Avoiding Crashes
I rode through Percy Warner Park on Monday and Tuesday and twice on Wednesday. This is three days in a row which is the first time this year for that. I plan on riding today as well. My average speed on Monday was 15.4. This was a full park ride of 18 miles with all of the hills and so I was not unhappy with the speed. Tuesday I rode a little slower on purpose. Also on Tuesday, after climbing 3-mile hill I noticed a full sized fire engine and another vehicle stopped on the down slope. There was a group of a few cyclists there as well and one of them had obviously crashed coming down the hill. I had to stop on the hill before I could get by. A man about 20ish was lying on the pavement talking to a paramedic. He seemed alert and was talking but was obviously unable to ride. His friends thought it necessary to call an ambulance and I passed that down the road a little.
I thought about crashes and the upcoming Etape. The man who wrecked in the park may have been unfamiliar with the road, lost control or otherwise made a mistake and crashed. Or, maybe one of his riding partners turned too hard and crossed his wheel or braked too hard or ran into him. The point is, it may or may not have been his fault that he crashed and he was only in a group of 5 or 6 riders. The Etape is going to be a ride of 8000 or so. I assume most of those people will be unfamiliar with the roads and possess varying levels of experience riding in groups. There is no doubt crashes will occur and innocent people will be affected. I am most concerned about the downhills. I don’t plan on taking any chances going downhill. If possible I am leaving plenty of room between me and those in front. I’d like to get a respectable time but, really, I just want to finish in one piece.
On another note, I faxed the newly requested medical letters to France and received confirmation from Cyclomundo that they were received and appeared in good order. That does not mean they were accepted but it’s out of my hands at the moment. I will let you know if we get in. If not, I am going to assume the Amaury Sport Organization has seen enough of Americans in their events.
Total mileage to date: 487
Total hours: 33.2
Current weight: 156.8 (goal 145)
I thought about crashes and the upcoming Etape. The man who wrecked in the park may have been unfamiliar with the road, lost control or otherwise made a mistake and crashed. Or, maybe one of his riding partners turned too hard and crossed his wheel or braked too hard or ran into him. The point is, it may or may not have been his fault that he crashed and he was only in a group of 5 or 6 riders. The Etape is going to be a ride of 8000 or so. I assume most of those people will be unfamiliar with the roads and possess varying levels of experience riding in groups. There is no doubt crashes will occur and innocent people will be affected. I am most concerned about the downhills. I don’t plan on taking any chances going downhill. If possible I am leaving plenty of room between me and those in front. I’d like to get a respectable time but, really, I just want to finish in one piece.
On another note, I faxed the newly requested medical letters to France and received confirmation from Cyclomundo that they were received and appeared in good order. That does not mean they were accepted but it’s out of my hands at the moment. I will let you know if we get in. If not, I am going to assume the Amaury Sport Organization has seen enough of Americans in their events.
Total mileage to date: 487
Total hours: 33.2
Current weight: 156.8 (goal 145)
posted by Tormax at 12:40 PM
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