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Square Wheels

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whoops

I thought you were talking to me.

 

I heard you had a whole series.  :)

 

I'm going to try to go get it today.  Yesterday, we had monsoons here and I decided to wait another day.  Not really anxious to see it, anyway.

 

Enough with the excuses.  Either decide you don't want to see it and have them toss it out, or go pick it up.   :P

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I'll let them tell you.

 

RR was riding his slow green bike as fast as he could.

 

Then he stopped very quickly.

 

Then he went for a ride in a funny looking truck

 

Then he spent time in the hospital

 

Now he spends time here whining about it.

 

End of story

  • Heart 4
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you know those gates many parks use to close the road? RR didn't see one, and hit it head on.
Don't worry though, he claims his doodle still works.

Ouch. Really, ran into a gate?

I can assure you BSY, I have zero interest in whether his doodle works or not...
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I can assure you BSY, I have zero interest in whether his doodle works or not...

 

Not only a gate, but at full speed.  It hurts just thinking about it.

 

 

I can assure you BSY, I have zero interest in whether his doodle works or not...

 

We'll probably see pics of his doodle (if he can put it down long enough) before we see bike pics.

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RR, how'd you hit one if those gates?

 

 

The whole sickening story:

 

The Dismal Swamp Canal Park is an 8.5 mile stretch of adandoned roadway set apart as a park for bikers, joggers, etc.  To assure access to certain vehicles but to prevent normal vehicular traffic along the road, there are 6 gates similar to the posted photo at various places along the trail.  Small paved paths around the gates are provided for park users to go around these beastly barriers. I have ridden this road at least a hundred times and pretty much know it and the location of the gates like the back of my hand.  There is not that much to know, 8.5 miles of flat, straight two lane road with 6 gates and a turn around area at the end for a 17 mile ride, down and back.  Actually, the ride is typically mind-numbingly boring and that is the prime reason I got myself into this fix.  That and the early onset of senility, I think.    :(

 

So I will do almost anything to break up the montony of this ride.  I always hope for a rabbit or two to give me some incentive to ride hard and to occupy my idiot brain.

 

Usually, the other riders along the trail are either too far ahead of me or behind me or are too slow to give me the action I am looking for.  Father's Day was like most late Sunday afternoons at the park.  Not very crowded, mostly families with kids and very little chance of a rabbit.  So I'm trying my best to keep up a good pace and enjoy my ride when at about the 6 mile mark, I spot a rider off in the distance, maybe a half to three-quarters of a mile ahead.  A rabbit, maybe.  Maybe not catchable but at least something to shoot for.  Something to relieve the extreme blandness of this ride.    :)

 

So he makes the turn around at the end and starts back.  I pass him on my way to the turnaround and I seem to be catching up slightly.  This adds fuel to the fire.  Plus he is a road biker in full regalia, probably 30 years younger than me and this just makes me even more determined to catch him if at all possible.  

 

So I make the turn around and now I am maybe a half mile back with 8.5 miles to go to possibly catch him.  From the turn around area to the first gate on the way back is about 1 mile.  At this point, I can still see him but he seems to be gaining on me and I figure he is now pushing harder to avoid being passed since he is now aware of my presence behind him (ever since we passed going opposite directions).  I decide to go all out to see if I can keep him in my sights.  Even if I don't catch him, he is still a rabbit that will make the ride interesting and who knows, maybe if I can stay close, he will tire and I can finally catch him before the end.

 

So I get down in my most aero position in the drops with my head down to maximize my speed.  I know the road and there is no traffic, so I can keep my head down with just a slight view of the road ahead, maybe ten, twenty feet.  It's all I need.  I know this road forwards and backwards.  I glance up every so often to make sure no other riders are coming.  I've got my speed up to 20+ and I am digging (for me, anyway).  I never saw the gate.  I never thought, "hey, the gate is getting close".  BLAMM!!!!  I hit the gate so hard, that the huge padlock that holds the gate together in the middle broke and flew twice as far down the road as I did.

 

As luck would have it, the trail in that area was deserted except for a young couple hanging out near the canal a hundred yards or so away.  They didn't see it, but they heard the crash and came to see what happened.  They said it was so loud that they thought it was a car wreck.  Turned out that the guy was a doctor and he checked me out and called for the ambulance.  If he hadn't been there, it's very possible I could have laid there all night before someone found me the next day. 

 

Freaky coincidence or divine intervention?

 

The end.

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20 mph is respectable. :angry: You wait until you're old like us him.

20 mph is a great average speed, but not a top speed.

How are you healing? Are you 100%?

i feel great, but I lost a lot of strength and that still hasn't returned. I'm not painfully slow, but I notice that my average speed is about 2mph slower than last year(same road w/same effort).
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Wow, RR. I ride a couple rail trails up here that are like that. And I do the rabbit thing as well. But I do keep my head up.

Glad you're alright!! Could have been totally devastating.

 

I broke my pelvis in two places.  No big deal, I guess, but it has been extremely painful.   :(  No matter what Bosox says.  :nyanya:

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I've heard that broken pelvises are very painful. Ouch.

Better now?

 

Yeah.  I would say I'm about 70%.  Still having some lingering effects (back, hurts to sit very long).  But I have no complaints.  Everything considered, I was extremely fortunate.  Why God decided to let me keep living is beyond me.  I think maybe my level of stupidity probably should have triggered the Darwin principle.    :(​ 

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Yeah.  I would say I'm about 70%.  Still having some lingering effects (back, hurts to sit very long).  But I have no complaints.  Everything considered, I was extremely fortunate.  Why God decided to let me keep living is beyond me.  I think maybe my level of stupidity probably should have triggered the Darwin principle.    :(​ 

It's funny how 'stupid' and 'lucky' so often go hand-in-hand. ;):P

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It's funny how 'stupid' and 'lucky' so often go hand-in-hand. ;):P

 

That's because if us stupid people weren't a little lucky, we would all be dead.  And we have to have stupid people, so that all you smart people will have someone to make you look smart.   :)   

  • Heart 3
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That's because if us stupid people weren't a little lucky, we would all be dead.  And we have to have stupid people, so that all you smart people will have someone to make you look smart.   :)   

Now you're looking on the bright side!! And, by the way, thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

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That's because if us stupid people weren't a little lucky, we would all be dead.  And we have to have stupid people, so that all you smart people will have someone to make you look smart.   :)   

I think stupid people need to be lucky to stay alive, and unlucky people need smart people to keep them alive. Smart people need stupid and unlucky people, so they feel needed...

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Yeah.  I would say I'm about 70%.  Still having some lingering effects (back, hurts to sit very long).  But I have no complaints.  Everything considered, I was extremely fortunate.  Why God decided to let me keep living is beyond me.  I think maybe my level of stupidity probably should have triggered the Darwin principle.    :(​ 


Well, glad you're on the mend and that this wasn't more serious!

Have you been back on a bike, or plan on it in the near future?
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RR why have you been going all Drama Queen on us.  You bent a couple of brifters and maybe the bars and we have to hear about this tragic event for weeks.  Get over it.  It was just a green bike anyway and you can replace the bent pieces. jeeeeesh.

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RR why have you been going all Drama Queen on us.  You bent a couple of brifters and maybe the bars and we have to hear about this tragic event for weeks.  Get over it.  It was just a green bike anyway and you can replace the bent pieces. jeeeeesh.

Don't listen to Kzoo. He's just a hobbit and not worth listening to.

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