The story of my first wreck while riding with the COWs actually starts a week ago when I had got a new rear cassette and put it on my deep dish race wheels. I had not ridden on them till today, in preparation for Buckhorn next week. I noticed a rattle coming from my rear wheel, and at one of the stops, sure enough it was loose. The nut that tightens the cassette on was tight, but the gears still had some play. I had forgotten to put a spacer on the rear hub prior to installing the cassette. So this was my first of two mistakes; forgetting to check the cassette installation. The second is qualified as "I knew better but did it anyway"; I knew my cassette was loose, but I just couldn't help it when Nick went to pull around me on Target hill. I had just gotten out of the saddle, driving my leg down in the power range of the stroke, when the slop in the rear got me. The chain slipped forward, fell off the front chain ring and my foot unclipped from the peddle. This all happened in less than a second. Now I was out of my saddle, clipped in with my left foot, my right foot flapping free, and my center of gravity not where I needed it to be. Luckily (and it really is luck to have happened when and where it did) it was my right foot that popped out, since it carried me to the right toward the curb. Had my left foot popped out, I would have veered left, out into traffic, and likely ended up skidding along the black top. But no, I was destined for the curb and the grassy patch on the right. I don't know if my front tire blew before I hit the curb, or as a result of hitting it, but I heard it pop like a .22 gunshot. I catapulted over my handle bars and landed on my right side (mostly right hip if my injuries paint an accurate picture). Shorty after both I and my bike stopped moving, my rear tire blew...it may have just wanted to be included in the event. A quick inspection of my ride showed only minor damage; only a few scrapes along one side of my front rim. I will need to retire it until I get it fixed, but the bike seemed to fair better than I did (which is ok with me).
This was by far my worst wreck on a bike (since I broke my arm on my BMX as a kid) and I was thankful that I had the group around me for support. I carried my bike up the hill to the Target sign and I had to run DC and Chad C off telling them I was fine and that my wife was on the way. Not only did Dave W call to check if I still had full function of my appendages, but Nick actually stopped by with a 6 pack of (appropratly named) somersault ale to hasten the healing process. DC is picking me up some new tubes and Chad C made a house call to tape me up with Kenisilogy tape for pain and swelling (which were starting to get pretty bad). My right hip is keeping me from moving too quickly, but considering the speed of the crash, things could have been much much worse. Thanks all for a great ride and all the support! (Turbo) Dan On Saturday, July 21, 2012 11:07:41 AM UTC-4, Jim Davis wrote: > > A big herd of 12 COWS and 1 heifer left DD to do the Fremont route, > typical easy start through the neighborhood then Bob L sets the pace and > we roll the rest of the day at 20/22 until St Mary's ch rd Turbo, DC, > Lawyer, LR, and Big Wally drop the hammer at 31 mph they are puling away > for BobL, Birdman and Kaiser. Regroup on Radford. Group is all together on > target hill, turbo drops the hammer to pull our average up. Drops his > chain throws him into the curb, pops his rear tire, does an endo into the > grass, pops front tire. Turbo and bike seem to be ok. Judges gave him a > 9.5 on the landing because he did not stick the landing but had a slight > roll. 50 miles, 20 avg. > Great day to be on the bike. > Birdman > > Sent from my iPad -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/cyclistsofwilson-cows/-/T2UQF8S8YgEJ. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cyclistsofwilson-cows?hl=en.
