Also called Bâton Roue IRL · Stick in Bicycle Wheel Photo · Bicycle Self-Sabotage
A rider holds a stick, puts it into the bicycle’s front wheel, and ends up on the ground. Use the three pictures for a goal, a choice that undermines it, and the predictable result.
The middle picture shows the cause of the problem in the last one. The joke works when the person reacting to the result overlooks their own contribution to it.
The final caption can blame something else, ask why things went wrong, or simply express regret. Keep the connection between the choice and the consequence easy to follow.
The drawn Bâton Roue meme comes from a 2011 illustration by Corentin Penloup. His three-panel comic shows a cyclist putting a stick in his own wheel and falling, a sequence later used for jokes about causing your own problems. This template uses photographs instead; the comic’s creator and date should not be treated as credits for these pictures. [1] [2]
Put the initial intention in the open area to the right of the rider. Use the same side of the middle picture for the choice that causes trouble. Finish on the road beneath the fallen rider.
Make the second caption contradict the first. A short question in the final frame lets the reader make the connection without a lengthy explanation.
Original captions to try with this template.
The middle decision answers the question in the last picture.
An ordinary purchase becomes the self-inflicted obstacle to saving.
The habit in the middle frame produces the clutter in the last.
References for this template. Example captions are original.
Identifies Penloup as the creator of the 2011 drawn Bâton Roue image, not this photographic version.
Documents the original comic and its later use for self-sabotage and misplaced-blame jokes.
