Hammertoe

Glad you are OK and things were not worse...

After reading your story, I started really thinking about my ride (I am finally recovering)...

I took some crazy risks...

I bombed that descent into Charlemont and was VERY lucky...

What kind of bike were you riding...

Heal fast, Kilimanjaro awaits...

C Law

Damn dude.

I hope you get better quick.

Hammertoe

Here is my Motion Based file of the ride...

https://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/6585256

And the only four pictures I took because I was too tired to take the camera out...

bmike

WTF! just read your LJ!
glad you made it out in 1 piece, and glad that for the most part strangers are often kind and helpful!

get well and heal up for your trip!
(now that we know you are OK - how did the ANT fare?)

buzzman

In all honesty, I cannot accept your "even worse" pronouncement! To finish this ride- and as your first century, no less- is an amazing achievement. It takes a certain amount of intelligence and stamina to take this kind of ride at your own pace and just get through it. You did fantastic!

I knew I hadn't had enough sleep the night before (about 1 1/2 hours) and was going to struggle with a 30/26 as my low gear pretty early on in the ride and adjusted my pace after the first checkpoint. I'm not in the kind of shape I'd like to have been in for a ride like this (were I to go for speed) so I shifted into survival mode after mile 65 got into the moment to moment mind set. In other words, don't think ahead, know that you've still got x number hours of daylight (more than enough), and take in the scenery as best you can, which was spectacular.

After spinning out in the gravel, I ended up walking about 150' of the 27% grade before I finally mustered the mental and physical energy to get back on the bike and ride up the damned thing. I was glad I did that because it gave me a small boost of confidence to know I could tackle the worst (best?) of it.

My nephew did, indeed, get lost and did an extra 13 miles, which on any other ride would not be so bad- but on this!, he finished the day with 127 miles. He, too, as tired as he was, loved the ride. As did my bro-in-law who bailed at the 64 mile check point but ended up with a hefty 80 miles for the day and looked none the worse for wear by the time I pulled in.

I'm sorry that I didn't get to meet BMike and Spokenword, and so sorry to hear of Spokenword's crash!! I was very cautious on the descents, I was on a road bike and tend to be a bit of a wuss on descents in general, even on my MTB, and I was imagining how easily a rider could lose control on some of those descents and I'm sure it wasn't pretty. I'm glad you're okay and sorry to hear you didn't get to finish.

Thanks so much to BMike for turning me onto this glorious ride. I really loved it.

buzzman

whoa! I just read your account of your crash and that sounds serious. Those descents were tough for me to gauge. Too much caution and I felt like I'd tip over and too much "just let 'er rip" and I was sure I'd go flying off into a gully. Did you get your bike back okay?

Heal well and hope to see you out on the road sometime soon.

spokenword

thanks guys. In general, I'm doing ok

(though I was doing better before I got to the dentist and found out how much it would cost to get my teeth capped ... holy crap, it's true what they say about how the difference between poverty and prosperity is just one expensive disease)

the bike itself looks fine. the fancy paint job has some scratches on it and the front wheel is somewhat out of true, but I still need to put her on a stand and double check for dents or cracks on the fork or frame.

Dentist bill aside, I'm frankly grateful that the consequences of this crash are as light as they were. It won't stop me from riding, but I'll probably be a little less cavalier and little more deliberate and honest about assessing risk in the future.

buzzman

Like Hammertoe I didn't snap all that many pics of the ride, which had exquisite scenery. Here's a few.

BikEthan

I posted my ride report in the Clydesdale forum. No pictures... occupational hazard of being a professional photographer.

https://www.bikeforums.net/clydesdales-athenas-200-lb-91-kg/458339-hard-first-century-complete.html

spokenword, I'm glad you're OK. There were some very hairy descents on that ride, I definitely came close to losing it once or twice. On a more random note I helped a friend of your girlfriend's/mine move a little while ago, I was admiring the Schmidt dyno hub on her bike. Small world.

spokenword

holy small crazy world, batman. or really, holy small crazy city. I swear that there's only three degrees of separation between cyclists in Boston.

BikEthan

Heh, yeah maybe more like 2. Especially since there seems to be so much overlap in the social and work circles of cyclists.

bmike

some random pics i found on the web and through some friends who were there...

sunday morning ride partner on his kogswell

youtube from someone i do not know

a gallery from a rider i do not know (but there are pics of peeps i know in there!)

another sunday morning ride partner's pics