Photo Ops

I did a bike ride on July 4 this year...well part of one.  I didn't make the while trip.  I was in a group riding to the fireworks display in Carmel.  On the return trip one of the other riders had a chain derail at an intersection.  I stopped to wait for her to get going again and, as we started off again, I had a mishap.  I got up to about 10 mph or so and my rear wheel locked up.  After uttering profanity and getting off the bike I discovered my rear derailleur had committed suicide by diving into the spokes of my rear wheel.  My ride ended there and I waited 45 minutes for her to return later in her car to pick me up.

So the wheel I had built, at great expense, and the other upgrades were for naught.  Okay, maybe it wasn't quite catastrophic but my Cannondale was out of commission for two months.  I had to have the wheel repaired (six new spokes and trued) and the frame aligned.  Then I had to again find a new derailleur on ebay, a part that seems to be getting more rare by the day.  Fortunately, I was able to find one that was better in quality than the one that broke from a seller in London.  Including shipping it was still cheaper than any I could find in the US and appeared to be in better condition...new.

There was no crashing involved in this incident but it got me to thinking.  I am not a great one for being ready with the camera and saving images for posterity.  I did take a couple of pics of the damage but they are not too exciting.  But crashes I have had in the past might have made for interesting viewing.  When I first got my 10-speed for Christmas I couldn't wait for spring to ride it.  Blasting down a hill I intended to turn into a subdivision and hit some sand.  I was left in the middle of the street whilt the bike had tumbled into someone's yard.

Years later I bought a mountain bike.  A friend and I rode up to the top of a parking garage.  On the way back down I was going too fast and the wheels slid out and I crashed, fracturing my left wrist.  When I came to a rest my bike was standing upside down on handlebars and seat as I lay next to it with one foot still in the toe-clip.  That would have been a neat video to watch.

A year later I was again on my mountain bike trying it out on a bmx track.  I crashed when my front wheel hit and turned on me.  I came down on my shoulder and the side of my face.  The bike was OK.  My collarbone was completely separated from my shoulder.

Some years later I was participating in a club ride on my Cannondale when a dog got into my wheels and flipped me.  At least that is what I was told.  The severe concussion I got from that pretty well wiped out all memory of that day.  I just know I awakened the next day at my parent's house with bruised ribs and a lot of road rash.  I discovered a week or so later I had also sprained my shoulder, the same one I had previously torn apart.  I see arthritis in my future.

These days I am wary of letting my wheels lost contact with the road...and dogs...but I still enjoy riding.  But I really should start taking a camera along and taking pictures along the
 way.