Had my first wreck on 6-24-06- It wasn't too bad
Well, after 2,700 miles on my bike (purchased in October 2004), I had my first wreck.
I went on my Saturday distance builders ride and I was really looking forward to doing our 60 mile ride, since I had missed some miles during the week (and I had a goal of reaching 400 miles for the month of June).
The ride started out very nice. About 10 miles into it, we picked up Bo (76 year old rider in our club) at his car, along the route. Then off we went. We had a group of 12, which was perfect.
It was slightly overcast and for Texas, it was feeling pretty cool. With the cloud cover it felt comfortable even. We were doing a 15-16 mph average, and even got to sprint some sections.
Then at about mile 30, we were heading down a slight incline on a busy road. The ground had a fine layer of water on it, from a recent shower, but it looked fine. I was chatting it up with the guy beside me, when all of sudden the lady in front of me went down. Just PLOP... over she went. So, I put on my brakes to avoid her (she was on my left side), and PLOP down I went on my right side.
I landed pretty hard on my right shoulder and I was in shock. I just kept saying, "Oh Sh#T"... over and over again. Then I looked behind me, and I saw 4 other cyclists in the road! Apparently, everyone who put on their brakes, went down. Which ended up being 6 out of 12 people.
A car pulled over but we told them it was OK... as we had enough people to handle the situation. I know the cars driving by must of thought, "WHAT THE HELL"... seeing use scattered along the road like that.
We all moved to the grass and checked everyone out. For the most part, everyone was fine. We all had hurt shoulders, but no road rash because we slide down the pavement. And oddly enough, no one hit each other. We all went down independently.
Then we all got back up and turned around to take another route. No one wanted to try to go down that incline again, with a traffic light at the bottom of it.
Going back was slower, to say the least. My shoulder was hurting pretty bad (along with others) and I couldn't really lean on my handlebars to start and stop, and trying to shift on the right side was pretty hard. Not to mention that I had a few gears out from my derailer getting knocked around, so some hills were a challenge (only had my high gears working).
Luckily, one guy was stopping at his house around mile 38, so he took 2 of the more hurt riders with him and drove them back to their car. I opted to follow Bo back to his car, and he gave me a ride back to my car (cut around 10 miles off my ride), and the ones that weren't hurt rode back to the starting point. Overall, I got 47 miles in, at a 14 mph average.
So, in the end, I have to say that my first wreck was a pleasant experience. I didn't get road rash, my jersey/shorts were ruined, my bike just required a minor repair, and my shoulder although hurt, should heal quickly.
The worst part of the wreck? Well, because of the shoulder pain, I can't lift my arm very high, so I can't blow dry or straighten my hair. I will have crappy looking hair for days. UGH!
And it also sucks because I know I won't make my 400 mile goal for the month, and I couldn't swim as planned on Sunday (I am a triathlete). Thankfully I don't have any races on my calendar though, due to not being able to run right now. So, it could be worse!
