My Bike Crash and Road Rash Pics

Annie and I signed up to do the Humble Lions Club Charity ride this morning.  She was doing the 25miler and I was going to do the 55miler. About 1000 people were signed up for this ride and it was only 15 minutes from the house so it was on roads I know like the back of my hand.  Started off as a good morning - Good coffee, good bagel, good parking spot, good friends to ride with, just overall good!  It didn't end as well.

We meet up with our riding buddies and the ride started.  I got into a group with some friends from the Tri club and we were moving right along for the first 20 miles or so.  It was at this point that I had dropped back some as  I was chatting it up with my friend Karen.  Her training plan has her training by HR zones and she was in the perfect zone and I told her I was going to catch up to the rest of the group.  They had maybe a 1/2 mile lead on me.

I dropped into Aero and was holding between 24-25 mph and caught up to the guys.  I had a nice grove going and felt like hammering for a little longer so I passed everyone and probably had a couple hundred yards buffer from the pack when I was approaching a left hand turn on the road.  This turn is maybe 20- 25 degrees and I have actually practiced here in the past making turns in aero at this exact place.

Today I hit the turn a little less wide than I should have while still in aero at about 23mph and as I leaned a little to correct my rear tire caught some loose gravel and down I went.  Looked like I was sliding into second base with a carbon TT on top of me.

Luckily the guys behind me were able to react quickly and no one else went down (or rode over me).  This was around mile 22 and I finished off the 55miles and then got in a 4 mile run after the ride.  This means I am okay but am going to have some soreness tomorrow and I got some fantastic road rash.  My bike is fine as well.  Her left brake lever lost some paint and the left side of the front skewer was acting funky.  I wanted to get an extra 20miles in but decided to get the bike to the LBS since it was making some funky sounds in that front skewer and hub.

Here are some pics of the road rash.  IMO, they aren't too bad but if you have a weak stomach you may want to skip these:

And the Grand Finale - My Hip:

Some of the pictures do not do the wounds justice because of my body hair.

The #1 Lesson Learned today was to shave my legs and arms even in the winter. The hair in the road rash is painful.

The #2 Lesson Learned today was that a shower and then Hydrogen Peroxide hurt worse then the crash.

The #3 Lesson Learned today was that if you must go down placing your body between the concrete and your bike is a very wise decision.  My wounds will heal in a week or so, the pain of losing your favorite carbon frame would last forever!!!

I have had some smaller crashes in the past but this is the first time any significant wounds have occurred.  I had on my helmet and my head hit the road pretty hard.  The way I look at it this could have been a lot worse and if you are going to be putting 5k-6k miles on the road per year the chances are pretty good you will go down every now and again.  Shit happens, wipe it off and get back in the saddle!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training: Crash and Burn

Today was not a good day. I struggled to get out of bed and did not accomplish that until 9:30 am. Which is beyond abnormal for me. I am a morning person and usually jump right out of bed. Then I made it to the kitchen and Annie and I made a nice healthy breakfast: Whole Wheat Waffles, Turkey Sausage, and Egg Whites.

I then became engrossed in the British Open and sat down to cheer for Tom Watson. Well, five minutes later I was passed out on the couch. I woke up right before he missed the putt on the 18th and then dozed off again until the final hole of the playoffs. Once again, high unusual for me!

After that Annie and I had a bunch of errands and grocery shopping to do. I pretty much sleep-walked through my entire day and could go to sleep again right now. I did not have the energy or desire to even consider actually running today?

Well, I got to thinking and this was pretty much my body saying it needed a break. Not so much from working out but more from the last couple of weeks. Overseas travel, jet lag, sleep deprivation, long hours at work, more sleep deprivation and the wisdom teeth extractions. When I look back I am shocked I didn't shutdown a few days ago. I could have pushed through today as I have in the past but I firmly believe this would have done more harm than good to my overall training.

I can now start tomorrow and hit it hard being completely refreshed and energized.

I want to focus this week on working on my Total Immersion technique and especially my bilateral breathing. I also want to pay a lot of attention to my running as well. So, I am not going to bike again until Sunday and alternate running and swimming this week. Should be fun.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff