Thursday, May 24, 2007

Thursday Thumping

Consider for a moment the image of five experienced and accomplished cyclists rolling along in a smooth paceline beside the majestic Pacific ocean. Short pulls, 25-30 mph, pedaling perfect circles at 90 rpm, tight separation... only a few centimeters of daylight between one guy and the next.

Grace and beauty on wheels.

Now picture what might happen if said cyclists are riding on a freshly oiled surface. And the front guy slips and falls...

Yep, five of us (Cookie, Dubberley, Ben, Adrian, and me) all piled on top of one another along the 101 this morning as we returned to SB from a Solvang loop. It's a miracle we didn't spill out into traffic and get squished by a truck. Or in Ben's case, that he didn't get run over by a train because he also tumbled down the embankment toward the tracks!

Sheesh!!

And there wasn't a CalTrans sign anywhere around. Now obviously we were aware of the recent road work, and that the surface was not its usual consistancy, but we had no idea how slick it was until it was too late.

I'm debating about claiming some damages. We all burned some clothing and some skin. Here's mine on the right. (I'll spare you the full cheek shot!) I tweaked my hip-flexer pretty good, and it may put a Mt. Hamilton ride in doubt, but at least bikes and bones appear to be okay. And my titanium clavicle held up despite landing on that side!

You know, if it weren't for the damage, it would be hilarious ...five guys sliding and piling on top of each other!


But it was a nice ride to use my new toy. Gina got me the Garmin Edge 305 with heart-rate and cadence sensor. Even 46-year-olds get presents sometimes!

I haven't been using data for riding for years--I barely use the functions of a basic bike computer--but this thing is cool. You can display up to eight pieces of data as you ride. I've got speed, distance, heart-rate, cadence, elevation, total ascent, ride time, and time-of-day. And it records all that stuff, plus route with GPS, so you can plot it out later.


Great. More things to waste time with instead of working!

14 comments:

blue squirrel said...

your right, it would be funny if it weren't for the actual hitting of the pavement part. hope all involved heal fast. at our age we don't need anymore scares.

i too am now the proud owner of some fresh new custom Ti in my shoulder. has your doctor suggested taking it out at some point in the future, so it does not contribute to a worse break, if you should land on it again?

-keep up the great blog

dr-nitro said...

You certainly have a claim. My friend recently lost a fork to an excessively large crack in the road, and is making a claim.

The Garmin toy is certianly cool. Reminds me that I need to plug in tonights mtb ride.

Steve Weixel said...

Gina told me about the accident on the way to OSM today. I'm glad that nobody was too seriously injured.

It's cool that you finally got your Edge set up, and I'd like to think that I was the inspiration behind the purchace... I found your motionbased data by guessing your username and added you to my feeds :)

Gary said...

Get better Marco, crashing and road rash sucks. Hope to see you up North this weekend.

Marco Fanelli said...

Thanks for the well wishes.

Blue Squirrel- Sorry to hear about your crash and your clavicle experience. Mine was last year at Mt. Hood. My doctor didn't express a strong opinion one way or the other about removing the Ti. I don't like getting cut open, so I'm leaving it in. (But I do sometimes imagine what it would look like sticking out of the skin after a bad crash...)

blue squirrel said...

marco
thanks for the info. just getting other opinions. my doctor told me that he didn't want me to land [crash] on it again, as it would not be a pretty break. but i am with you, i don't like going under the knife. keep up the great blog.

jim

dr-nitro said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
dr-nitro said...

What the heck are you signed up for the 1/2/p at mt ham for? Too good for the old folks race?

norcalcyclingnews.com said...

owwwwwch.


none of the regulars understand what we do. notta one.

glad your on the light side of damage, bud.

Marco Fanelli said...

Dr. Nitro said:
> What the heck are you signed up
> for the 1/2/p at mt ham for?
> Too good for the old folks race?

I'm delusional and in the midst of a mid-life crisis. Maybe I better switch. Hmmm, 35+ or 45+?? My bud Lindsay is doing the 45+ (I think) 'cause he doesn't want to show his Mt. Hood cards too early. Maybe I'll join him...

OV- yep, we're all pretty out there, aren't we!?! Kinda cool if you stop and think about it!

dr-nitro said...

Come to think about it, I don't need any more competition. Go have fun with the young pups, or I guess you can hang out with Henri in the 45+.

Anonymous said...

Hey Mark,

sorry to hear about the crash. You guys were lucky to keep it (mostly) on the shoulder. Take it to Cal Trans.
Hi to everyone.
Jake

Marco Fanelli said...

Hi Jake,

Yeah, the crash was weird... it was instantaneous! Is your knee is doing better. Mt. Hood? btw, Wohlberg won Mt. Hamilton today against a few BMCs, Cal-Giant Strawberries, and BJM.

I hope all is well.

Mark

Linnea said...

yeeeouch.

Stinkin road work. There should have been a warning sign, esp if bikes are likely to ride the route... a CalTrans blunder that perhaps can be avoided in the future if you give them the heads-up.