Not Another Fall

… yes, unfortunately, I took another fall earlier this week.  This was just on my commute into work, and it’s funny how everything seemed to be all going smoothly, and then suddenly, wham!  There was no car involved, but some pipe or cylindrical object was in the bike path, and I don’t think I saw it in time.

End result … face hit the ground, lacerations on my face.  After about a day, the blood dried up, but it also meant my jaw couldn’t really open too wide.  Was checked into El Camino Hospital, and nothing broken on the face, or knees … all checked out fine.  I do have cracked ribs, so here we go again … 6 weeks of being off the bike.

I was prescribed motrin and narco, but  I’m trying to not tap into those drugs quite yet.  I’m able to handle the pain so far, and I’ll just use them as a safety blanket.

This means my double century season is over.  I’m not sure if I am throwing in the towel for double centuries, but this body is getting old, and having two incidents of cracked ribs in 1 year … odds are not in my favor.

How’s the bike?  I don’t know … co-worker will be taking them with him (I left the bike in my cubicle) … most likely a cracked or broken fork, but not sure how the rest of the frame is.  Yes, this was my Volagi.  I may want to shift my focus on my riding from here on out.

Glasses were all shredded, so I had to go an order a new pair … luckily, I have a spare set of contact lenses, that should last me a couple of weeks.  It’s a shame .. these only lasted 5 months.

Update: Fork sheered at the headtube, and a broken spoke on my front wheel. Damn, too bad I didn’t have my Garmin VIRB recording at the time.

Time to Re-Evaluate My Goals For the Year

I first had a goal of completely DMD this year.  The year started out well, was on track, completing Solvang Double first, and was all prepared for DMD.  My thought was maybe if I finish that, I could do another Triple Crown.

I didn’t finish DMD this year … Bailed  on Sierra.  Oh well, maybe I could still do triple crown by doing Davis and Grand Tour.

However, I had a couple of personal setbacks after DMD.  First, my whole lost Drivers License and Debit Card ordeal.  That made me not in the mood for training.  Do I lost two weeks of fitness there, and was not ready for Davis at all.  In fact, I would be lucky if I completed 60 miles.  So I bailed on Davis.

Then, Memorial Day Weekend came around, and an opportunity to build up my climbing core.  On Memorial Day, I had just finished Page Mill to Woodside loop, and was ready for the ride home.  Then, without warning, I slammed right into the rear of a tandem.

Ouch, that hurt.  Luckily the couple on the tandem seemed OK.  I felt really awful about that.  There didn’t seem to be that much damage on my bike
(shredded tire, out of true wheel), but I still need to take it into the shop.  But I did suffer some bruised on my ribs, and that hurt.

The first few days after the accident, I’ve been having some challenges moving around.  Coughing and laughing made my sides hurt, and getting in and out of bed were a challenge.  Ok, this is a definite sign … This will force me to take some time off the bike.

Now the hard … Time off the bike.  I guess I have to now think of things normal people do when not on the bike.  That’s hard.  But I guess I can catch up on movies, catch up writing blogs, clean the house, and reevaluate my goals for the year.  I think I won’t be able to do this until I am completely healed.  This will most likely mean missing Santa Cruz Mountain Challenge, and that really pisses me off.  Oh well, what can I do.  Guess I’ll have to live life like a normal person … Nooooooo!

I envy everyone that is able to ride their bike this weekend.  Just be attentive, and be safe, ride defensive.  Beware if traffic around you, especially if you are looking down at your Garmin.  I’m not sure, but I think that’s what happened to me.  I feel really stupid after this.  😦

Jousting on the Bike is Painful

Monday, I was getting out of the office at around 5:30 pm, and there was still sunlight out.  This was great … I was thinking I might be able to go all the way home in daylight.  In other words, I was in a really good mood.

I took my route through the San Tomas Aquino bike path as usual, and took the Levi’s Stadium detour (passing through where ACE trains stop by on Great America).  Then I get back on a short stretch of a bike path.  Another rider is coming in the opposite direction, and for some reason he ends up in my lane, and I had no time to reach, and we collide.

Damn, that hurt.  He didn’t even ask if I was OK.  All he said was I was going too fast.  I was going 15 mph, but regardless, he should not be in my lane.  It’s a little ironic that they built these bike paths to be safer for us, when in fact I’ve heard from some of my friends that’s where they suffer the most accidents.  I probably should have taken Lawrence Expressway.  At least there, I know exactly what everyone is going to do.

Damage?  Front rim is shot.  Impact but a big dent in the rim, making the wheel out of true.  There goes my nice Williams 30 rim.