I was in the middle of the pack on a nighttime group ride on a springlike Sunday evening. On a bend I heard a voice in the dark to my right say "Beautiful evening, isn't it?" I instinctively glanced to my right toward the park bench where the fellow was sitting and said "Yes, it is!"

I missed the turn (see the slo-mo section of the video) and angle in the pavement, drifted to my right slightly, then hit the angled ledge of the pavement.

No matter how much I practice this stuff the one scenario that literally trips me up about once a year is nicking the pavement edge at too shallow an angle and flopping over sideways. I instinctively overcorrect and reenter at too shallow an angle. I've even tried practicing this maneuver at slow speed around home but it just hasn't become instinctive to continue straight ahead off the pavement and brake carefully, then reenter the pavement at a right angle.

Happened twice last year in one week, just a slightly bruised and scraped elbow. Hit a lot harder this time. Bruised ribs, intercostal muscle spasms, but doesn't feel like anything's broken. I didn't bother going to the ER since there's nothing they can do about broken ribs. It just takes time to heal.

I rested Monday, with some very minor stretching and a little walking, after taking a muscle relaxer to make it possible to move. Tuesday I actually rode 4 miles just to see how it was progressing. Not bad. Wednesday was worse, not as bad as Monday or as good as Tuesday. I figure I'll be back to normal in a couple of weeks, but I plan to resume riding 10 miles or farther by this weekend.

On the plus side, I've become much more confident on gravel and usually prefer the local gravel/chat trail that runs parallel to much of the paved path. Let's face it, the paved MUP is just a sidewalk. It's built exactly like a sidewalk. Same gaps every few feet. Same sharp ledges. Same narrow width, much too narrow for the heavy foot and bike traffic in some places. It's not unusual to encounter joggers or walkers two abreast and simultaneously a pair of cyclists approaching two abreast on a paved path that's only an average male adult wingspan wide.

Just to our local Lowe's, to the pick-a-part (no Mustangs or Montegos there:mad::mad:) to the store and back.

you go back & smack him? only kidding :D dam no nice thing goes unpunished, huh? get well soon

The morning started off with 17-20 mph winds and 28-30 mph gusts. Normally, it doesn't get that bad until noon but it was brutal this morning. Rode 50 miles with my buddy Frankie, who had a really hard time with the wind today. Nice tailwind on only one section of the route and we were very happy to have it.

10 easy paced miles Thursday evening to see how the ribs are healing and stretch my lungs. Heard some disturbing rales and rattling in my chest earlier Thursday, usually a sign of fluid accumulation. Been hard to take deep breaths since the crash Sunday and I figured I'd have to breathe deeply if I was riding. Seemed to work, feels clearer now.

After a busy day at work, managed 40 miles from SW Gainesville to Bronson in persistent winds from the east. The ride back was challenging, still averaged 18 mph. The Domane is a true machine and such a joy to unwind on. If I can post some pics I will.

Jeez, I'm fully healed from the nasty pelvic fracture, and starting to get my mojo back.

28 miles on the new bike with the local bike club. can't wait until saturday for a good long ride.
rob

Nice cool start for this morning's ride but it warmed up very quickly and with the warm temperature came an increase in the wind speed. Got in a good 60 miles with the gang this morning. Had a better first 30 miles than we did the second. :(

30 miles today in warm but windy conditions. A little but of a recovery ride today, as I will probably hit over 150 for the week with tomorrow's Hawthorne Trail ride.

Even with the winds, the FL weather can't be beat for winter riding. Hats off to those who really bear the elements to get those miles in!

18.4 Miles (29.7k) by riding the same two mile stretch back and forth 8 times after sinking into the silty mud over the rim. The rest of the bike path is closed due to mud and flooding (lotza rain the past few days).

2017: 265m (427k)♂Total: 14,686m (23,305k)

http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/...pstadxgjo4.jpg

Beautiful early-February Spring (?) day today with temps in the 60's. Five solo miles followed by a twenty mile tandem ride with my favorite stoker.

Almost 10 miles in the snow on my fat bike.... https://www.strava.com/activities/862859486

Almost dry today. out for a quick 15. Down by the river.

Gorgeous day for a bike ride!
 

It was a gorgeous day for a bike ride. It felt like a Fall day, cool, windy, blustery but gloriously sunny. I am coming back from my recent surgery so I am still not back to my pre-surgery.


I managed to ride 40 miles. Although I average only 12 mph overall. I was able to reach a 19 mph average over a two miles, flat stretch of road. :D

Here are some photos:

At the intersection of Los Angeles Ave. and Ventura St., on the campus of California State University Channel Island (this was the former home of the famed, or infamous, Camarillo State Mental Hospital). Students ar CSUCI claim that they can sometimes hear the mournful cries of the hospital's former residents.

https://4girlsandaghost.wordpress.co...tate-hospital/

http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/a...17_clouds1.jpg


The old bell tower at the Student Union building. Legend has it that these are the "mission bells" referenced by The Eagles in their classic Hotel California. In an interview, Glenn Frey would neither confirm it nor deny it. Co-writer Don Henley was not much help.


http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/a...ssionbells.jpg


Big fluffy clouds and unusually green hills:


http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/a...17_clouds3.jpg


http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/a...17_clouds2.jpg


Rainbow at the end of the ride, riding a bike is its own pot of gold!


http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/a...ds_rainbow.jpg

20 miles Saturday, a beautiful summer in February day, temp reached the 80s and was still in the low 70s after dark. Big beautiful moon. All the good stuff I tried to focus on after the 6 mile mark when my ribs started painful spasms that didn't let up the rest of the ride.

Still beats a day not riding.

45 miles Saturday taking advantage of the unseasonably pleasant weather. I was trying to keep it to a zone 2 ride by heart rate but didn't really succeed until the second half.

40 miles with one of my riding buddies. Two more were going to join us but they never showed up. Still battling strong mid/late morning winds.

307.8 miles for my first ever Bike Sebring 12/24. The weather was fantastic and I dressed for it BUT forgot to bring my long fingered gloves to the start so the fingers were almost frozen until the halfway point of the century. Made for difficult shifting, braking, grabbing the water bottles and scratching any part of my body. :lol:

We had a room at Chåteau Élan Hotel & Conference Center | Sebring FL Hotels and it worked out great. Was able to have my sag stop in our room instead of on pit lane so I had all the amenities of home including a shower if I wanted. I'm watching some "vintage racing" as I type. If I do it again I'll have to make sure I am prepared for the miles and time since I wimped out with almost a couple of hours left to ride. :bang:

This was a RAAM Qualified and those riders AND even some regular folks WERE AWESOME.

Would you believe that today (2/12/17) here in Richmond, Virginia, it hit an unbelieveable 75°F outside?!? EVERYBODY was out on bicycles... EVERYBODY was out at those golf driving ranges, taking the kids/grandkids to play putt-putt, etc... Incredible...

My sister, bro-in-law, and I met up along the James River and went for a nice, gentle, bicycle ride. We only did 9.3 miles and took it slow and easy at about 10 mph, since my sister is still recovering from hand surgery (broken pinky bone - the one on the side of your hand). She was fine with the ride and could grip the handlebars. Her physical therapist recommended a gentle bike ride too.

Anyway, we pulled over along the river for some photos, and they took one of me with my classic 1985 Fuji 12 speed road bike. Still going strong with no signs of breaking down, falling apart, cracking (like some CF frames have been known to do). I love it and just can't get rid of it or retire it for something newer.

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps1gwg0oec.jpg

Cold (34°) but sunny. About half the Truckee River Bike Path is still under mud or water but there is a fairly new 2 mile industrial road close to the path with good pavement and wide bike lanes. Between the two (twice) I can get a fair amount of miles in. 17.6 miles (28.3k) and overdressed (sweaty) near the end. More storms (rain/snow) coming next week.

2017: 283m (455k)♂Total: 14,704m (23,663k)

33 miles in brutally gusty, swirly winds, mostly prevailing from the west. I decided to pedal SW for an hour, then turn around. Boy, it was tough to maintain anything over 15 mph in the open plains and rolling hills of Levy County, and I didn't quite make Bronson.

As a comfortable endurance bike that pounds out the miles, unfortunately the Domane sits tall up front, and at 5'10" and 200 lbs, I ain't so little either, so together we have the aerodynamics of a brick, grips be damned. Under these conditions it's really noticeable.

The return ride took 12 minutes less, a testimony to the strong winds and the rewarding wind at my back. I wonder if this pattern will change as last summer it was almost always E to W.

Overall, a strong ride to end the week. I did manage over 150 miles this week, and the Garmin indicates an average of 17.5 mph, which is not too bad considering several stops without turning the timer off.

30 miles down the North Augusta Greenway then over the 13th street bridge into Georgia and up the Augusta Canal and back this afternoon. Temps in the mid 70's made for a wonderful ride.

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...cf&oe=59320949

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...34&oe=593555E2

Sounds like a day suitably seized. Yesterday approached 70 degrees here in Indianapolis. I took a ride downtown to a new cat cafe, about 20 miles round trip. Rode a circa 1984 Schwinn (Giant) World, with what I suspect is a Performance Forte Softtail saddle like your Fuji appears to have. That Fuji is very well preserved! My Schwinn is highly modified, the 12 speed downtube system has been replaced with a 3 speed coaster IGH, and rear rack and fenders added to make it more of an all weather commuter. Nice to see the Fuji mostly original. And- those must be high pressure tires, I think that is what the labels by the valves indicate. :)

It was indeed! Thousands of people were out jogging, riding bikes, walking dogs, playing golf, etc... What a day!

My classic Fuji is still in amazing condition for being 32 years old. The college kid (who I bought it from off Craigslist) said it was his dad's original bike and was kept in a garage for years and years until he went off to college and his dad gave him the bike to use around campus. Once he graduated, he didn't want it anymore and his dad didn't have any use for it either, so he through it on Craigslist for a steal...

I added the new Forte seat and new Kenda 27" x 1¼ gumwall tires with standard Shrader valves @ (max) 90 psi.

Thanks for the reply. I suspected you were the original owner. I have a set of the same tires for the old Schwinn, but converted it to 700c with alloy wheels, and Schwalbe Marathon tires. I did keep all the original parts, but it is much more serviceable to me with the changes. I had badly wanted a utilitarian bike with disk brakes, as even with the alloy wheels and better DiaCompe pads, braking in the wet was dodgy. Amazon had a super deal on a 700c wheel with a Nexus 3 speed coaster hub and the grip shift, for well under $75. So- the World got modified. (Who said you can't change the World?) The Forte saddle is very good for the length of rides I take, but I have found the Planet Bike A.R.S. slightly better for me. But, the latter seem to sag strangely after a while, whereas the Forte keeps whatever moderate support. Sometime when I have it a bit cleaner, I will post a picture of the old World. DQRider has asked what it is like, and it really is a nice looking old steel bike. Not as pristine as your Fuji, though. :thumb: