Bicycle Chicken

Harry and I were in our early teens. We rode our bikes everywhere. We loved trying new bicycle stunts. And one day we had an idea.

The idea was this: we would ride our bikes towards each other at high speed and at the last minute we would both jump off to safety while the bikes collided in a spectacular fireless explosion. It could possibly be the coolest bike stunt we had ever attempted.

The picture above is the road where we did this stunt (and many others). This is the view from where Harry started. I started in the center of the picture at the intersection by the stop sign. The collision point was in the middle of the street about even with the light brown telephone pole on the left side of the picture.

So we got in our starting positions. We pointed out bikes at each other. We both signaled we were ready. The adrenaline started pumping. And then we both started. We rode faster and faster. The distance between our front tires was getting shorter and shorter. This would take precision timing like never before, but we were 'experts'. Having both waited as long as possible, it was time. We both threw a leg over the center bar and at the very last second we jumped.

I can imagine what Jill, my younger sister, was thinking as she stood in our yard (on the right side of the picture) and watched. It was probably along the lines of "Should I call an ambulance?"

Of this, one of our biggest stunts to date, we had planned every aspect except one: which side of the bikes each of us would jump off. For as the bikes barreled towards each other and we jumped, we had both picked the same side. So as the bikes collided on the street, we collided in the air, and what resulted was a heap of twisted metal and stunt man flesh. After untangling from the carnage, we did both walk away from it. Again, we somehow escaped serious injury. And it was the last time we attempted that stunt.