I in trouble when I got there. So unfair... and I was the one who had the wreck. Oh well. That's how it goes.
Next time any of you talk to Peggy, ask her about it. Bwaaahaaaaahaaaa!
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