Old 09-17-19, 06:48 PM
  #41  
cyccommute 
Mad bike riding scientist
 
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 27,466

Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones

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Numerous.

Many years ago, I was on a mountain bike ride that was more of a gravel grinder ride (before those bike were a glimmer in some marketing man’s eye). My wife had just biffed her head when she crashed at the bottom of a hill and had completely forgotten about 3 miles of the ride. Thankfully, someone was sagging so they took her back to the car. I was supposed to meet them shortly since we were only about 10 miles from the car and the road was pretty fast. At the bottom of the next hill, I went to downshift and the front derailer cable split lengthwise. That stuck me in low gear on the crank which was a 22 or even a 20 (I don’t recall which). I could pedal like mad for the first 100 feet or so of the downhill and then coast until I slowed enough to get the cadence down and then grind up the next hill. It was an endless series of hills and troughs about 1/2 mile from top to top. It took close to an hour and a half to cover the distance.

I missed a curb cut at about 35mph and folded a suspension fork in half while doing a perfect Greg Louganis dismount. I pivoted on my helmet and laid straight out on the grass. I was about a mile from work and had to carry the bike back up there (precell phone) because I couldn’t get anyone to give me a ride. Unlike my wife, I never lose any time when I smack my head. I remember all the details!
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Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!



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