Things I see while riding, things I see while running: Flying Discs

October 15th, 2009 5 Comments

By Alex Thompson
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It’s beating down rain, and I’m riding east on Washington Bl, looking slightly effeminate in black leggings.  Who cares?  They keep me warm and they stay out of the wind.

I’m on my way to the Metropolitan Courthouse to handle my ticket for photographing LAPD misconduct at March CRANK MOB, and I’m hustlin’.  Ahead the road narrows to one lane in each direction, and I’m reminded of just how slow I am, as I take the lane and traffic backs up behind me.  Both directions of traffic are shoved to the south side of Washington to make room for one of those repaving machine monstrosities, which rips up, chops up, and recycles pavement in one process.

As I zoom past it the machine flings a 30 inch manhole cover sideways, probably 15 feet, across the westbound lane traffic.  Bouncing and skittering like a dropped coin, it grinds to a halt at the edge of the eastbound lane.  It misses a car and a worker by no more than 3 feet.  At probably a hundred pounds, can you imagine what this titan’s frisbee would have have done to somebody if it had hit them?  The construction worker it narrowly missed was built like a linebacker, but if that manhole cover had hit him, he’d have lost his leg below the knee.

The machine just tossed it.

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5 Responses to “Things I see while riding, things I see while running: Flying Discs”

  1. Alex de Cordoba October 15th, 2009 at 2:12 pm

    Whoa! Did the cop show up for the ticket?

  2. Alex Thompson October 15th, 2009 at 2:42 pm

    Long story on that one, but somehow I scheduled an arraignment instead of a trial, and so paid for it with 6 hours of my life. The LA Superior Court phone system is terrible.

  3. david p. October 15th, 2009 at 3:21 pm

    holy schmoly that is freaking freaking scary.

  4. stella October 18th, 2009 at 1:02 am

    damn! that is freightning. thank goodness no one was hurt.

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