Sat, March 26, Los Altos, CA.
Wow. What an eventful roadbikereview ride. We had a ton of great people, a crushing freak accident, a hammerfest at skyline boulevard, a lecture from a motorcycle cop and a great ride salvaged.
Vital stats are:
distance: 55.7 miles
climb: 5850 feet
damage: crumpled lemond frame, bent Record chainring, damaged time fork, ripped conti tire. cracked high-end helmet, ripped roadbikereview kit.
injuries: badly injured MikeG, John with bruised hip, Red with a cut chin and mild concussion.
Riders: francis(francois), gregg, raymond(elsaltamontes), (mikeG), (twain), conrad, john(goloso), travis(travis200), ted(number9), chris(goose127), red, rommel, roy,ariel, michael(sitzpickel), (bigdeal), josh, derek(bustamove)
The crash:
Half a mile into the ride, we rode south on Foothill blvd between Main St. and San Antonio. The group of 15 riders was leisurely riding along in small clumps at 15 mph, getting to know each other. I was in the front with Gregg and saw two foot-long sticks in the middle of the bike line. I steered clear and pointed it out to the riders behind. Raymond and Roy were a few bike lengths behind. They saw the sticks at the last moment and yelled 'stick'. I believe MikeG, John and Red were a few bike lengths behind and didn't hear the signal. MikeG never saw the sticks and we believe it got kicked up into his wheel jamming the front wheel. The front tire skidded briefly and he went down on the pavement HARD. He got in John's way and Red ran over John's bike and Red his chin on the pavement.
MikeG's Lemond Zurich was crumpled. MikeG hit almost every part of his body on the pavement including his face and neck. John landed on his hip. His big chainring was bent badly and his fork took a bad hit. Red endo'd into the pavement and hit his chin and we later found out cracked his helmet near the forehead.. He had a half inch cut and was woozy for a couple of minutes. He sat on the traffic lane for a couple of minutes as a couple of guys watched the cars. Red's tire was ripped and front wheel was out of true.
We picked up MikeG's car and he was able to drive home. John went home as well and is getting his bike checked. Red got a new tire from the car and was able to ride with us that day. He drove an hour from Walnut Creek and was in serious need of base training miles.
The ticket:
On the stop sign on Arastadero, turning left to Alpine road, about a dozen riders were waiting to cross. At a clearing, everyone crossed and Derek who was just rolling up to the stop sign kept going to cross with the group. Two approaching motorcycle cops saw him and pulled him over. One cop talked to him for a while with the ticket book out as the group waited 100 feet away. The cop put the book away, went to our group and lectured us all about stop signs. No ticket but we got the clear signal that Woodside is not happy about cyclists who don't follow the traffic laws.
The ride:
Great ride despite the incidents. There were a lot of breaks as the group felt each other out. But there was a lot of opportunity to hammer as well. I had many good conversations and got to know many of you quite well.
-Props to Conrad and Roy for picking up the cars for the injured.
-Michael is the german machine who rides 1000 miles a month and it shows.
-Red and Ariel went on to climb another 2000 feet at Kings Mountain.
-Gregg was out there and tackled the 18% climb of Redwood Gulch
-Travis, Chris, Ted are great riders and awesome guys.
-Josh rode from Santa Cruz, hammered with the group and had to ride back!
Here's a few brilliant photos from my POS cell phone. It was my 4-year old's first baseball game and it would have been a crime to miss the game AND take the camera. It did a good job <a href="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/img_1464.jpg" target="new">HERE</a> and <a href="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/img_1458.jpg" target="new">HERE. </a> He called me while I was climbing highway 9 and said he 'crushed' the baseball!
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/rbr.gif">
MikeV (who came just to hang out) and Red
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17116436_62925988_0.jpg ">
Red, Roy and Twain
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17116381_62925811_0.jpg ">
Rommel
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17116335_62925660_0.jpg ">
Raymond(Elsaltamontes)
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17116273_62925461_0.jpg ">
Derek, Gregg and John
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17116213_62925268_0.jpg ">
Michael(), Travis(200), Chris(goose127)
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17116148_62925055_0.jpg ">
MikeG badly injured!
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17116090_62924865_0.jpg ">
MikeG's crumpled Lemond. Don't worry son. We will get you a Moots!
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17116040_62924701_0.jpg ">
John's bent Record chainring
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17115944_62924390_0.jpg ">
John with a bruised hip and a sad ride home.
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17115860_62924116_0.jpg ">
Red with a cut chin and scraped lips
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17115796_62923905_0.jpg ">
Red's tire ripped as it went through John's chainring
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17101229_62877711_0.jpg ">
Me reeling from the first crash I have ever experienced.
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17101145_62877443_0.jpg ">
MikeG driving home and to the ER!
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17101093_62877254_0.jpg ">
francois
Wow. What an eventful roadbikereview ride. We had a ton of great people, a crushing freak accident, a hammerfest at skyline boulevard, a lecture from a motorcycle cop and a great ride salvaged.
Vital stats are:
distance: 55.7 miles
climb: 5850 feet
damage: crumpled lemond frame, bent Record chainring, damaged time fork, ripped conti tire. cracked high-end helmet, ripped roadbikereview kit.
injuries: badly injured MikeG, John with bruised hip, Red with a cut chin and mild concussion.
Riders: francis(francois), gregg, raymond(elsaltamontes), (mikeG), (twain), conrad, john(goloso), travis(travis200), ted(number9), chris(goose127), red, rommel, roy,ariel, michael(sitzpickel), (bigdeal), josh, derek(bustamove)
The crash:
Half a mile into the ride, we rode south on Foothill blvd between Main St. and San Antonio. The group of 15 riders was leisurely riding along in small clumps at 15 mph, getting to know each other. I was in the front with Gregg and saw two foot-long sticks in the middle of the bike line. I steered clear and pointed it out to the riders behind. Raymond and Roy were a few bike lengths behind. They saw the sticks at the last moment and yelled 'stick'. I believe MikeG, John and Red were a few bike lengths behind and didn't hear the signal. MikeG never saw the sticks and we believe it got kicked up into his wheel jamming the front wheel. The front tire skidded briefly and he went down on the pavement HARD. He got in John's way and Red ran over John's bike and Red his chin on the pavement.
MikeG's Lemond Zurich was crumpled. MikeG hit almost every part of his body on the pavement including his face and neck. John landed on his hip. His big chainring was bent badly and his fork took a bad hit. Red endo'd into the pavement and hit his chin and we later found out cracked his helmet near the forehead.. He had a half inch cut and was woozy for a couple of minutes. He sat on the traffic lane for a couple of minutes as a couple of guys watched the cars. Red's tire was ripped and front wheel was out of true.
We picked up MikeG's car and he was able to drive home. John went home as well and is getting his bike checked. Red got a new tire from the car and was able to ride with us that day. He drove an hour from Walnut Creek and was in serious need of base training miles.
The ticket:
On the stop sign on Arastadero, turning left to Alpine road, about a dozen riders were waiting to cross. At a clearing, everyone crossed and Derek who was just rolling up to the stop sign kept going to cross with the group. Two approaching motorcycle cops saw him and pulled him over. One cop talked to him for a while with the ticket book out as the group waited 100 feet away. The cop put the book away, went to our group and lectured us all about stop signs. No ticket but we got the clear signal that Woodside is not happy about cyclists who don't follow the traffic laws.
The ride:
Great ride despite the incidents. There were a lot of breaks as the group felt each other out. But there was a lot of opportunity to hammer as well. I had many good conversations and got to know many of you quite well.
-Props to Conrad and Roy for picking up the cars for the injured.
-Michael is the german machine who rides 1000 miles a month and it shows.
-Red and Ariel went on to climb another 2000 feet at Kings Mountain.
-Gregg was out there and tackled the 18% climb of Redwood Gulch
-Travis, Chris, Ted are great riders and awesome guys.
-Josh rode from Santa Cruz, hammered with the group and had to ride back!
Here's a few brilliant photos from my POS cell phone. It was my 4-year old's first baseball game and it would have been a crime to miss the game AND take the camera. It did a good job <a href="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/img_1464.jpg" target="new">HERE</a> and <a href="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/img_1458.jpg" target="new">HERE. </a> He called me while I was climbing highway 9 and said he 'crushed' the baseball!
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/rbr.gif">
MikeV (who came just to hang out) and Red
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17116436_62925988_0.jpg ">
Red, Roy and Twain
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17116381_62925811_0.jpg ">
Rommel
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17116335_62925660_0.jpg ">
Raymond(Elsaltamontes)
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17116273_62925461_0.jpg ">
Derek, Gregg and John
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17116213_62925268_0.jpg ">
Michael(), Travis(200), Chris(goose127)
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17116148_62925055_0.jpg ">
MikeG badly injured!
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17116090_62924865_0.jpg ">
MikeG's crumpled Lemond. Don't worry son. We will get you a Moots!
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17116040_62924701_0.jpg ">
John's bent Record chainring
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17115944_62924390_0.jpg ">
John with a bruised hip and a sad ride home.
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17115860_62924116_0.jpg ">
Red with a cut chin and scraped lips
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17115796_62923905_0.jpg ">
Red's tire ripped as it went through John's chainring
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17101229_62877711_0.jpg ">
Me reeling from the first crash I have ever experienced.
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17101145_62877443_0.jpg ">
MikeG driving home and to the ER!
<img src="https://mtbr.com/author/photos/rbr426/17101093_62877254_0.jpg ">
francois
