ScrubJ

I went down today. My intent was to best my last week's ride of 65 miles by at least some maybe even making it to the 100 mile mark. The day got off to a bad start and I ended up on the bike much later than I planned to start, I'll be happy to do a metric century. During my usual 8 mile warm up loop, nothing seemed to fit or work right (should have been a sign) gloves bothered me, knee was stiff, that kind of stuff. Less than 10 miles into the ride I picked up a piece if steel belt in my front tire (second sign?), get to my first rest and water stop, drink my water (boy it's hot today!) and some electrolyte drink, go to fill up the bottle and the water smells and tastes like pool water (3rd?). I guess they had been working on lines or someting and dosed the water with chlorine real good. No problem, know where another park is about 5 miles down the road. Off I go, sure is hot!

I get to the park, water is turned off???!!!, bathrooms locked, what did I do to deserve this??? Oh well, have a friend another 5 miles away, things HAVE to get better. I manage to get lucky and find Deb and Jerry home, slug down a couple of bottles of water and accept their offer of some Gatorade.

By this point I'm into the ride for about 30 miles (boy it's HOT) and the metric is looking good. I'm ready to wrap this one up and go home. By 45 miles I'm not feeling well but my next stop isn't far away so I press on. The next stop is a public school that has benches and an outside drinking fountain and I plan to use them both. Gee, everything is starting to sound "tinny" best rest soon, and I can see the school. At 49.5 I go to make the left hand turn into the school and hit one of those reflectors placed in the middle of the road and out goes the front wheel. Man, I haven't seen pavement this close up since my motorcycle years back in the 70's and 80's.

I pick myself up, no bones sticking out of skin or body parts at odd angles, must be OK. Check out bike, chain off chainwheel and also wadded up in rear derailer, handlebars tweaked, brake levers twisted out of place (98Cdale with downtube shifters). Straighten everything up, check out myself a bit better. Have some real nice rash on left shoulder, hip and ankle but none on knee. Left elbow and wrist are HURTING!!! Oh well, gotta get home. Finished the ride at just over 57 miles, do a recovery drink and hit the shower.

The wife makes it home from a baby shower while I'm finishing up my shower and asks "how'd the ride go?"
I turn my left side to her and say "you tell me" EEEEWWWWW, did you fall down? Nope, just broke out in this funky rash. She says I guess you won't want to do "our" ride later huh? Hell woman, I'm still in one piece of course I do the ride (my 8 mile warm up loop). Shovel in a bowl of red curry rice, an ibuprofen, a quick ride to the drug store to pick up my eye medicine and some Second Skin, back home and off we went.

I haven't looked the bike over good yet, know I need new bar tape, will have to do something with the roughed up left brake lever and figure out where the ticking is coming from in the front wheel. Guess I'll be stuck on the 7.3FX or my Nashiki Pueblo for a while.

Hope everyone had a better day than mine. Ride safe and watch the heat.

P.S. Second Skin BURNS.

NOS88

Bummer of a ride. Glad you went right back out with the wife. As the saying goes, tomorrow will have to be better.

ScrubJ

Wouldn't miss a chance to ride with the wife....

Glad to see you're still posting

Keith

centexwoody 

well done

some days you eat the bear, some days the bear eats you...

genec

Didn't do anywhere near your milage, but on a very local (should have been very very easy) 30 mile ride, I felt some of the same frustration.

It was humid... not really all that hot, but my shirt was soaked, and as I approached the end of my ride (while climbing the last hill), I really needed to go to the bathroom... and stopped at a public park...

Yup, same darn thing, so onto a Jack in the Box. Both bathrooms locked... onto a nearby mall bathroom... which now requires a token. Sheesh.

So around the corner to the super market, where no bike racks exist... I lock my bike to a handicap sign, and the bike then falls to the ground... I'm hot, soaked and standing on one leg... I just shrug and move on. Two guys comment "well your bike has too much stuff on it..." (later, I thought of a snappy retort: "nah, it's just two tired.")

The restroom in the supermarket is open... relief at last... and the frustration and heat called for a beer, and I was right where one was available. So I picked up an IPA and headed for the door.

Sweated off 10 lbs that day... no wonder I "needed" a beer. I think I felt a taste of what Floyd felt on stage 16...

jppe

Sorry to hear about the crash. We've all had those days when things just don't seem to go right. You did incredibly well to do what you did.

ScrubJ

Well, work was interesting today. The road rash wasn't near the problem the elbow was. When I fell, most of me landed (I guess) on the left elbow which has taken the general appearance of a flesh colored softball. Sure made the day in the shop fun after a sleepless night.

Still haven't spent any time looking over the bike, but did buy some new bar tape at the LBS today. Sure feel bad dropping it after only a couple of weeks of ownership. I do believe I've put more miles on is since I picked it up than its original owner put on it in all his years of ownership.

p8rider

What a Day. Just reading it makes me want to have a beer and turn in.

leob1

Fell at mile 19.5 of a twenty mile ride. Slowed to pas a couple guys walking, wasn't paying too much attention, the front wheel slid off the edge of the path. Next thing you know I'm on the ground. Put a quater sized hole in my knee, sore wrist, not big deal. Three days later, the wrist was three time normal and could move it at all, and it hurt. Just a sprain.

Remember, chicks dig scars.