panic in the hills! (what should i do differently next time?)

[caligurl]

sooooo saturday hubby and i decided to climb GMR (gorgous 22 mile hill climb in socal)... since i wanted to go to one of bike stores near there anyways... why kill two birds???

the deal is he can zoom to the top... but he has to ride down with me in case i crash... yes... that is the reasoning i give him....

i got myself together and left to climb.. knowing he would pass me... yep.... he did! then when i was almost to the top... he had turned around and come back to ride the last couple of miles with me...

we sat at the lodge for a while talking to another guy who had met us there.... when it was time to go... i got on my bike and said "you'll catch up with me"....

now.. there is a steep climb out of baldy before you start down (and actually several other climbing areas.. you actually climb about 75% on the way up and about 25% on the way down.... the guy we had met up with passed me before i ever got to the top of that first hill... so i assumed hubby must have gone to use the pottys... then a while later a guy that had ridden up and they were both talking to as i left rode by

i look behind me... no hubby... i go down some..... some to another climb.... still no hubby..... at one point at a switchback i look back and still no hubby?????? i'm starting to get worried... but i keep going

then around one of the curves... 2 stupid IDIOTS on motorcycles come flying around and almost take me out (i'm riding my side on the side ) then i'm thinking to myself "i hope hubby's riding on the side of the road.. cuz most riders tend to ride in the center of their lane on this road since traffic is so light)

i keep going... and checking behind me (i'm more in the center of my lane when i turn around... don't want a repeat of the ambulance crash episode... plus.. it's not dirt on the sides.. it's cliffs and straight down!)

finally... after about 13 miles... i come to another area where i can look back... i stop... NO HUBBY so i stand there... and check the time... and i wait... watching... 2 motorcycles came by from the direction i was headed.. then two more... noone in site from the direction i just came from.... i actually had phone service and was trying to call hubby..... but of course... 99% of GMR you have no phone service... so that was futile.... (but i still kept calling)....

finally after about 1/2 hour.. i'm totally FREAKING out... crying... shaking.. thinking all sorts of horrible things... i didn't know what to do!!!!!!!!!!!! i didn't know if i should go down the hill... but i had no keys to the truck! so what good would that do? should i start riding back up? i was down to about 1/2 a water bottle and it was getting hotter..... who could i call? 911?

finally.... i saw two cyclists... i'm hoping and hoping that i's hubby and he had met up with someone coming down the hill.... they get close enough... no... not him then another lone cyclist... " oh please PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be hubby"..... IT WAS

he got to where i was waiting and i'm blathering like a baby.... "i was so scared".. "i didn't know what to do"... his first comment: "it was OK... it almost did happen"

one one of the descents (which you can get good speed on).. he had a rear tire blow out..... he said he couldn't get stopped... he unclipped and dragged his foot/cleat to stop...... he had just passed 2 cyclists headed up that were stopped on the side of the road.... they heard him yell OH S*** and back down around the curve cuz they thought he was going over.... he had to boot his tire (and he didn't have anything! the guy gave him a piece of cardboard... i told him we need to give him some money to put in the bag on this bike to use for a boot! he's got some on the other one! but i digress!)

he said he was hoping someone would go by going down... but noone ever did....

it just soooooooooooooooo freaked me out.... i even rode LOTS slower the rest of the way down the hill...

but that wasn't the end of it.... when we were almost to the bottom we passed two guys on the side of the road... one looking at his bike like it's a foreign object.. then i notice all the blood on his face! hubby didn't see that... so as i caught back up to hubby i told him: "he was all bloody"... so we turned back around... he had crashed in the sand (had gone over the the other lane)... the other guy had found him laying in the road.... hubby changed the guys tire and tried to clean his face up.. asked his name.. birthday.. etc.. to make sure he was cognizant... told him to go get stitches in his cut... the other guy took off... hubby was going to ride down with george to make sure he got down ok and that he took it easy... uhm.. no way.. he sped ahead of us!

i sure hope he got himself looked at!

no doubt the next time we ride gmr i'll be a total worry-wart! (and we have plans to go back soon cuz i had to order my shoes i wanted from the bike store and my jersey i ordered from another one came in!)

[bikerchick68]

cali... YIKES! what a scary day... I'd have been a nervous wreck too! I'm sure glad the DH was able to stop and was OK... was he on his new bike??? UGH! I can only imagine how ticked he woulda been if he crashed it...

it might be worth it to get those walkie talkies that you use for snowboarding/skiing just for riding GMR... I know you guys ride it fairly often... and they have lots of other good uses too! My ex and I had them for snowboarding tho, as we had no cell svc on the mountain either... that way if we got separated (which we did more than once) we'd have a way to be sure the other was safe...

Man, I hope the bloody guy was OK... bet he just wanted to get the heck off the bike by then... it was good of you and the DH to check him out and try to help!

[KSH]

OH... very scary! Just happy to hear that you and your hubby are safe and sound.

This reinforces why I go SLOW going down hills. Yep, I am whimp riding the brakes all the way... but I don't want to crash.

I'm not Lance... I don't need to go as fast as I can down hills!

Be safe out there lady... take care.

[bounceswoosh]

Well, as long as you're asking, next time, you could stop sooner and, if you don't see your husband, start climbing back up.

I don't have much, okay any, experience with road riding, but I've been on a long descent (Rollins Pass, 15 miles down) on dirt. If we noticed we hadn't seen someone in a while, we'd stop and wait. We were actually about to turn around when we found our friend riding in the back of a pickup truck; he'd gotten a double snakebite (pinch flat) earlier. But if he hadn't shown up, we would have headed back up to check for him.

Stuff happens, even to experienced riders.

[TrekJeni]

he had to boot his tire (and he didn't have anything! the guy gave him a piece of cardboard... i told him we need to give him some money to put in the bag on this bike to use for a boot! he's got some on the other one! but i digress!)

What's a boot?
Thanks
Jeni
PS Sounds like a very scary ride. Glad eveerything ended up well

[Pax]

Dang Cali! You've got me thinking that maybe flat-as-a-pancake Central IL is not so bad.

[caligurl]

What's a boot?
Thanks
Jeni
PS Sounds like a very scary ride. Glad eveerything ended up well

it's where you put a piece of cardboard, rubber, even money inside the tire... under the hole to prevent the tube from oozing/popping out of the hole when you pimp up the tire.. it's a good way to get you home if you have a blow out on away from home/away from the car! otherwise he woulda been walking down the hill!

[SadieKate]

when you pimp up the tire

I've booted tires myself but I've never pimped one. Can you give us instructions on this also? Hee-hee, you can hit me now!

[caligurl]

Dang Cali! You've got me thinking that maybe flat-as-a-pancake Central IL is not so bad.

ya... no kidding! we actually went back down to in cycle to go shopping this past saturday.. and did NOT go to gmr first!!!!!!!!!! we rode at home then drove down to go shopping! we'll do it again.. but we thought it was a bit soon.. i know i woulda been a bit freaky on the descent!

[caligurl]

I've booted tires myself but I've never pimped one. Can you give us instructions on this also? Hee-hee, you can hit me now!

well.... that' when you put on your long fur coat (preferrably fake fur) and go get some clients... oh wait.... that's not it..

ya... typo.. but a fun one!

[slinkedog]

Well, you can pimp your ride, so why not your tire? Maybe pimping your tire is what happens when you get a Zipp wheel to go with your tire.


Cali, that is a truly scary story. I've been having descending issues (as SadieKate can attest to), and this story does not help one single bit. However, I did very well on some rather straight descents on Saturday... I got up to 30mph without hitting the brakes and felt very much in control. (Applause, please.)

[SadieKate]

Well, you can pimp your ride, so why not your tire? Maybe pimping your tire is what happens when you get a Zipp wheel to go with your tire.

Oooh, good one.

However, I did very well on some rather straight descents on Saturday... I got up to 30mph without hitting the brakes and felt very much in control. (Applause, please.)

Yahoo!!! Brava!! And the crowds go wild!!!

[mom2twins]

SCARY!!! I would have been freaking out too wondering what to do. Glad you were both okay