Normally a ride report would start at the trailhead, but this one is going to start late last night. Maybe I should say early this morning thanks to
PacMan. In response to my
Who logs their rides? post, he talks about the
Sport Tracks software he uses to track his stuff. This is at 11pm on Monday. Well...fast forward to 12:30am and I'm still up playing with the software. I need to be up at 6am or my whole morning routine was gonna be outta whack.
Anyway, I manage to pull myself away from the forum and the software. Both are very addictive.
Luckily, no one was meeting me for the morning ride because I woke up an hour later than I wanted. I brushed my teeth, fed the pets, and whipped up a bowl of Coach's Oats, then geared up for my ride. I think for this ride I'll be sporting the Pearl Izumi shorts and Gerolsteiner jersey. Debated on wearing my Specialized cycling shoes for a change (only used them twice), but decided to stay with my trusty and comfy Adidas.
Did I have everything else? Helmet...check! Gloves...check! Charged GPS...check! Glasses...check! Charged iPod Shuffle...check! Tire levers, patches, & CO2...check! Water...check! I had what I needed.
I opened the garage door and was relieved to feel a gust of cool air and I saw that it was a bit overcast. "Absolutely perfect!" I thought because I was rolling out a little later than usual. A quick fill of the tires to 125 psi and I was about to hit the road.
The first pedal stroke let me know that my right knee was still a bit sore, so I stopped and ran back into the house to take 400mg of ibuprofin. I hope I don't get busted for doping... Back onto the bike for an easy spin on my route to warm up the legs. The cool air and cloudy skies were a welcome change to the merciless sun that usually beats down on me.
There's really not very many spots to just coast on the way up to Lytle Creek. It's a slow steady climb to the top. It doesn't matter if it's the road or the trail. Getting your climbing done first means that you get to enjoy your downhill. That's the way it should be. No offense to the DHers, but there's a great sense of satisfaction of knowing you put in the work to earn your downhill run.
5 miles in...I think the ibuprofin is working its magic because the pain in my knee is nearly gone. The muscles are warm and I'm spinning at a consistent 85 to 90 rpm.
6.75 miles pedaled and 30 minutes in and I'm passing under the 15 fwy.
11.5 miles pedaled and 53 minutes in and I'm passing by the first rest area on the right. 4 more miles of climbing to go before I hit my regular turn around point.
Climbing is really not that exciting. I just worked on my form. Smooth seated spinning at high rpms transitioned to a few upshifts so I could stand for some out of the saddle efforts. I tried to emulate all the climbers that I've seen that seem to just dance on the pedals as they ascended up grades that were far steeper that the ones I was tackling this morning.
I eventually hit my turnaround point and saw the long stretch of road that continued up the mountain. It seemed to mock me as if to say that I didn't have it in me to venture further. Damnit! Don't mock me! I took the bait and pedaled on. Let's just see where this road goes.
Turns out that the road continued another 2.5 miles with another 800+ ft of ascent. I could go no further unless I wanted to see how my road whip would fair in the dirt. I see a sign that reads "Pavement Ends" and I'm disappointed by the graffitti that's spray painted on it.
There's that sense of accomplishment you get when you conquer something. Big or small, it doesn't matter because it's one more thing you can add to your life's book of "Stuff I Did." Is this little ride superhuman? Not in the least. There are so many out there that can do this route and probably do it faster, but it's much different to say
I CAN DO IT versus
I DID IT.
Well the downhill was definitely earned and a wonderful 35-40 mph descent came immediately after the climb. The corners were taken clean and fast...just put your weight on your outside pedal and look through the turn. The straights were taken with my hands in the drops, and my 53-12 gears. No coasting...I still pedaled.
While it took an hour and 10 minutes to climb to the top of Lytle Creek from the 15 fwy, the descent back down to the 15 fwy took only 25 minutes. A quick left turn on to Riverside Avenue and I was in the home stretch to my house.
Riverside Avenue is a simple almost straight road that goes from the 15 fwy all the way past the 10 fwy. I've biked it many times. I like it because if you're going south, and you catch the lights just right you can maintain a 30 mph plus pace for 5+ miles. Sometimes you can catch the draft of a big truck and there was one occasion where I maintain 41 mph for a little under a mile.
There are a few spots where there are bumps and potholes that you'd seriously need to either go around or bunnyhop. Riding the road so many times, I know where those spots are and I avoid them. Well, today I was only going 25-30 mph down Riverside. At about mile 29 or 30 I was in a little bit of a zone and not paying attention when all of a sudden my front wheel hits something and I'm in the air. My brain quickly processes my location and I know the exact HUGE bump I hit. My bike lands at about a 45 degree angle pointing towards the curb and I'm out of control. My attempt to save it was futile and I could sense that I was falling to the right.
Everything was going in slow-motion and I can remember saying, "F***!" as I unclipped and jumped off my bike to the grass on the right. The inside of my left knee hit the curb as I'm trying to roll into a ball. I hit the grass and slid on my right shoulder for a few yards.
I immediately jumped up and looked around to see if anyone witnessed my little mishap. Not a car on the road and not a person in sight. I consider myself very fortunate because worse case scenario could have been that I fell to the left and there was traffic next to me. Even if there wasn't traffic, I could have had a worse case of road rash and maybe broken something from falling onto the hard asphalt.
I did a quick once over on the road whip and aside from a few minor scratches and some messed up bar tape, it was fine. I hopped back on and continued the 8 miles back to my house. All body parts were working fine and all bike parts were functioning properly.
The ride ended with 38.08 miles logged and 3445 feet of vertical ascent in 2 hours 30 minutes 36 seconds.
Click on the map for the
Ride Replay:
I urge everyone to not get too complacent on ANY ride you do. Respect the road and respect the trail. My little mishap today could have been much worse and I'll use it as learning experience and a reminder that anything can happen at anytime. Do your best to understand what YOU have control over.
Here are some of the aftermath pictures:
My iPhone case rules!
Since I crashed on asphalt going down a straight road, does it mean I have issues?