Posts Tagged ‘Crash’

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Read this one because it is the last one

Sunday, May 23rd, 2010

First, let me say thank you to the DeMaine Cycling Team for putting on a good race yesterday. The only problem with the day was that not more local riders took advantage of the event. There will be another one on June 19. So, make your plans to be there.

Unfortunately, I won’t be there… at least not on my bike. Even if I  could be on a bike, it wouldn’t be the bike I raced yesterday.  It has now seen better days.

The aftermath

Now I am attempting to write this blog during periods of consciousness. I’m sitting here in bed with my left hand in a cast and a brace on my neck. Seems that I have a fractured C1 vertebra and a matching fracture on the base of my skull. I also have two broken molars on the right side of my mouth. Other than a busted lip that is it for my head.

I have what is called Skiers Thumb and a fracture at the tip of my ring finger on my left hand. Skiers Thumb is when you chip the bone that connects the tendon that allows you to close your thumb. Right now, I can’t grab anything.

It was my first ever Category 3 race. About 20 of us lined up on the smooth nontechnical course. I wondered what would happen. I was a little perturbed because one of my teammates came down on me for riding the Cat. 3 race over the Masters 35+. “I was told to race the 3 race,” I told him. “By whom?” He asked. “By Jim (my coach),” I replied. He came back with, “Jim’s not on our team.”

Well, that made me angry, so I just closed my mouth and rode off. I carried a bit of that anger to the line and it made for some initial motivation when the racers rolled off. When they did, I knew right off that it was going to be a different ball game.

There were attacks right away. A couple of the teams had more than one rider. I was the only POA rider in the field. My strategy was to move from chase to  chase. I wanted to stay of the front, but I did want to be in position to make it into any break that looked strong.

Barley’s Taproom and DeMaine had the numbers in the field. Barley’s was very active in the beginning with DeMaine chasing them down. Thankfully, that meant I didn’t have to do much chasing on my own.

I kept an eye mainly on Eric Peterson and Jon Nutting. Along with their other teammates they were rolling a pretty good race. They were trading off testing one attack after another. Of course, Adam Britton and Jake Strasser with the Metro Team were playing a similar game to mine and I figured they would factor into the finish.

Then came a call for a prime. It was a cash prime. Hmmmm, I could use an extra $20. As we came up to the sprint zone it was me and Eric. As I slowly pulled up beside him during the sprint, I thought to myself, “He is probably laughing at you because he knows you are wearing yourself out early.” Still, I got my $20.

Eric and one other rider that is only a fuzzy memory kept the pressure on after I let up a little to recover from my effort. We started down the hill that made up the sweeping turn on one side of the course. I had a decision to make… 1) go back into the field, or 2) go after them.

I don’t recall everything clearly from that point on. I think I realized that those guys could not stay out there for the entire time remaining. I should get in the field and live to fight another day. The last thing I remember from the race was moving to the right in order to be out of the way of the field.

The next thing I remember was looking up at an EMT. I’ve heard varying stories of what happened, but I think the most plausible one (based on my last recollections and witnesses) is… I moved right to make room. I probably dropped my head to relieve tension in my neck. At that point, the road straightened out back to the left which caused me to slip over the curb.

I believe what happened then was my bike hit a drainage hole cover — those solid concrete blocks with a manhole cover in the middle. Witnesses said I then extended up in the air from the handlebars. I came down on my head, neck, and back and then bounced into the air again to come to rest on my back.

That is it. The good news is that I know I can race Category 3. The bad news is that I don’t know when I’ll be able to do it again.

I am thankful to my God that He protected me. I was just a few movements away from being paralyzed. I was also way too close to having to wear one of those halos! The doctors were discussing the possibility, but decided to hold off.

Whatever the case, this is the one and only article about this crash. So, read this one because it is the last one. From here, I look ahead. I still have plans to finish my 2010 Ride For Mike. We’ll see what happens after that.

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It pays to stay up front – maybe

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Crashing is not fun. I’ve been there and done that. Once you’ve experienced it, you never look at a crash the same way again. It is impossible not to empathize with those involved.

As I was leaving the race Sunday afternoon, I talked with a fellow racer. He was limping up to his vehicle pushing his bike. I had heard that there was a crash, but didn’t know all the details because I was having to leave immediately following the race. So, as I was changing my shoes he explained that he had run into the fallen riders and went over the handlebars.

I asked him if he was okay and the condition of the other riders. He said he was okay and that he thought the others were as well except someones bike got really messed up and the first rider who went down got run over. However, I didn’t realize just how the crash went down until I saw the following photo sent to me by Jake Strasser of Team Metro.

Category 4 finish Donaldson Center - February 28, 2010

A wide view of the final sprint - and crash (click to enlarge)

As I began to piece the story together this is what I discovered. Soon after Wade Greene and I launched the sprint a rider went down. “For no apparent reason,” I was told by one racer. That caused a chain reaction as riders scattered across the width of the road to avoid getting caught up in the mess.

Closer view of the lead and the crash

Closer view of the lead and the crash

Unfortunately, not everyone was able to avoid it. Ryan Newman, of Velosports Racing out of Hendersonville, got the worse of it. He hit the riders at speed and flipped over coming down to separate his shoulder and break two fingers. The rider who initially went down broke the frame of his bike.

Ryan Newman goes for a ride

Ryan Newman flips after running into fallen riders

In the photo above, you can see Ryan still attached to his pedals getting ready to basically body slam into the ground. His rear wheel is up higher than the riders’ heads around him. Others narrowly escaped sharing his fate. Michael Trivette, from Concord, commented, “The guy flipping hit my back while he was in the air. I was so close to hitting the deck!”

Of course, the best place to be in all of this was up front. Though I do believe it is misleading to say that it is always safer up front. Crashes happen there as well.

Field sprint 02-28-2010

Photo by Eddie Helton - http://picasaweb.google.com/Eddie.Helton

How do you avoid crashes? Well, I can hear some of my friends snickering as they think of me trying to answer that question. However, I think these suggestions are reasonable.

  • Realize that the field is like an organism. Everyone is interconnected and the slightest move you make can be magnified several riders away from you. Racing while aware of the people around you for the purpose of keeping them out of a crash is one of the best ways to avoid one yourself.
  • Learn who you are riding with! As soon as the race starts, begin cataloging the behaviors of the riders around you. Some you won’t even notice because they will be smooth as silk. Others will stick out like a sore thumb because of their brake checks, switching lines without clearing, and crossing wheels. STAY AWAY – WAY AWAY!
  • Practice your skills. One of the things that has helped me has been learning how to take contact in a race. You cannot be afraid of being touched. Invariably someone is going to bump into you. Do not over react. “Receive” the contact – don’t react away from it.
    Also, don’t get verbal. I know it is hard to keep our mouths shut, but when someone makes a mistake, it does not help at all to berate them verbally. All you do is raise the intensity and level of frustration — ultimately raising the probability of an accident!
  • Know the terrain and conditions. Donaldson Center is a great example of this danger. First, there are several potholes and the famous train tracks. Second, there is the wind that is always a crosswind – then a headwind – then a tailwind. Third, there are the hills.Immediately after gathering speed down a hill, it is time to start climbing the next one. That guy that just went flying past you suddenly begins to fade on the climb. Another rider tries to go around him on the edge of the road and ends up riding in the grass just as a crosswind pushes him back toward the field. You get the idea!

If everyone rode with these ideas in mind, that would take care of many of the crashes that happen in amateur racing. Of course, even professionals crash and 60+ people on bicycles riding inches away from each other at 25 – 40 mph are bound to have some problems.

I’m empathizing with Ryan and the other guys that went down. Hopefully, they will all be back on the bike soon. Me? I’m staying close to the front!

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Anatomy of a crash

Friday, October 9th, 2009

Les Amis racer, Jake Strasser, was on hand at the POA Cycling Team Fall Extravaganza last Saturday just in time to get some pictures of the final turn of the race in the Masters 35+ race.  In this sequence of shots you will see my teammate, Reece Jackson, going down.  He demonstrates for us how it happens.

Reece is on third wheel going into the final turn... a little too hot.

Reece is on third wheel going into the final turn... a little too hot.

After the race I talked with Reece and he told me what happened.  He felt he was in a very good position – the third rider back.  This is a good place to be because you are not on the front exploding, but not too far back to make up ground.

He was wanting to accelerate out of the turn to maintain momentum.  Throughout the race he had been able to pedal through this corner.  However, at those times he probably was not quite as aggressive in his lean.  This time his pedal hit the ground.

Its a pedal in the asphalt that lifts the rear wheel for the slide.

Its a pedal in the asphalt that lifts the rear wheel for the slide.

When that happens, you lose grip on your rear tire.  Consider that cyclists basically have a total of three square inches in contact with the tarmac.  That ain’t a lot and it doesn’t take much to make it even less.  When that happens you’re going for a ride!

Down he goes with Bill and Rodney taking evasive action.

Down he goes with Bill and Rodney taking evasive action.

Thankfully, you can see Reece’s momentum was forward.  So his slide continued primarily in that direction rather than out toward the outside of the turn.  In the above picture you can see Bill Short barely avoiding him on the outside while Rodney Dender is having to take an aggressive inside line to avoid the fallen rider.

Ouch, Reece was easily over 20 mph when he went down.

Ouch, Reece was easily over 20 mph when he went down.

Yep, it could have been a lot worse.  Mostly Reece is hating that he didn’t get to see where that third wheel position would take him.  Going down is bad, but knowing you had a good finish in you and not seeing it happen is even worse.

No cyclists or bicycles were permanently damaged in the taking of these photos.  Reece will be up to ride again!  Thanks, Jake, for letting me post the photos here.  Keep up the good work behind the lens and on the bike.

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Setting the record straight

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

When I was in high school, Remington Steele was on television.  That was back when I had a lot of dark black hair and if I angled my eye brow just so, I was told by the girls that I looked a lot like Pierce Brosnan.  Hey, I didn’t believe them, but I wasn’t going to argue!  It never hurt when it came to having a date.  I even picked up the nickname “Baby Rem.”

Well, it is now 2009 and I don’t have much of that dark black hair left.  What hasn’t turned gray has let loose!  Haven’t had anyone recently mistaken me for James Bond!  However, I’m afraid I may be picking up a new nickname – Jonathan “The Crash” Pait.  I’d prefer to stick with Low Cadence.

True, I seem to have had more than my share of crashes this year.  Actually, it all started nearly two years ago when I went down in my first ever and last of the 2007 year Cat. 5 race.  Amazingly, my first full season as a Cat. 5 racer never found me on the ground – even though it was a pretty successful 2008 year with me ending up the top ranked road racer in the SC Cat. 5 34+ field.

It was the subsequent move up to Cat. 4 and the 2009 cycling season that has had me going through a rough spat of luck.  I’ve had quite a few crashes this year and I have a fear that people are going to associate it with my riding within the Upstate peloton.  That is what I want to clarify… I have only wrecked twice in a race – that first wreck two years ago and my most recent wreck.  The later was in no way due to my riding.

Probably the fact that I write about my crashes here on LowCadence.com has something to do with people being more aware of my accidents.  I was talking with a friend today and he was telling me of a conversation he had with some other riders, “It isn’t that Pait is a squirrely rider.  Bad things just keep happening to him!”  Of course, my fear was that he was having to come to my defense with someone who was making the point that being a rider with rodent tendencies might be why I had these accidents.

For the record.  My first wreck of the year was in February.  I was riding alone down Paris Mountain’s Altamont Road.  I’ll remember that one because it was the first broken bone of my life.

My second wreck of the year wasn’t in a race, but out at Donaldson Center.  Again, this one had nothing to do with bike handling skill in the pack.  This was a case of being pretty much alone once again and not being aware of a slower rider ahead.  Sure, it was stupid, but it wasn’t because I was “squirrely.”

The third wreck of the year happened in the first of August and actually did take place in a group.  However, the witnesses of this event will point out to you that it was due to the inexperience of another rider that I took the dive.  I wasn’t the cause, I just wasn’t able to avoid it.

Of course, that brings us to the most recent wreck of the year.  As you can see, it was my first wreck in a road race.  The odd thing is that I always figured I would end up wrecking in some corner of a criterium.  However, I made it through the year (so far) without one – though I have narrowly avoided a couple (see here and here for a couple of examples).

Here’s hoping that will be it for the year.  Certainly, I can’t say for sure I won’t go down.  However, I think the evidence shows that I’m not going to take you down.  The only warning I’ll give you is you might not want to be near me because you may be collateral damage!

I also have to say “Thank you” to my mom and dad.  They must have given me some pretty hearty genes!  I’ve gone down with some pretty violent crashes this year and have been able to get back up and continue riding.  Seriously, looking back, I am very thankful for the protection I’ve been provided.  My body has taken some hits, but I’m bouncing back and going on.

When I returned to the Greenville crit the year after my first wreck, I won.  Maybe this year is just preparing me for 2010.  I like the nickname “Winner” best of all.

Oh, yeah, and things could be worse…

Have a nice ride!

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At least I didn’t break my shifter this time

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

It is late on Saturday night as I write this.  I am tired and sore.  So, let’s just cut to the chase and get to the “good” stuff.

Today was the South Carolina Road Race Championships held in Fork Shoals.  It was about a 13 mile loop of rolling hills.  My Cat. 4 teammates and I would be doing three laps with about 60 other riders.

I was kind of nervous because I really wanted to do well in this race.  Matt Tebbetts has been really strong as well.  So, I was hoping to be there at the end to lead him out and finish strong – or if he didn’t have it, go for the win myself.  Finally, I was going to get to race something other than a criterium!

We rolled out with the POA Cycling Team toward the back.  This wasn’t so bad because we knew we had plenty of time to work our way to the front.  The key was to time things properly.

The first lap seemed so slooooooow.  I think I will invest in a brake pad company.  I’m not sure what it was but riders would be on the front going downhill and be braking!  I couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t let it roll.  It wasn’t like they were having to work while they were coasting.

Nothing really changed during that lap.  I did move up a bit in the beginning.  However, there was a wreck that happened when a rider got moved over to the edge of the asphalt and his wheel slid off the edge causing him to go down.  Just as I was passing him, a rider in a Clemson kit t-boned him right in the side. Ouch!

Well, that caused the referee to neutralize the field.  It also caused me to get shuffled back and I lost all the ground I had gained to that point.  Finally, after an announcement about the yellow line, we were underway once again.

It was starting to get frustrating because I kept getting behind guys who would not close up gaps.  I would be stuck behind them (there were just a few, but it seemed like I always ended up near them).  No way was I wanting to be back here for the final lap!

The final lap did come and I moved quickly to the top ten or so.  No more Mr. Nice Guy – I was going to hold my position and not get shuffled back.  My teammate Billy made it easy by going off the front and stretching things out just a bit.  This allowed me to sit back a few wheels from the front.

When Billy came back, a GlobalBike rider went off the front and formed a good gap.  I picked up the pace just a little and started to slowly pull the field back toward the rider.  Matt kept holding me back.  He was hoping we could stay together.

Billy attacked once again and I tried to move with him.  However, I was blocked and it took me some time to work free.  Meanwhile, my teammate Luis came through with a hope to stretch things out with a counter attack.  Before you knew it, we were in a pace line finally picking up some speed.

On the new climb that was added about halfway through the course, I got on the wheel of Kelly Lowry and followed him up.  This put us in the top four riders at that point.  It wasn’t my goal to break away on the hill.  I was just wanting to make sure there wasn’t a break that I wasn’t there to cover.  It didn’t happen, so we got engulfed by the field.

Only once after that did I slip out of the top 10.  I did get boxed in a bit, but finally worked free to be there at the turn with 1 K to go.  Things looked good!  I felt good!  The team was there and the yellow line was lifted on this narrow road, so we should be able to do something.

I held my pace knowing that often riders attack to hard to early on this climb and then don’t have it for the sprint at the end.  My plan was to help lead our team up to about 200 meters with a measured pace.  We could let it all hang out after that.

With 500 meters to go, I realized that the sprint might start happening a bit sooner.  However, I picked up the pace just slightly so I would be able to react if needed.  Matt was on my wheel and Billy was behind him.

Just about that time a rider came careening into my left side from slightly behind.  My first reaction was to lean against the blow.  However, he was coming with such force that it forced me right.  I then thought I could steer right away from him.  However, it must have been that something on his bike stuck to mine.

All I remember at that point was being thrown violently to the ground.  The first thing I thought about was my shifters!  Then I thought about my hip.  I knew immediately I had a bad case of road rash.

Where was my bike?  I looked up to see the bike that hit me wedged into the frame of my bike.  My bike was on it’s wheels at that point being held up by the other bike.  My shades lay broken at my feet.  I let out a good “Dog gone it!” and then tried to get back on my bike.

Billy was there trying to calm me down.  Those who ride and race with me know I don’t lose my temper that often.  This time I was angry!  Well, I was certainly going to finish the race.  So, we messed around with the chain and I limped it across the finish line.

It was there I learned the extent of the damage.  Cracked frame.  Cracked helmet.  Road rash on bruised shoulder and bruised hip.

Matt also went down and cracked his frame.  I’m hoping his wrist is okay since it was giving him some pain at the time.  Billy didn’t go down, but was basically taken out of contention and he was kind enough to come back and help us out.

Later this evening I learned from Wade Greene with GlobalBike that what happened was the guy who hit me first hit a GlobalBike rider with enough force to cause that rider’s seat to get twisted.  Wade’s teammate stayed up, but that is what must have sent the rider so violently into my side.

I’m really pretty sure that Matt could have made it into the money (maybe me as well?)  I certainly felt that with the legs I had and the position we were holding that I could have nailed down a top ten.  Instead, I rolled across the finish in 47th.

The silver lining?  I learned what great teammates and friends I have.  I’ll lick my wounds and see what I can do about getting back on the bike.  I know there will be people there to help me.

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Do style points count?

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Last night was the final POA Cycling Team Summer Series criterium.  It is a good thing too.  By 8:30 the darkness was settling in making it hard to see.  Thankfully all the racers were off the course by then.  However, it wasn’t the darkness that caused the wreck… it was the rain.

Perhaps it was because I knew the SC Championship Road Race is Saturday, but I had a hard time getting up for this crit.  The facts that it was a race sponsored by my team and that my in-laws decided to come see me race had me cinching up shoes and climbing on the bike.  My plan was to just stay with the pack and keep my effort to a minimum.  The result was an almost best finish for the series.

Photo by David Hicks

Photo by David Hicks

Of course, taking it easy in a crit is a relative thing!  By the halfway point I felt like pulling off.  I was slipping off the back in the turns with a small gap forming and then working my way back onto the wheels in front.  It was taking a bit of work to do that.  Just a little after that, the rains came.

I did not want to be back there on a slick course, so I moved to the front.  During the brief shower I stayed on the front or in the top five or so.  This allowed me chose a better line going into turn four.  The first time I went through my wheels hit a pavement patch that was pretty slick.  It broke my rear end loose and I had to chase the bike out to the edge of the road.  I avoided that spot for the rest of the night!

The rain eased and so did I.  Suddenly, I was sitting in and feeling really good.  “Don’t do anything stupid,” I told myself.  “Saturday is more important than tonight.”  I started to think about how I was positioning myself in the pack.  This race could be a good learning experience.

I remembered something Jim Cunningham said at his criterium seminar.  Stay on the wheel.  If you ease off the wheel in front of you going into the turn, you are going to have to exert energy to catch back on once you are out of the turn.  I started to concentrate on staying right there on the wheel in front through the corners.

Just that little adjustment made a huge difference!  Rather than coming out of the turns dreading the work of trying to cover the 5 foot gap in front of me, I found myself being sucked through the corners.  The only downside is that it takes an element of trust to do that.  You are counting on the rider in front of you to hold his line and not go down.

The rains had moved through and the course was drying in spots, but turn four was still a little wet.  At three laps to go, I started to move my way up toward the top five riders in the field.  David Bright from Anderson and Peter Mathern had broke away and we weren’t going to catch them at this point.

Photo by David Hicks

Photo by David Hicks

Things were looking very good for me to have a top 10 finish.  I was marking Jae Bowen – the winner of the omnium – as we moved around the final lap.  As we neared turn four Jae and I lined up to come around the outside.  My idea was to keep as much momentum through the turn as possible.  That would give me a jump for the sprint to the finish.

Some riders came flying up to our inside.  I eased just a bit to adjust my line and a gap formed between Jae and myself.  Then I leaned into the turn.  The riders to my left moved slightly in front of me.  Then just as they were reaching the first part of the apex of the turn and I was still somewhat upright, one of the riders went down.  He split between Jae and me.

Immediately the rider beside him went down as well.  They were skidding across the wet pavement toward the outside of the turn.  Jae barely escaped while I adjusted my line slightly and eased my brakes hoping to squeeze through the shrinking gap before they closed it off.  However, the combination of changing my line and braking caused my rear wheel to break loose once again.

It was like slow motion.  I wasn’t fearful – until it was over – and I was seeing everything that was happening in a matter of seconds, but my brain was analyzing it in detail.  I knew if I kept trying to shoot the gap I was either 1) going to get taken out by the sliding rider, or 2) slide out myself.

Instead I gathered the bike and straightened up.  This put me headed for the curb and the water retention area where a rider a couple of weeks ago went down and got messed up pretty badly.  Thankfully, I had slowed enough so that after bunny hopping the curb, I was able to grab my brakes and keep from sliding down the embankment – or hit the stump I realized for the first time was there.

As I was hopping the curb, I could hear the sound of entangling bikes behind me.  I’m still not sure how many racers were involved.  I was just trying to get my bike stopped, back onto the course, and under power again.  As I moved back on I got my feet on the pedals and started to go.  Ugggghhhh.  I had too much gear.  However, I just pushed it up until I crossed the line.

Jae finished seventh.  Based on where he was in relation to me as we entered the turn I am pretty sure I was on my way to a top ten – my best finish of the series.  Still, as I crossed the line I was elated with whatever place I got.  For once I was right there in an obvious crashing situation and I avoided it.  What made me happy was that it wasn’t just luck.  Each move I made had an intention and I was able to react to avoid the crash.

I imagine it looked pretty cool when I came out of the field and hopped that curb.  Sure, I didn’t win – or even place that well, but I figured I get a few points for style.  Even better than that, I didn’t break a shifter!

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Better to hit the grass than an SUV

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

In an effort to pull myself out of my funk, I decided not to do the Asheville race on Saturday. The plan was to go out and just have some fun riding with the guys. Turns out what should have been a simple effort turned into a ride of survival.

I showed up at the Hour of Power ride with my Garmin set to show only my speed and distance. No heart rate readings and no power data was going to distract me from just having some fun. I might ride hard. I might take it easy. I had no agenda.

Things started off well enough and I even did a number on the guys and took the Meece Bridge Road sprint in commanding fashion. Better yet, I was still feeling pretty good afterward. Perhaps this could be the day that things would turn around.

Between that sprint and the quarry road sprint, we have a section where we form a pace line and go for a couple of miles at a good pace. I got on front early on and started to pull the line. Looking down I could see I was holding a steady pace of around 23 mph and feeling more power was in the tank.

As we hit the base of the quarry road challenge, I wasn’t sure how I was going to work things with Tyler. He had said he was going to go for it on this one. It didn’t matter to me, but I wasn’t sure if he would prefer that I help pace him up for the win or if he would want to beat me. I decided he would probably prefer to beat me.

Turns out he wasn’t the one I needed to be concerned with. Randy Hutchison was there in his Greenville Spinners’ Race Team kit. He had given me a run for my money on Meece Bridge and now he was attacking right away on this climb following the wheel of Luis.

I love Luis, and he is a great guy to get behind at the start of an attack, but I knew he wasn’t going to sustain that all the way to the top. Randy on the other hand might easily use the pull to get a good jump on me. It was time to move.

They stayed ahead until we reached the false flat. By just putting out a steady tempo, I managed to pull myself and Tyler up to them without overdoing it. Then it was time to sit and recover before the next effort.

Randy was behind Luis (who was still there on the front as we neared the final turn) and I began to move out around them. My plan was to trap Randy behind Luis as I attacked. It would allow me to get a bit of a gap on him and that might be all the difference.

As I attacked I swung just a little too wide to the left and it opened a space for Randy. I just had to put the hammer down. It seemed to be working because a quick glance between my legs showed empty road. There was still some time.

However, rather than just spinning it out to the end, I eased slightly to shift to my big ring thinking I could bring that up to speed and put the nail in the coffin. Problem is, I never got the chance. Just as I starting to turn the pedals Randy came by me. Of course, I was in too big of a ring to respond. I let him go. He played that one well.

Then the ride went south.

Not nearly as bad as it looks.

Not nearly as bad as it looks.

I have become experienced on the bike enough that I don’t cause other people to wreck. However, I have not yet learned those bike handling skills that help keep me from being wrecked by other people. Is there a text book out there I could study?

We were in an easy pace line between zones. I had moved to the back just taking it easy. My wheel was lined up right behind the rider before me. Suddenly, he slowed and moved to the left.

I avoided my brakes in attempt to keep from having the rider behind me plow into me. My bike shifted slightly to the right and my momentum carried my front wheel up near axle of the rider in front. This is called overlapping – or crossing wheels.

The ride ahead weaved back toward the right pushing me near the edge of the road. I was flirting with the edge of the asphalt when he served back toward the left. Ahhhhh, I slowed some and moved back away from the edge. Unfortunately, he moved back my way one more time and I couldn’t avoid it this time. It had only taken a couple of seconds.

My bike slipped off the road into the thick grass and I did a Jens Voigt into the shoulder of the road. The first thing I felt hit was my head. It turned and I felt my neck wrench. Then it was my right arm and shoulder. I was too worried at that moment about my head hitting to think about what was happening to my legs.

Embarrassed, I disentangled myself and jumped up. Because I went down in the grass, the bike appeared to be in good shape. There were no wounds on my upper body, but I could see blood pouring from my knee. All in all, I felt pretty good with the fact I hadn’t broken anything.

Then someone pointed out that my right shifter was broken. No way! This is the second SRAM Force shifter I have had to break in the same place. Yes, I know, I wrecked, but still! Two times in the same spot tells me that they could come up with a better design.

The day wasn’t over. Thankfully, the bike shifted fine and if I held the lever a certain way, I could still brake. There was still opportunity to salvage the ride.

Randy attacked early on the State Park Road sprint. I was pacing myself to slowly pull him back when Luis came around me and yelled for me to hop on. I did and it was fun to watch the space between Randy and us get eaten up without me having to work hardly at all.

As we neared him, I saw him glance back. He was aware of us and I knew he would tried to accelerate and get in our train. I needed to break his draft. As Luis began to come around him, sure enough Randy sped up. However, I swung wide left which disrupted the draft for him. Once I saw we had gapped him, I moved back to Luis’ wheel. It worked.

We really needed one more rider, but I had to do what I was dealt. Luis had to drop off before the descent to the bottom of the dam. I was going to have to work a bit for this one. I put the hammer down and came around the turn that is followed by the quick descent.

Up ahead I saw a truck in the road. He looked to be driving slowly along. I was moving at nearly 40 mph by this point. There were no brake lights, but suddenly it dawned on me that the guy wasn’t moving! The distance was closing fast.

There was no way I was going to be able to stop. I looked ahead and saw there were no cars coming. About that time he saw me and put his truck in gear. All I could do was swing wide to the left and come around him.

My momentum was messed up and my timing was as well. I have the timing down for exactly when I need to shift my gearing for the climb. The truck incident messed me up and I was caught in too big a gear with no momentum. Tyler came around me and there was nothing I could do.

Still, the success was in the fact I didn’t plaster myself to the back of an SUV!

This morning I am soooooore. My neck is stiff and my right shoulder hurts. It will work out. Maybe yesterday was just what I needed to purge myself of the bad vibes. You’ve got to think that things will turn for the better at some point.

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Posted in Rides | 5 Comments »

Dear Robert Gesink, I feel your pain

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

Crashing is just a part of cycling. Someone mentioned to me the other day that statistically there is a wreck for every 5000 miles. Hmmmm, either I am a mathematical anomaly or I’ve filled my allotment for the next couple of years!

We come to expect to see riders go down when we are watching a race such as the Tour De France. It is easy for us to pause when we see the rider pull himself back on the bike and think, “Oh, nothing is broken. He’s okay.” Having just gone down myself in a wreck that I was able to ride away from, I’ve changed my view completely.

I saw the video of Robert Gesink crashing. Actually, I don’t think they ever showed him going down. They just caught him as he picked his bike up, mounted, and then rode away. He was cataloging all of his body parts to make sure everything was operational. The road rash and contusions were obvious. It was harder for us to know what might be going on inside his body.

He soldiered on to the end of the stage. He ended up over 9 minutes off the back. I’m sure he was in pain, as a matter of fact, we learn that he has withdrawn from the Tour due to a fractured wrist. The adrenalin passed and by the end he was unable to hold the handlebars.

I wrecked a week ago and I still have pain in my neck and shoulder.  My body took a beating I didn’t realize when I first went down. Yes, for the most part I actually feel better when I am riding the bike, but pulling on the bars in a certain way brings the pain right back.

That isn’t said to seek for sympathy or anything. It is said to point out my deep respect for those riders who climb back on the bike and complete races and distances in ways that I couldn’t do even if I were in top form. I’ll never see a crash on TV in the same light again. Now it’s personal.

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Posted in Racing | 3 Comments »

Am I ever thankful for my helmet!

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

I’m writing this late Tuesday evening because I’m not certain if I’ll be able to get out of the bed in the morning.

Things started out very well. After arriving at Donaldson Center for the Tuesday Night World Championships, I met up with some of my teammates. A group of them were about to go out on the country route. This is a route that does not follow the normal Perimeter Road circuit. They called to me to join them.

I started to follow, but then remembered that Reece was in the house and I was feeling pretty good. It would be very hard to pass up mixing it up in the A Group tonight. Finally, I decided to turn around and head back to the main group. Part of me is glad I did. Another part of me wishes I hadn’t.

Several of us POA guys were on the front to begin. I figured that if we were up there, we could pedal as slow as we wanted! That didn’t last long as some others came around and picked up the pace. By the time we were over the railroad tracks and headed for the start/finish there was an organized move to get away.

I worked to help bring that group back after a short time and tried to stay up near the front of any chase group. Most times one of my guys – normally Randy or Reece would be up in the break. As soon as one break would get caught another POA rider would attack with the next group to go off the front. During the evening, I only went off on one of those.

The rest of the time I was sitting on riders who were trying to chase back my teammates. It was in the process of this that I learned something about cycling I did not know. It was a good thing to file away for the future.

I have learned that when you have a teammate up the road, you don’t do anything to help close the gap. At the same time, you have to be aware of riders who are dangerous to your teammate. Say, if a Spinx guy starts to bridge across and he already has a Spinx rider up in the break, you don’t want him to get up there and turn the odds in their favor.

You handle this by not working with him as he attempts to bridge over. You also want to be in position so that if he does manage to bridge over, you are there to help even the odds. There really aren’t any written rules about this, but there are some unspoken rules of etiquette. That is what I learned tonight.

I had Hank up in a break about halfway around the circuit. A Barley rider and Steve Baker (Hincapie) were working hard to get across the gap. I was not wanting to help in any way. However, I knew if either of them made it up there, I would need to be there to help Hank. So, I sat on them.

This was the right tactic. However, I what I didn’t realize was I was violating the unspoken rule of etiquette. I was getting in the middle of their rotation. As the Barley rider came by me once he yelled, “Pull through! Don’t be afraid of the wind!” I yelled back, “I’m not going to help you pull my man back.” I wanted to come back with the fact that I had already done my time in the wind. “Well, if you are going to sit on then at least go back and sit on fifth,” he replied.

Here is were race awareness comes to play. As far as I knew, it was only the three of us. They were the only two I was aware of around me. I didn’t realize there was a fifth rider! Even if it was only the three of us, I should have hung back in third place and let them know I wasn’t going to help them.

Hey, I’m still learning. One thing is for sure, I don’t want to be one of those guys no one wants to ride around because he is either dangerous or a jerk. I learned a lesson and I’ll try to follow it next time. I do have to add though that I won’t be intimidated.

Speaking of being a dangerous rider. On the fifth lap I slipped back a bit as I had Hank, Matt, and Reece up ahead of me. I was tired from covering all those moves through the race. However, I was satisfied that my team had good numbers. I got on the tail end of a string of riders to recover some for the last lap. Unfortunately, I realized too late and I had latched onto a slowing group!

A gap formed and I tried to come around and catch them. Soon I was stuck in no-mans land with one other rider. I don’t know who she was, but she was stout! The two of us kept digging to see what might happen. I kept hoping that the group might slow as a break will sometimes do when it is larger.

As we went through the dip at the bottom of the hill leading up to the start/finish I could see the group nearing the top. I decided to just put my head down and put out a good cadence and if I had them in sight as we began the final lap, I would give it one more push. I started off taking the lead.

As we began the climb, I heard the rider following me let out a gasp of air. It distracted me for a moment and I started thinking that soon, I might be all alone. I looked down at my computer to see if I was to far into the red zone. It was at that moment I heard her say, “Watch ou…!” She didn’t even get the “out” out when I slammed into a cyclist in front of me.

I was going 20 mph at the moment I hit him. My wheel rode up the left side of his rear wheel. It flipped my bike up over it and I was slammed down on my right shoulder. My head followed and I felt the pain in my neck as it whipped to the ground and my head bounced off the asphalt. For a moment everything was spinning, but I never blacked out.

Before long there were riders around me. They asked me if I was okay. I told them to grab my leg. The only thing that was hurting right at that moment was my right calf that was seizing with a cramp! We got that under control and I stood. Wow! No blood. I think the reason why is because I didn’t slide at all. It was just a body slam into the pavement.

My helmet was busted in the back. Looking inside, I could see where the material had a crack across the inside. My jersey was just a little roughed up on the right shoulder. My left brake lever was broken – though the shifter still worked. Only thing I can figure is when I went down, I grabbed the shifter and broke it. Besides that the bar was askew. I’m really hoping my steer tube was not bent. As for the carbon frame and fork? Not a bit of damage. Not even a scratch. I was amazed.

I apologized to the guy I ran into and helped him make sure his bike was okay. Again, amazingly, it was just fine. Most thankfully, so was he!

Another lesson learned. No matter how hard you are digging. Don’t assume you know what is happening ahead of you. Always look out at least 10 feet in front. What happened to me was I looked up and saw the group. What I didn’t realize was that it was made up of two groups – the A Group breakaway and some C Group riders returning from the country route. I took off after the faster group and didn’t look up again thinking they were the only ones ahead of me. I found out otherwise.

I made my way to my car and just sat on the back staring at the ground. I felt like I had been beat up and I was very embarrassed by my accident. I was about to mist up, I felt so bad. Then Reece came by and told me that the POA guys had pulled off the win! There were enough guys up front to help get Reece to the line.

What is it they say? All’s well the ends well.

Good night.

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Posted in Racing, Rides | 12 Comments »

So that is what happened

Friday, April 17th, 2009

Yesterday I published a link to a photo that made it appear that Columbia-Highroad rider Bernhard Eisel was off his bike in the middle of a sprint.  Here is the video of the final meters.  It probably doesn’t do a racer much good to watch this one too many times!

He isn’t off the bike running.  Neither is he quite as close to the front as the photo makes it appear.  Of course, a top ten with your feet out of the pedals is better than laying on the ground with your helmet cracked in four different places.

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Posted in Racing, Review | No Comments »

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