Good thing I kept the brakes on!

Normally, I open my brakes up all the way on my bike. I don't like abrupt stopping one bit. I don't even like to use my brakes.

Usually.

Today was a different story. I jumped off the start of a streetlight with a pretty fast moving bus (remember So Cal speed), only to be shocked into an abrupt stop when the bus pulled over about five hundred meters from the light. I had just worked up to full speed behind the darn thing, and was smack dab on the bumper, right on the middle of the big beast. I was totally caught off-guard when the thing stopped!
Thank goodness I had absentmindedly left the brakes all the way closed today, due to a recent wheelset change. You'll be happy to know I held it up through the sideways fishtail skid! Probably lost some serious tread on the tire from that one, and probably turned more than a few heads with my antics. Some local high school was just getting out and there were people everywhere! I was the only clueless one. Chuckle chuckle.......