My Only Non-Trivial Bicycle Crash

Four Years and Eight Days Ago ...

I went boom!

I had looked down to check what gears I had left,
As we were ZOOMING across Lynnbank Rd at a faster speed than I can usually maintain,
I may have heard some strange noises from the two guys immediately ahead of me,
They were exclaiming over the sudden drop in speed at the front of the five-man line.

I looked up, and immediately thought,
"Oh, this is going to hurt!"

Luckily, I was not directly behind the bicycle ahead of me, and
I sorta' slid up his left side,
Hooking my right side brifter (ergo-shifter for some of you) on Lee's jersey.
That took most of the momentum out of my fall, and
Flung Lee from the white fog line to the center double-yellow.
More luck -- Lee did not go down.

I recall sliding across the "asphalt" on my left shoulder.
I recall calmly thinking, "great, my jersey has been pulled off my shoulder, and
"Now my skin is in direct contact with this rough road surface.
"I hope this doesn't last very long.
"Because if it does, my shoulder is going to be hamburger."

The shoulder slide probably only lasted 2 or 3 seconds.
The road-rash looked more like rug-burn.

I never knew that the photos loaded onto the blog were also stored in a Picassa web album.  I wonder what opportunities that knowledge will open?

After 15 or so minutes, I got back on the bike.
The guys thought I would call someone to come pick me up. 
However, I had a ride to finish, and ... there was no one to call.

Next morning, with my left arm in a sling,
I had to unstick Lynn's chain from between the chainstay and something,
So that she could get in her last ride before heading to the Texas Time Trials,
To ride the Tejas 500-miler.
She won, by the way.

For further reading on the crash and my thoughts at the time,
See the above link (which purports to document the ride), and
See also this blog post, in which I addressed a comment from a buddy that wasn't on the ride.
The link in the above line is the more important.
=============================================

Exactly Four Years Ago Today ...

Lt. Dave did me the biggest favor he ever did for me.

A few comments regarding the post linked to immediately above:

1. We didn't do the referenced 92-miler.  Turned out I was in no mental or physical condition to ride that far. 
2. Thirteen days after Dave got me back on the bike (and tricked me into a longer ride than I anticipated), three of us did an informal 200-km ride.  Well, Dave and Smitty did the ride -- I experienced Sridharesque cramps after 116-miles and needed to be rescued.
3. Seven days later, four of us did a repeat of that 200-km route.  Well, on Oct-17th, it was Smitty that needed to be rescued (because of a flat tyre and using all the tubes but one in the crew).  The Mallet had a great ride -- pulling most of the day.  Snapper extended himself to where he'd never before been on a bike -- he had to shift out of his 53-tooth chain ring on Little Mtn Creek Rd -- which Snapper claimed was the first time he'd shifted from the 53 to the 39 all year -- and dropped his chain when he did.  As for me ... I'll just note that the next April, when I did my first ever 200k rando brevet, I knew I could finish / would finish. 
4. Looking at the route that Dave and I rode on Sep-27-2009 -- with only three tiny tweaks, that route eventually became the 103-km Bahama Beach perm-pop.  

Ha!  Looking elsewhere in September-2009, I see that on the 13th, I did a solo ride on the route that would eventually become the 138-km Denny's Store Sortie.

Ah, heck!  My memory must be going.  Because that informal Irregulars Hurdle Mills 200k course we did, that became much of the basis for the 205-km 'Road to Hicksboro' perm. 

It is almost as if everything is wrapped up (almost) neatly in one tight ball.