Hermes

I am not sure what you consider carnage. She would ride away from the field and they would not see her again. And then someone would complain that was not racing.

She has raced the Santiago Canyon Time Trial and I think she has the record. When she was the team coach of my wife's racing team, I met her and did one of her training group rides.

Racer Ex 

@Bandera, not sure the whole transition away from spindle bottom brackets wasn't a solution looking for a problem. The longest lived best spinning BB I ever had was a Phil Wood that survived 3 years of heavy use in two different mountain bikes. Nice to read you're keeping the old steed in top shape.

revchuck 

Effin' holes in the road...

Last Tuesday was the local TNW. It was on the schedule as a rest day but since I'm not training for anything specific right now and needed more time on fast group rides I did it anyway. I pulled out of the fast part about halfway through since I had a fairly hard swim workout the next day and continued back in with some other folks. I was pulling in my favorite aero position, palms flat on top of the hoods and forearms almost parallel to the ground, when I hit a small hole that jerked the bars out of my hands and went down. I landed pretty heavily on my left hip. The lady who was on my wheel went down trying to avoid me but thankfully did a much better job of landing. I burned through the left shoulder of my jersey but didn't mess up my bibs.

I got up and was walking around okay afterward, but agreed to wait for someone to come pick us up rather than ride the last five miles back to the shop. Good thing too, since things started getting stiff and painful as the adrenaline wore off. I drove from the shop to the local urgent care place - getting there three minutes before they closed, I know they loved that! - and they cleaned me up and x-rayed me. The x-rays showed hip issues, and they called ahead to the ER and I went in. I was admitted from the ER.

It turned out that I had displaced the top part of the femur's ball joint. The surgeon told me that it was a relatively easy fix in the direction in which it had moved; had it moved in the other direction, it would have meant an artificial hip. I went through surgery with no problem on Wednesday and was released Friday. I've got a friggin' walker to get around with. I look like a crippled old guy!

Oh, wait...

No scheduled PT. The PT folks at the hospital evaluated me and decided I didn't need it. The first three weeks afterward are supposed to be non-load-bearing for the left leg, then I'll progress to load-bearing stuff for another three weeks. It's hard to remember not to put weight on my left leg, until I forget. I don't know when I'll be able to resume cycling, my guess is that I'll be allowed on the trainer in three weeks and on the road in some period after that. The doc had cut through my left quad to get to where he needed to go, and that's where it hurts most.

So I'm off the bike for a while, and feel like a dumbass for the way it happened. But I'm still pretty fortunate for the way it turned out.

The bike came through it with minor damage. The left shifter is scratched up and needs a new hood. The bar tape is torn up, but I was going to replace the cables and housings anyway so it's no big deal. It gives me stuff to deal while healing.

Heathpack 

@revchuck, that really blows, so sorry to hear it. Hope you're back on the bike reasonably soon.

Report the pothole to whatever the appropriate agency is- city, county, state. It's harder for them to justify not fixing it if a cyclist had already been injured.

Heal up.

Bandera

@revchuck Sorry to hear about that, best wishes on a speedy recovery.

-Bandera

Hermes

@revchuck Sorry to hear about this. Heal up fast.

Racer Ex 

Heal up Chuck!

valygrl

oh man, sorry to see this chuck! Hope you have a full and speedy recovery.

revchuck 

Thanks for the kind thoughts, y'all!

Hermes

I am a tubular gluing machine. I have two more tires to glue on where the rims and tires have been prepped for the last several days.

Tomorrow, I am going to the SD velodrome for a workout and VSC Thursday and Friday. It will be interesting to see how the resurfaced SD velodrome is.

Racer Ex 

Looking forward to the report!

sarals 

@revchuck....once again, I'm the last one to find out, and I feel like an ass! I'm so sorry that happened. It just plain sucks. Don't be like me, actually follow your doctor's orders! And here's to healing quickly!!

revchuck 

I hope to be a tubular selling machine. I have two sets of 10-speed-only wheels which are sitting in storage. I've got no use for tubulars and don't like the braking characteristics of carbon wheels, so I'll probably just use the money for some other upgrade.

@sararls - Shoot, lady, it's not like you have nothing going on in your life! It does suck, bringing to mind the old saying, "Life is hard. It's harder when you're stupid." I'm trying, and mostly succeeding, to follow my doctor's directions. I'm pretty much off the pain meds and am down to using Tylenol when needed for what pain remains. I like having a little pain to remind me that my body doesn't want to do what I'm trying to do quite yet. It keeps me honest.

I've started driving again. Driving is no problem, getting my 6'2" self and the walker into and out of my Focus is time-consuming. Having people help me with doors going into stores is humbling. I see myself as a laid-back, unassuming Type B kinda guy and am realizing how vain I am about my fitness. It's quite the reality check. I am so ready to ditch that walker!

echappist

just caught up with the posts as I was away, speedy recovery @revchuck

sarals 

Somehow "walker" and you, Chuck, does not compute. But I get it, I totally get it. You've got a huge advantage over other people (our) age in that you are very, very fit. You'll come back quickly.

YogaKat

Dang Chuck, wishing quick healing for you.

LAJ

Positive thoughts @revchuck. You'll be back at it in no time, and you'll actually be surprised how you bounce back.

revchuck 

@sarals, @YogaKat, @LAJ - thanks!

Dalai

Not good news revchuck. Heal fast mate!

sarals 

I have no details on this, other than the survey...

Hi everyone - we're in the early stages of trying to establish a velodrome in Marin and would really appreciate it if you could take our quick survey.



It's composed of 10 questions and takes less than 2 minutes on average: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3BKVG5N



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If you'd like to learn more or be involved in any way, please let me know!

Voodoo76

Any ideas here on beating shimmy? Different bikes, different wheels, comes and goes & is now really in my head. Have had it as slow as 15mph on a steep downhill (it returned yesterday after hiding for 6 mo's). I've always been a very stable solid rider. But this has me avoiding groups, avoiding some of my favorite loops & Road Races would be a disaster. Any suggestions on equipment or position changes, things to try?

Bandera

Mechanically I'd make 100% sure that headsets are properly lubed & adjusted w/ an overhaul & inspection.
Hubs: Same and make certain that wheels are installed correctly in frame/fork w/ QR at the proper tension.
Wheels trued & spokes at the correct tension w/ tires inflated to the minimum PSI that still prevents pinch flats.

A relaxed yet firm position/style w/ elbows bent allows good control little affected by road surfaces while avoiding the "death grip" on our lovely chip-seal F&M roads at pace. With the machine in good nick and good fit/position/style looking ahead where you want the bike to go while letting the machine work itself over road irregularities should quell any quirks in handling at pace on descents. This is why being in a big-enough gear on a descent is important, to have a reliable resistance under foot to keep pedaling for control/stability/weight transfer rather than just dangling from the saddle unsupported and no longer in firm relaxed control.

Joe at Joe's Pro Bikes over in SAT has lots of experience w/ Masters racers, might be worth having him look at your position.

No affiliation w/ Joe etc.

-Bandera

Voodoo76

Bandera, I've always been a very relaxed rider never tight, grew up on MI pot holes & expansion cracks (and lots of off and on road motorbike experience). Always considered bike handling to be a strength. Matter of fact an evil Daschund tried his darnedest to take my front wheel out this morning & couldn't take me down . Been within a few mm's of the same bike position for decades, I do use a fitter in Austin. Everything seems to be mechanically sound. Checked and re-checked. Day off the bike tomorrow so i can go over it again.

Does not happen on TT bike. And on the Road Bike I can ride through or over anything on the flats at any speed, hands anywhere on the bars, no problems. Give me your nastiest cracks, gravel, sand, chip seal, dead amadillo's, not a problem. But coast 25 down a hill & I start to feel a little wobble, like I'm sitting on a bomb waiting to go off. Fortunately I have some good flat training rides.

Bandera

There you might have your Answer: Power = On, Coasting = Off.

Around here there is always that next climb, keep that Power On to preserve momentum/stability even if just soft pedaling a big gear.
Coasting is not your friend on our rough TX descents for many reasons but zero load on the pedals is just asking for Bad Things to happen.

edit:
Of course there are descents steep enough that top gear is spun out and tuck 'n coast is the fastest option, but not a wise choice if having handling/stability problems well below very high speeds.

-Bandera

IBOHUNT

@revchuck - sorry to hear that. Heal up quick.