Post #1 "Over the Bars"

 

As the self-appointed "Safety Czar" within my close group of cycle geeks I don't go into any ride thinking "I might crash today" but sometimes the bicycle gods intervene.  April 2nd, 2022 those gods turned an ordinary training ride into an ambulance ride 3 miles from the end. 

Here's what I remember:  On a stretch of road we ride often I was hustling to regroup with my cycling buddy Marty after stopping to refuel.  He sailed by so I wedged the rest of my Clif bar between my teeth and clipped in.  This particular stretch of road happens to be old, deteriorated concrete with potholes and fissures but no shoulder to escape to.  It turns to asphalt and a has a shoulder that opens up about 100 yards from where I was but to reach that means navigating some bad road surface.  As I pushed hard to get to the shoulder my Garmin alerted me of multiple cars approaching from behind.  The next several minutes of the event can only be recalled in tidbits.  I have a vague memory of a front wheel perpendicular to the road which physics says is a bad thing when in motion, then a sound coming out of me that I can only describe as "demonic" which I assume is the sound made when a fractured rib pierces a lung.

Then there's a gap.

After "the gap" I am on the ground being urged by Marty and a couple of helpful motorists to get out of the road but as Marty recalls it I suggested we get back on the bikes and head back to the truck.  A group decision was made (I was not involved in the decision) that 911 should be called.  The X-rays and CT scans show it was the right decision.  

As the guys got me to my feet I spotted something in the street.....yep, a bite of a Clif bar.

"4 fractured ribs and a collapsed lung Doc?  You're joking right?  "Take a deep breath and tell me if it feels like I’m joking" he said. 

Smart ass.  






It would sound really cool and Hollywood-ish if I said "my life flashed before my eyes" but that didn't happen.  What happened was a vision of my Visa statement showing that Trek Travel had charged $22,000 the day before for the balance of my cross-country bicycle adventure.

70,000 miles of road cycling and no serious crashes.  A couple of harmless tip-overs like we've all done.  I actually consider myself lucky.  That's a lot of miles.

I did this same trip with Trek in 2018 and was well prepared, to the point the trip actually didn't seem that hard.  Because of that, I'm mimicking my training from that year and although I've fallen behind, I'm keeping my glass half full and if you're reading this on or after August 17th it means I'm on my bike on the trip of a lifetime......again.

Out.







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