Ouch. Today’s ride did not go as planned.
Shame really, as it all started so well. I often work Saturday mornings, and today was no different. But as it was hot I wanted to get out early-ish, and sticking to my plan I was through with my tasks by lunch time … plenty of time to prep and get out on a planned ~48km route.
The route I picked today was all roads I’ve covered before. With 400m or so of climb total, it also wasn’t exactly super taxing. The plan really was to have a fairly laid back ride out, enjoy the sun, get in some exercise and burn off yesterday’s cream cakes and over indulgence (was at my brother’s wedding).
In order to get out, I needed to first head through Preston on a Saturday afternoon. Never fun, and a fair few junctions I actively avoid. But with a bit of pavement action and general life risking, I was soon out on to the country side roads with not a car in sight. Glorious.
Actually, it’s probably a great thing cars were not in sight as it didn’t take long before I made my first hairy descent. But it’s dry, right? So I can go fast(er)…
Yeah, stupid mode activated.
I went too fast down the first descent, but knew the corner was sharp … as it’s one I’ve made a mistake on before.
So you’d think I’d take heed, right?
Alas, no.
I totally over estimated my abilities to corner hard and fast. Perhaps I over estimated the capabilities of rim brakes too. But I’d be foolish if I said this was truthfully anything but my own fault.
I came into a sharp downhill S-bend way too fast. Taking the first right hander I was way over the other side of the road to give myself an angle for the immediate left hander. Thank God nothing was coming the other way.
Anyway, I hit a bumpy patch on perfectly named Goosefoot Lane, then some gravelly bits, and before I knew where I was, I was off the road, down a gravel path and on my left side in quite a lot of pain.
In my back pocket I carry a tyre bead jack and I think I fell on that, driving it into my rib cage. At this point I don’t think I’ve fractured (and certainly broken) anything, but golly jeepers am I sore. My arm is a mess from the shoulder down to my wrist. But whilst my arm looks bad, it isn’t feeling that bad. Whereas my ribs look fine and hurt like heck.
Worse though is I think I’ve ruined my favourite Assos jersey. It came in ‘holy white’, but now it’s kinda gravel gray with blood flecks and a big rip. Gutted. Fortunately my shorts were just dusty.
After that I gave up the ride. Cycling home was slow and painful. Each bump hurt.
I desperately want to finish up the Tour of Watopia and had that planned in for tomorrow morning. I still want to try this, but how I’ll get on I have no idea. It will all depend on how I feel in the morning… I suspect quite stiff.
At this point I think I’ll be sticking to the turbo for light rides for at least a week, waiting for my body to heal up. Gutted. But yeah, completely my fault. There really is / was no need for me to be going fast everywhere. I don’t know why I do it. What a chimp.
Like a mad March hare! Hope you repair quickly.
Cheers Robert… think it’s going to be longer recovery than I initially thought.
Ouch! Been there a few times! Here is one of me eating crap early 2018 caught on camera
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e_18Y0Mug_o&feature=youtu.be
Got some good road rash and concussion for my efforts.
I guess the old muscles are seizing up about now. Hopefully not too long till you’re back on the bike with a new found respect for hard corners.
PS. Do all the roads over there look like that? All pot holes and patches?
Ooof – that drew an audible “ahhh” from me. Seen videos like that on YouTube, can’t watch them though, I’ve done my fair share of that as a kid and know the pain. Yikes though 🙁
I reckon I’ve broken or fractured a rib. It’s weird. I have a scraped arm which looks bad but doesn’t really hurt, and then my ribs look fine but it really hurts when I take a deep breath and getting up, sitting down, lying down, and sitting at my desk for even short lengths of time is giving me no end of pain.
I’m absolutely gutted as I really want to finish the tour of watopia, but any forward pressure on my left leg is making me whince. Probably a stupid idea to attempt it … but I really want to see it through.
That’s a good question.
By and large I’d say yes, that’s a fairly typical UK countryside road. They get resurfaced infrequently – easily 5+ years between – though that one in particularly is more gravelly than most.
I don’t remember much before the crash honestly, largely because I wasn’t expecting to crash and my mind was on other things. However, looking more closely at it, I think part of the reason I might have been on the other side of the road was because of the pot holes on my side as I was coming down.
The question is – would disc brakes have saved me? I’m not so sure, but it’s an interesting question.
I reckon I’ll be indoors for at least a couple of weeks now, and only on the light rides. Absolutely gutted tbh. I was in the best form I’ve ever been in.
I don’t think discs would have made a difference. If you’re already in the corner and in trouble, panic braking could make things worse.
One thing I’ve learnt from gravel riding on my Scott, gravel is very loosey goosey. Even with my 38c G-One Bites at 40psi, taking a corner at speed can be pretty hairy. 25c road bike tyres, well you know…
Yeah sucks to be injured, especially when you’re in top form. I guess treat it as a rest block and hit it hard once the body recovers.
I promise to never complain about our roads here again lol.
Yeah – fair enough on the disk brakes. It is what it is. Too much speed, paying the price for it for sure.
I wanna make light of it all but truthfully it’s been a lot of pain this week. It’s definitely not as bad today as it was on Sunday / Monday, but its not fun either. Of all the things, laying down is the most uncomfortable. That makes sleeping harder which then impacts my days… not much fun to be honest.
Worst thing is, I reckon if I could get the bike on the turbo, and me on the bike, I could probably sit ‘comfortably’ for an hour without issue. The hard part after the crash was pushing off on my left side, but once moving it wasn’t overly painful.
I dunno. I kinda have given up on the idea of finishing off the tour of watopia. At this point it’s just get better asap and crack on. Sucks tho.
And yeah, I blame the roads 🙂
Yeah brings back memories of my day at the BMX track, I remember barely being able to move after, not fun.
Probably best idea to write off TOW and give yourself the recovery your body needs. Last thing you want to do it make things worse and prolong your recovery.
Thinking about it, if your roads are that dire, wider tyres would be the ticket. Assume you’re running 25c tyres with tubes at around 90psi? You’re gonna be feeling bumps big time, also less contact with the road on narrow tyres.
Get yourself a disc bike that can accommodate 30c tyres (think Canyon Endurace) and throw some 30c GP5000s tubeless on there. You’d be able to run 62psi rear and 59psi front. You’d find it far more comfortable and grippier on your roads than your current setup.
25c but not 90psi. I tend to ride around 75-80psi. I’ve ridden higher but it sends a lot of feedback through my arms and knackers me out. Also with the roads often quite damp, less pressure gives a touch more rubber to road … I guess.
Cheers for the advice – the endurace definitely seems like the best all round option for me.