Bend... what bend...
Superbalicious
Posts: 136
Oh, that bend...!
Went out for a ride with a friend yesterday as he was keen to try a 50 mile route around the lanes of Cheshire and North Wales. I normally ride alone, so I thought it would be good for me to have some company too.
I hadn't realised how riding with someone else could make the miles tick by that bit quicker and even though there were only two of us, our average speed was slightly higher than when I've ridden the same route alone. 27 miles in and I'm listening intently as my friend is chatting, telling me about one of his other friends who's into cycling, when bang and I find myself hitting the road hard at 20mph and sliding to a stop still clipped in to the bike!
Unfortunately I hadn't appreciated the speed we entered a 90 degree bend which I normally ease off to negotiate when I'm alone. Fortunately I didn't take my friend down too, but I landed hard on my right shoulder, hip, knee and wrist. Thankfully I was wearing a wind proof jacket and bib tights. The jacket hasn't worn through but the sharp stinging in my right knee revealed a hole in my bib tights and my bloodied flesh on show.
All this happened on a quite country lane, although the driver of a car which was maybe 200 yards back had seen everything and I'd like to thank the kind lady as she stopped to make sure I was ok. Of course, my attention soon turned to my bike which although a few years old was in pristine condition. I know have battle scars on both brake hoods/levers and my rear derailleur and the bar tape was shredded down the right hand side.
Looking back I think I came off quite lightly. We continued the ride although the feeling of Lycra rubbing against a gritty wound is not something I'll forget quickly. My mind wasn't thinking straight for the rest of the ride which affected my speed, although I later found out (when I'd got home) that my rear brake was rubbing!
Oddly, arriving home at the end of the ride I was greeted by my 8 year old son pushing his bike back home from the other end of the street, in tears, himself having just fallen off... I'm not ashamed to say that my emotions almost took over at that point.
All that happened on Friday. On Saturday I felt even worse, the whole of my right hand side aching. I did managed an hour assessing the bike, truing the wheels, trimming the gears and sorting the rear brake. Today I've replaced the white bar tape with nice new Bontrager cork tape and found that I can buy replacement 'nameplates' for my levers, albeit for nearly £20 for two bits of plastic.
So I learnt an important lesson, not to let my concentration level drop when riding and chatting with others! I did discuss a cunning plan with my friend on the way back home, to tell the missus the bike was too damaged to ride (stress fractures, invisible to the eye, etc) and that I'd need to play it safe and invest in a new bike! I came clean though and her response was "well, it's your birthday in a couple of months"... now where's that Wilier catalogue...!!
Stay safe everyone!
Went out for a ride with a friend yesterday as he was keen to try a 50 mile route around the lanes of Cheshire and North Wales. I normally ride alone, so I thought it would be good for me to have some company too.
I hadn't realised how riding with someone else could make the miles tick by that bit quicker and even though there were only two of us, our average speed was slightly higher than when I've ridden the same route alone. 27 miles in and I'm listening intently as my friend is chatting, telling me about one of his other friends who's into cycling, when bang and I find myself hitting the road hard at 20mph and sliding to a stop still clipped in to the bike!
Unfortunately I hadn't appreciated the speed we entered a 90 degree bend which I normally ease off to negotiate when I'm alone. Fortunately I didn't take my friend down too, but I landed hard on my right shoulder, hip, knee and wrist. Thankfully I was wearing a wind proof jacket and bib tights. The jacket hasn't worn through but the sharp stinging in my right knee revealed a hole in my bib tights and my bloodied flesh on show.
All this happened on a quite country lane, although the driver of a car which was maybe 200 yards back had seen everything and I'd like to thank the kind lady as she stopped to make sure I was ok. Of course, my attention soon turned to my bike which although a few years old was in pristine condition. I know have battle scars on both brake hoods/levers and my rear derailleur and the bar tape was shredded down the right hand side.
Looking back I think I came off quite lightly. We continued the ride although the feeling of Lycra rubbing against a gritty wound is not something I'll forget quickly. My mind wasn't thinking straight for the rest of the ride which affected my speed, although I later found out (when I'd got home) that my rear brake was rubbing!
Oddly, arriving home at the end of the ride I was greeted by my 8 year old son pushing his bike back home from the other end of the street, in tears, himself having just fallen off... I'm not ashamed to say that my emotions almost took over at that point.
All that happened on Friday. On Saturday I felt even worse, the whole of my right hand side aching. I did managed an hour assessing the bike, truing the wheels, trimming the gears and sorting the rear brake. Today I've replaced the white bar tape with nice new Bontrager cork tape and found that I can buy replacement 'nameplates' for my levers, albeit for nearly £20 for two bits of plastic.
So I learnt an important lesson, not to let my concentration level drop when riding and chatting with others! I did discuss a cunning plan with my friend on the way back home, to tell the missus the bike was too damaged to ride (stress fractures, invisible to the eye, etc) and that I'd need to play it safe and invest in a new bike! I came clean though and her response was "well, it's your birthday in a couple of months"... now where's that Wilier catalogue...!!
Stay safe everyone!
Still trying to convince the missus of the n+1 rule...!
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Comments
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Nice story and I'm sure everyone can associate with it, only come off the bike once myself and I luckily landed upside down on a freshly raked compost flower bet with my bike still attached to me with feet still in clips,, really lucky
But the feeling of falling makes you more alert when riding,Specialized S Works SL2 . Campagnolo Record 11spd. rolling on Campag Zonda wheels
http://app.strava.com/athletes/8812110 -
I like that situation in which you and your son must have compared battle scars!0
