Fifty Plus (50+) - Comedy of Errors Weekend

Started Saturday morning with my usual early 15 mile hill ride in which nothing strange happened. This was about to change.

This was the weekend I was riding the Fathers Day Family event with my son-in-law and 5-year old grandson. Well my grandson decided he needed to sleep at our house Saturday night to get 'ready for the race'. So after dinner we went to the MUP to practice. Well, he's not real great at paying attention to his riding all the time. About halfway through the ride he cuts right in front of my wife, she can't unclip in time and goes down. Nasty road rash on one leg, torn seat, torn bar tape (which I had just replaced that morning).

Sunday. We get to the park to start the ride. There are about 400 riders ready to go. My grandson gets a little overwhelmed and decides he can't do this. We coax him to the back of the pack thinking he will be a little more comfortable with no one behind him. Just as they start, he decides to cop out and rides over to his mother. So Loren and I figured we might as well ride, after all, we did pay to do this. So after one last ditch effort to get Noah to go we finally start. About 200 yards behind the rear of the pack. So our strategy became to wind our way through the back of the pack the best we could and then hammer to see how close to the front runners we could get. On the very first hill, there is a big slowdown and traffic jam, a teenage girl cuts me off, I can't unclip, and go down. Road rash on right leg, scuffed up seat on brand new BMC (Ouch). Took us about two miles to get through the major traffic and started hammering. By this time I'm guessing the front runners (mostly dads with teenage sons) where probably a mile ahead of us. We hammered like crazy for the remaining 5 miles and managed to pass about 370 riders. My wife said that probably 30 riders beat us in.

So what was supposed to be a nice easy ride with my grandson, ended up a sort of 5-mile hammerfest and I was exhausted. It was a weird weekend.

On a happy note, my daughters got me a sport watch and two Nike sleeveless technical shirts for Fathers Day.

Some days things just don't go according to plan:)

I hope both of you recover quickly from the road rash. I know how you feel about scuffing up the new seat. I put a small tear in mine when I failed to see the cement parking block:( I tried black electrical tape but it didn't stick. How do you repair yours?

Some days things just don't go according to plan:)

I hope both of you recover quickly from the road rash. I know how you feel about scuffing up the new seat. I put a small tear in mine when I failed to see the cement parking block:( I tried black electrical tape but it didn't stick. How do you repair yours?

Luckily, I'm not going to have to repair one. My wifes is torn bad enough to warrant a new saddle, and mine is not bad enough to bother with.

The bottom line is that you will remember this for a long time. It didn't go exactly as planned but so what. Your grandson will get older and one of these days he will ride with granddad. And you got some nice Father's Day gifts. :D

You certainly set yourself up with a challenge, by starting at the rear and then trying to pass 400 bikes!

This sounds like the kind of event that I should avoid. Thanks for posting this, I'll try to remember it if one of these things pops up near me.

Hope you and your wife heal quickly.

Would one of those "as seen on tv" vinal patch kits fix a torn saddle?

A crash on the new bike!! Lucky it is a just the seat and tape, usually the pedals, bars and brifters get all scratched up. Just like a new car the first scratches are the worst. How did your grandson do seeing grampa coming back from the ride with a booboo?

Wow, what a story. It's confirmation that my policy related to mass start group rides still works for me. I never start with the offical start. I either start before hand, or wait till everyone else has gone before taking off. Some of the riding skills you see in these events are pretty poor. On Sunday the Greater Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition was having one of their rides with about 400 - 700 people (depending on who you talked to). Some of these folks were in way over their heads. And I swear some of the hammer heads had their helmets on too tight. They were weaving in and out of traffic with riders who were less than predictable. I must have seen a dozen times when an accident was very narrowly avoided. Glad you and the Mrs. weren't more seriously injured. Maybe Noah will be ready next year.

Wow, what a story. It's confirmation that my policy related to mass start group rides still works for me. I never start with the offical start. I either start before hand, or wait till everyone else has gone before taking off. Some of the riding skills you see in these events are pretty poor. On Sunday the Greater Philadelphia Bicycle Coaliton was having one of their rides with about 400 - 700 people (depending on who you talked to). Some of these folks were in way over their heads. And I swear some of the hammer heads had their helmets on too tight. They were weaving in and out of traffic with riders who were less than predictable. I must have seen a dozen times when an accident was very narrowly avoided. Glad you and the Mrs. weren't more seriously injured. Maybe Noah will be ready next year.


:D Oh yeah- I was there too. I did do the mass start, but kept to the inside till we got to the Sweetbriar Cutoff and then hammered out (but my helmet was fine, thanks)- there was a lot of extra space by then, but even so, there were plenty of people passing on the left just a hair too close. Yikes. Which ride did you do?

:D Oh yeah- I was there too. I did do the mass start, but kept to the inside till we got to the Sweetbriar Cutoff and then hammered out (but my helmet was fine, thanks)- there was a lot of extra space by then, but even so, there were plenty of people passing on the left just a hair too close. Yikes. Which ride did you do?


Started out to do the 68 mile ride, but felt good and thought I hadn't been to Phonexville in some time. So, I ended up doing the 100. What about you?

Started out to do the 68 mile ride, but felt good and thought I hadn't been to Phonexville in some time. So, I ended up doing the 100. What about you?

Sound slike good ride- I was thinking about the century, and was going to settle on the 68, but I was short on time yesterday, so I ended up doing the 44. However, because of getting lost in Valley Forge, it ended up being a 60 after all, albeit somewhat less hilly than the 68. Oh well!