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!
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