paco1961
Zen MBB Master
First crash on the V20. Tuesday night ride is race night for those who are of that inclination. Especially this year with all races cancelled, the last few weeks since small group rides have restarted in the local riding community, Tuesdays have been extra hot from a pace perspective.
About 18 miles in we had a group of 8. After mostly flat and gently rolling terrain there's a climb of about 500'. Nothing too bad but enough to stress the group on a fast night. Top of the climb is usually where a few will make a move on the following 3-mile, fabulous stretch of road - smooth pavement, nothing over about 4% and wide open visibility (read, windy.) We cressted the climb and immediately jumped to about 28.5mph in a pretty tight pack because of the head wind when, from the back of the rotating pace line I noticed a small gap forming. Then it happened . . .
One of the riders (all DF other than me) decided to close the gap by standing in the pedals and that's all it took. There was nowhere near enough room for someone to stand and dig hard. He caught the wheel of the guy right in front of me. Now way I could avoid it at that pace. Three of us went down hard.
Interesting thing, crashing on a CB. First off, crashing on a V at 28.5mph is way nicer than at the same speed on a DF. I have several personal data points to support that notion. I went down on my left side and ended up with nothing more than some road rash on my left elbow, hand and, oddly enough, my right butt cheek - the last being the worst of it. Still trying to figure that out.
The bike doesn't seem to have a scratch on it but the tires - both front and back - are completely shredded. Front tire bead torn off half the circumference of the wheel and pulled about 1/3 pulled entirely off the rim. Rear tire also pulled off the rim in one spot. And as if to add insult to injury, after we all stood up and were looking at the bikes, the last of my tubes spontaneously popped. It was like a Warner Brother's cartoon. We all looked around flooking or Wiley Coyote and his trusty anvil or at least the sound effects of a few hub caps spinning in the background!
Will do a detailed bike condition assessment tonight but it looks like it weathered the storm quite well. My guess is that most of the loss of speed came from impact with the bike/rider in front of me because at that speed I would have expected bar tape and seat damage at the least. But of course as most of you know, you tend to lose some of those rapid fire details.
All in all, aside from now owing my wife a dinner for the road side rescue, things could have been much worse.
About 18 miles in we had a group of 8. After mostly flat and gently rolling terrain there's a climb of about 500'. Nothing too bad but enough to stress the group on a fast night. Top of the climb is usually where a few will make a move on the following 3-mile, fabulous stretch of road - smooth pavement, nothing over about 4% and wide open visibility (read, windy.) We cressted the climb and immediately jumped to about 28.5mph in a pretty tight pack because of the head wind when, from the back of the rotating pace line I noticed a small gap forming. Then it happened . . .
One of the riders (all DF other than me) decided to close the gap by standing in the pedals and that's all it took. There was nowhere near enough room for someone to stand and dig hard. He caught the wheel of the guy right in front of me. Now way I could avoid it at that pace. Three of us went down hard.
Interesting thing, crashing on a CB. First off, crashing on a V at 28.5mph is way nicer than at the same speed on a DF. I have several personal data points to support that notion. I went down on my left side and ended up with nothing more than some road rash on my left elbow, hand and, oddly enough, my right butt cheek - the last being the worst of it. Still trying to figure that out.
The bike doesn't seem to have a scratch on it but the tires - both front and back - are completely shredded. Front tire bead torn off half the circumference of the wheel and pulled about 1/3 pulled entirely off the rim. Rear tire also pulled off the rim in one spot. And as if to add insult to injury, after we all stood up and were looking at the bikes, the last of my tubes spontaneously popped. It was like a Warner Brother's cartoon. We all looked around flooking or Wiley Coyote and his trusty anvil or at least the sound effects of a few hub caps spinning in the background!
Will do a detailed bike condition assessment tonight but it looks like it weathered the storm quite well. My guess is that most of the loss of speed came from impact with the bike/rider in front of me because at that speed I would have expected bar tape and seat damage at the least. But of course as most of you know, you tend to lose some of those rapid fire details.
All in all, aside from now owing my wife a dinner for the road side rescue, things could have been much worse.
