We recently posted an article entitled “More Dangerous to NOT Ride a Bike.” When you weigh all of the health benefits of cycling, they dwarf the limited risks involved. Mieczyslaw Jasinski might disagree with that sentiment. He was riding his bike, commuting in Koroszczyn, Poland, when his pants suddenly burst into flames.

He quickly abandoned ship and stopped, dropped, and rolled to extinguish the flames. Witnesses found him groaning on the roadside, his clothes still smoldering.

According to a police spokesperson, "Witnesses said he was like a flaming human torch cycling along the road. We do not know how it happened but we have heard that it could have been caused by a reaction between friction as he cycled, sweat, and the material of his trousers."

I would have wagered that cycling's one of our least combustible forms of transportation. Perhaps Mr. Jasinski was smoking, and/or liberally applied motor oil for his chain lube, but the police’s friction theory sounds a bit far-fetched to me. In any case, we hope he figures out what started the fire, avoids such bursts in the future, and gets well soon.

Via Ananova. Thanks to Ross Burns for the Hot Tip.

Photo via flickr by hugovk.

Comments (2)

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Ron said:

I watched a similar situation in an international movie. Some kids played a prank on this old guy by hooking up fire crackers to his seat post or something. Pretty funny...

March 10, 2008 | url

Kyeann said:

I feel terrible for laughing out loud about this... Poor man!

March 11, 2008

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