we both go down together
Though I have passed by the VT cycling team on several occasions, each occasion traveling in the opposite direction, I have always shied away from their open rides for fear of being dropped from a faster-paced pack. This past Monday, I went to their general club meeting and decided to just dive in.
While I was unavailable Wednesday for their sprint run - Wednesday Worlds, which fortunately runs through my training grounds - I made it out to their slow-pace ride this afternoon.
It had lightly sprinkled just before the 5pm departure and I was running a few minutes behind my expected early arrival, so I took a faster pace out from Progress St. taking Turner St. just to get to campus in time. I pushed off quickly a bit after the Main St. intersection and began the long, sweeping, flat turn of Turner. But. It had lightly sprinkled. And it occurred to me too late that this turn was covered in crosswalk paint. Wet crosswalk paint. I began to bank. And my bike started banking more than I deemed necessary.
Then it happened. Traveling 20 mph around a turn. I went down. In full cycling regalia. In front of a dozen or so traffic-stuck vehicles.
I slid an easy 15 feet. Somehow, I naturally turned onto my stomach and let the cycling clothes take most of the hit. To my surprise, of course after having finished the slide, my cycling jersey and bibs were as tough as armor. Several motorists looked at me with jaws dropped, one got out of her car to check if I was ok. I felt a stinging all down my right leg, but first, instinctively, looked the bike over for any damage.
So, I learned a few things this afternoon. Giordana makes cycling clothing out of microscopic chainmail. Trek makes some amazing bikes that can handle serious accidents without so much as a few scratches on metal components. Don’t ever take that Turner St. turn with a sharp bank, even in good weather. Get back on your bike after a fall and take it like a champ.
Once I met up with the rest of the team, I was showed some trophy injury marks from their past accidents. My huge right leg scrape, inner right elbow scratches, and right thigh mini slices couldn’t compare to some of the scarring I witnessed. Thankfully. I think my fall could have been much worse. My previous falls have all been from a standstill when I was new to my cycling shoes and couldn’t unclip before I came to a complete stop. This was my first moving fall. My first slide.
Hopefully, I will have toughened up those now-somewhat sensitive parts so that I can join in on some mountain training Sunday.
September 1st, 2007 at 4:28 pm
i’m glad you didn’t get too damaged in your wipe-out.
September 1st, 2007 at 4:43 pm
thank you. i refrained from taking pictures of my right leg below the knee where most of the damage was done, refrained due to formality. it’s tough wearing pants, which is the only non-cycling shorts type of lower-wear i own.
i have never liked wearing shorts.