Sunday, May 16, 2010

That was enough.

This weekend I was planning on riding the Montauk Century. I've done this ride before (it was the first century that I ever did), it is flat, and with the prevailing winds from west to east, often fast as the route is generally west to east too . The ride offers 4 distances: 140 miles, 100 miles and 65 miles. I'm partial to the 100 route.

This ride has historically been a Team in Training event but this year the team decided to do another ride instead. I wanted to get some miles under my belt to better prepare me for Eagleman next month so a bunch of us decided to do it along with a lot of athletes training for IMLP. Yes, 100 miles might be a little long given my physical state but I decided that if could on focusing on nutrition and riding it easy (aka under control - L1/L2). My coach "advised" me to ride this event "intelligently."

But first there was Saturday. I did a medium effort bike ride with the LITC group for 30 miles. We started early and ended early for a perfect ride. Later that day my daughter had her confirmation with a celebratory dinner with our family. A lot of good food was had by all, Amanda was very happy but the few extra glasses of wine made 5AM come waaaayyyy too early.

The ride started out OK but the wind wasn't cooperating. Instead of at our back, it was in our face. This was going to lead to a long, slow day. Additionally, there were a lot of riders on this ride that really didn't seem to know how to ride. Rider etiquette seemed left out of the training manual for many of these riders and there a tremendous amount of people riding with ipods making for dangerous situations. This reached its crescendo when, at about the 16 mile mark, some solo rider moron came flying by on the outside without communicating with any one with the simple courtesy of "on your left" and somehow took himself and Cary out (in the middle of a pack of riders). I don't know if he had an ipod or not but I still don't know how a whole pack of 20 or so didn't go down. I was blocking traffic and saw this moron guy got up , got back on his bike, didn't seem to have any remorse and quickly left. Cary was shaken up and dizzy so we called the EMTs and convinced him to get in the ambulance to get checked out. The early reports are that overall he is OK but has a lot of dings on him. His bike will be visiting the bike shop later this week.

This crash made me take it even easier so I moseyed a bit. After the second rest stop (at 50 miles), I couldn't get my shoes clipped in. I took my shoe apart and it looks like a spring in the cleat is broken. I rode about 10 miles with only one shoe in and started feeling the imbalance in my knees. My wife was heading out to pick me up at the finish for the ride home and I was able to call her to pick me up earlier. All in all, 65 miles done - easy peasy.

I'm sure I could have limped it in but what would that have proven? I got my work in and that was enough for today. I was smart enough to call it a day before I got injured. This wasn't an "A" race for me and finishing a century, even though I haven't done one in a while, isn't a novel experience any more.

Even though I cut it short, it was a good day.

PS: My biggest fail of the day was that although I remembered to bring sun tan lotion but left it in my car without putting it on me. My nose is the only part of me that I will have to pay the price for this "forgetfulness."

12 comments:

KC (my 140 point 6 mile journey) said...

Cyclists riding with ipods make me crazy! I could dedicate a blog post just about that. Anyway, good call on calling it a day after 65 miles. No need to screw up your knee or have any close calls with the amateur riders out there. You had a nice training weekend.

Ewa said...

Sometimes I will ride/run with an ipod but I keep my volume low so I can actually hear what is happening around. Yes, that means that I often miss quieter portions of music but I don't want to wreck my ears or miss warning calls that somebody is passing me.
Hope your nose is fine.
Good call on stopping before getting injured.

Julie said...

Way to go on your 65 mile bike ride! Holy crap that sounds far to me....and you usually like the 100 miler!?! Bummer about the bike crash! What was this crazy thinking? It is really to bad that not every biker gets or understands the rules and etiquette of riding. Cheers to your wife for picking you up! You made the right move by cutting the ride short:) Have a great week!

Kathleen said...

You have a great perspective on the day. Congrats on your accomplishment.

Big Clyde said...

Excellent job on the ride! Glad to hear that you weren't in the accident. Maybe everyone will learn a bit about safety.

KovasP said...

Nice ride, stayed out of trouble, made good choices. If only all cyclists did the same! Hope Cary is okay.

Regina said...

Riding with an iPod is a big pet peeve of mine. That really sucks. I think you were very smart to bail at mile 65 instead of risking your knee. A few riders from my group did that ride. It was a windy day. Way to stick it out. Aloe for the nose!

Tricia said...

great job on stopping before an injury

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

some solo rider moron came flying by on the outside without communicating with any one with the simple courtesy of "on your left" and somehow took himself and Cary out (in the middle of a pack of riders)

Asshat!

Know what I hate about asshats? Their asshattery, is what!

There are rules for a reason, asshat! And yeah, we all really, really care how nice you look in your Assy Millinery. but FOLLOW THE EFFEN RULES, asshat!

I really do NOT care for asshats!

Nice job on the ride, brother. Hope Cary's okay.

Diane said...

I can so relate to this post Joe. Some guy tried to pass up the middle - up the middle!!! - between me and my friend yesterday. I looked back at him and yelled, "don't even think of it!! PASS ON THE LEFT! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" And tons of people passed me on my right, on my left without a word etc.. some simple bike rules that others need to learn before ever attempting to ride with 2000+ people - pass on the left and let them know you are coming.

OK, enough of my rant.

Great Job YOU!!

Tri Mommy said...

Great job on the ride! That stinks about your friend and I hope he is okay. And I think you did the right thing by calling it when you did. No need to injure anything!

Al's CL Reviews said...

I never even considered riding with an iPod. Besides hearing other riders, how do you hear traffic?

Asshat to the nth degree.

WTG on listening to your body. 65 miles is none to shabby.

Glad your friend is ok.