Five of us left first. Cool. Headstart! Being another ghastly humid day with temps expected to hit near 90, I was glad to get out there just a little before 7:00. Within the first couple of miles we had two sharp descents/ascents (@ 10% grade) that crossed intersections at the trough. First one negotiated without a problem. Had a green light at bottom so we just sailed through. Problem developed at second hill.
We had to stop for a red light at the bottom of that second hill. We then had to start climbing from that stop up another jaunty 10 per-center. About mid way up the hill I realized I could use just a little more gear, so I decided to shift my front dérailleur from the middle ring to the small ring. I didn't lighten up on the tension, so when I shifted the chain jumped off the small ring and jammed in between the crank and frame. Uh, oh.
My pedals we're going nowhere. In the next few seconds time expanded into an eternity. I knew I was going to get acquainted with the pavement real soon. I had time to think about whether I would fall to the left, traffic side, or to the right, on my dérailleur. I surely didn't want to fall and possibly damage my shifting mechanism by falling on the left, but falling on the other side was equally unappealing.
I struggled to disengage from my pedals but no dice. I couldn't get either leg down to clip out. As the bike slowly rolled to a complete stop I was getting impatient to get the event over with. Of course it would be embarrassing and I'd be sure to hear about it from my good friends at dinner or at the next SAG. Ah, here it comes. I'm falling traffic side. Good. No damage to dérailleurs...
Alright. It wasn't a bad slam. Noggin is OK, elbow seems OK. But there I was on my side in the traffic lane and I was still clipped into my pedals. Hmmm. Not a good outcome after all. My buddy up ahead told me later he was wondering if he should take a picture before any car hit me so he could explain the preceding events to the coroner. I like his quick thinking. It made me laugh.
Lying there, I felt like I had just been in a skiing tumble and had to figure out how to extricate myself
from my skis and the snow bank. Again, time expanded. Realizing I just had to get out of the situation, I tried to scoot over to the side of the road but my butt could find no purchase being still attached to the bike by my feet. "OK adrenaline. You're up". I somehow willed my feet to twist in an unnatural manner and "click, click" I was set free. I scrambled up and pulled the bike to the side of the road just in time to wave on the next few squadrons of bikers flying by trying to hide my embarrassment.
My photojournalist friend came over and helped me steady my bike while I wrestled the chain free and got it back onto the gears. The whole incident from "Houston, we have a problem" to "All cleared for takeoff" was maybe a 12 minute adventure.
Very lucky man am I.
The remainder of day was hot, hot, hot, humid, humid, humid, useful for picture taking, snack shack visits, and oh, yeah, another DQ. The final couple miles into Richmond were tree lined streets, with stately homes, and a local college.
The next two days we will be crossing into Ohio and riding 200 miles. The elevation is also going to pick up considerably. We'll get our last rest day before the final push to the Atlantic on Thursday. I can't quite articulate yet what knowing that there's 13 more cycling days means to me. I'll save that for later as I need to concentrate on the immediate days ahead.
Good bag placement at start of ride today...
Barn with no sides
Fresh hay...
Vitamins...
Some Old Timers
No comments:
Post a Comment