Could not have been a more perfect day for an all day ride on the Silver Comet from Smyrna, GA to Anniston, AL. This would be the 2nd annual event planned by Tom Jones. Eight of us met at the Mavell Rd trailhead at 0730. Most of us are members of Roswell Street Baptist Church, but we put the word out for anyone to join us. One of my old coworkers and Lockheed Martin riding buddies, Henry E. joined us. We had John M. who was on his first long distance ride. John had gone down the same riding path as I and many others have. He bought a hybrid bicycle, but found out he wanted more speed. John was able to return his hybrid and get a true road bike. Also there was our SAG driver, David Beeler, driving the van that would shadow us all day and eventually bring us home. Also at the trailhead were several runners. I was lucky to get parking spot!
Chilly temps meant layers of clothes to start. We suited up and headed out west. The SC was packed with walkers and runners. Turns out a local Catholic church was having a fundraiser with participants walking. Our band of riders snaked in and out of the congested trail at a relatively slow pace. We needed a recording of "on your left" as we passed all these folks.
As we reached Powder Springs, the SC traffic really thinned out. After a brief stop at the Hiram caboose to shed some clothes, we headed west. Next stop = Rockmart. While we were stopped at Hiram a larger group of riders passed by followed by yet another group. Once we got rolling again, we kind of mixed and mingled with these 2 groups. Didn't really get the names of the groups, but it turns out the larger first group was going to Anniston, too. They were going to spend the night and make the return trip on Sunday. At least 15 riders. The other, smaller group was going to the train tunnel before turning around. As we rolled past Rambo Nursery and the large tressel bridge, we could see the large group ahead. We slowly reeled them in and we created a rather large peleton. This large group peeled off at Coots Lake to go to the store. Our group rolled into Rockmart where our great SAG driver was waiting. Minutes later we are rolling on to Cedartown. "Assaulted" the Mt Trashmore hills and paused for a group picture at the top of the hills. We passed a group of younger riders and some parents that turned out to be Boy Scouts camping at Rock Creek Campground. They were our pursuing cycling merit badges. We rode on to Cedartown past our crash site from the previous weekend. Scrape marks are still there. Dry conditions and not slick there today. Still can't determine what is coating the SC there. On in to Cedartown where we broke out the refreshments. One of the Scouts and his parents (we think) rode in. We invited them to help themselves to our little tailgate. They fired a bunch of questions at us about who we were, what were we planning to do, and other general cycling stuff. There in the Depot parking lot was yet another group heading to Anniston.
We rolled on towards the GA/AL state line. With the hills behind us, it's just a matter of doing the miles now. David S, being a strong, fast rider lead out on the long, boring 10 miles to the border. I was feeling sort of spry so I picked up the pace to catch up. I rode pretty hard to stay with David which had some implications for later.
 |
| David |
 |
| Tom, Rick, Jim, and John |
Up until now, I had ridden this part of the Silver Comet before. I had not ridden the segment of the Chief Ladiga Trail from the AL state line to Piedmont, AL so this was new territory. The temperature was in the mid-70s and not a cloud in the sky. On our way to Piedmont, we passed 3 large family groups on mountain bikes and 2 trikes. Man, everybody was out riding today!
We took an extended stop at the welcome station in Piedmont. The lively banter and ribbing each other had pretty much stopped as we started to deal with the miles in our own way. My previous record was 69 miles. Rolling out of Piedmont I welcomed the brand new asphalt surface that had just been paved. The stretch of trail from Piedmont to the end at Anniston used to be very rough with advancing tree roots causing sharp bumps in the trail. Nothing like that now. Smooth as a baby's bottom. Of course, you can't have it all...great weather, smooth road, and a tailwind. Two out of three ain't bad, but the 10 knot headwind takes its toll. At mile 80 I hit my own personal "wall". The rest of the ride is somewhat of a blur. Everything hurt at the end. Neck, arms, back, and my rear end just wanted some relief from that saddle. 93 miles and some change. Ooooorah! We all made it!
Next hurdle was getting all 7 of our bikes into the back of the van. I was skeptical and it took a lot of finagling, but they got in there. Change clothes and off to Outback where we put a serious dent in their steak supply. Of course, they could have put down a large chunk of shoe leather in front of me and I would have just said, "pass the salt".
Tired riders headed back to Smyrna. Of course, it's plenty dark at the trailhead. I couldn't find my keys. Was sure I had put them in my jacket. Was sure I had put them in my backpack. Hmmm, was sure I had put them in my jersey pocket. Well, everyone else is gone now. Repeat search. No joy. Oh, man, Debbie is not going to like this phone call I'm about to make. What, oh yeah, the keys are in my phone pouch on the bike. Heavy sigh of relief. Slept the sleep of the dead Saturday night. Fantastic day on the bike with a lot of laughs on the bike with friends. Can't wait for the next one.
As I have been riding my road bike the last year and a half, I sometimes get asked why do I take the risk of riding and crashing (with the inference of broken bones etc). Well, when I drive my truck on the roads of the Atlanta metro area, I could ask the same question. Fact is, I don't worry about it too much. I try to "stack the deck" in my favor by not riding on busy roads, watching for rocks and whatnots that could cause me to lose control. When I do think about crashing, I always hope and pray it doesn't include a sudden stoppage of the front wheel causing a demonstration of physics "in action". That is, a body in motion tends to stay in motion or in this case, rapid flight across the handlebars followed by some broken bones upon landing (usually a collarbone).
Well, I didn't "stack the deck" too much in my favor on the LM Team "off-Friday" ride last week. The scheduled ride was a routine ride on the Silver Comet from Rockmart to the GA/AL state line. The weather forecast indicated a 10% chance of rain. Got up as usual, loaded the bike, and headed to Rockmart. As I headed west, the horizon kept getting darker and darker. Weather reports on the radio called out showers north of Rome. Well, it was pretty dark at the Square. Several riders were already there and ready to go. I thought we would cancel, but everybody wanted to ride. I had to hastily get my stuff together to catch up. It started to drizzle pretty heavily and I tried to figure out how much extra clothing I would need and would I mind it getting soaking wet. There were 9 of us that set out west. It was still drizzling off and on, but we could tell heavier rain had fallen ahead of us to the west. The ride west was pretty uneventful. We paid careful attention to the boardwalk bridges. The wooden surface is really slick when even just a little bit damp. I usually coast thru them and try to take the straightest line possible. Our group was sort of strung out after going over the Mt Trashmore hills. Myself and Hale were coming into Cedartown. There is a little bridge just before you get to the Depot with a 90 degree turn just in front of it. I swung wide so I could enter the bridge straight on. Hale was behind me and I hear this big WHUMP and I knew what had happened. Stopped immediately and got off my bike. Hale had gone down on the bridge. He said he hit his head pretty good, but his helmet was not broken. A skinned elbow was the extent of his injuries. We had to adjust his front brakes, but Hale was good to go.
We made it to the arch at the state line. After a brief rest stop, we headed back.
Nobody in our group had ever been to Slaughters Grocery just off the SC in what is called Esom Hill. Several in the group wanted to go so I led them off the trail to the store. We followed some country roads back to the SC. One of the guys had a flat front tire. We stopped to "help", tell jokes, and just pass the time until Joel got his tube replaced. In the meantime, one of our guys asked did we see the "trapped" goat just up the trail. Uhh, no. So, with Joel well on his way to completing his flat tire fix, we rode to see the goat. Turns out this little goat was just off the SC behind a chain link fence. There was a farmhouse visible, but this goat was just wailing. It really wasn't stuck or caught in anything. Joel rode up and we hung around a little while. The goat got quiet, but when we started to ride off, it started wailing again. I'll always know that spot as the "lonely goat" place.
We ride back to Cedartown. My friend, David S, was there to meet us. David has jumped on the SC at the Tara Drummond trailhead and ridden to meet us coming back. Four of us were together as we rode thru Cedartown eastbound. With Hale in the lead on the SC that runs along Lake Street, we rode down a slight downgrade. Suddenly, I see Hale go down HARD. In the split second that I saw, it really looked bad. David S veered a little to the left and I knew he was going down. I must have slightly turned right, but in any event it seemed like one second I was upright, the next second I'm on my side sliding. I don't even remember hitting the pavement. I didn't hear Robbie crash behind me, but I could hear him moaning. So there we are, 4 of us laid out on the trail. My right hip was hurting, but I was able to move the bike off me and sit up. David S had gotten to his feet; Hale and Robbie were still down. I eventually was able to stand up, but Hale and Robbie were still down. At this time, I started thinking about calling 911. About this time, the rest of our group came riding up. I hollered at them to stop and/or get off the trail. Fortunately, none of them crashed. By this time Hale and Robbie had managed to stand up and all four of us were "walking it off" as they say. Man, Hale had both elbows and legs scraped up pretty bad. Robbie was limping around. Everybody wanted to continue! Our bikes turned out to be okay. We made it back over the Mt Trashmore hills to Rockmart. Frankies was closed (2:00pm) so we decided to go to Hometown Pizza. Hale went with us, but Robbie wanted to get home to his hot tub. At lunch, I could tell Hale was hurting. He said his chest hurt when he laughed. We finished and went home.
It's now Monday and I started getting emails asking what happened on the ride Friday. One of the emails said one of us was in the hospital. I called around and found out Hale was in the hospital with a collapsed lung and a cracked rib. Robbie had been to the ER and found out he had a cracked pelvis! On crutches for 3 weeks. I was stunned and feeling very fortunate to escape with just a big bruise on my right hip! All that extra padding must have helped!
We still don't really know what caused the crash. My jersey was stained with something black that did not come out until some serious soaking. David S and I were part of a group ride that went by the crash scene a week later. The marks we made are still there! There is some sort of organic stuff coating the trail there like mildew/algae. Wasn't slick when dry, but was slick enough to put us down without warning when wet. I later found a scrub patch on my right brifter as the only evidence of bike damage. I'll take that!
Here's to a speedy recovery for Hale and Robbie!
