Carbon vs Steel: A Positive Outcome

If I didn't have bad luck......

For those who have been following me for a while, you will remember that I took a break from cycling because of a crash.  After 9 months off of the bike, I realized that I missed it, and I needed it in my life.  The decision was made to get another bike and get back into it.  I had to wait for a 2015 bike to be released to get the drivetrain that I was after, and that took an additional month for delivery.  The day after I took delivery of my Specialized S-Works Tarmac, I was out on my first ride in 10 months.  It went very well, and I managed to squeak out 50 miles for that first ride.  I was stoked, and ready to get my legs back.  I rode the next three days (25, 30, and 30 miles) before taking a break.  I was feeling strong and ready for a nice long ride.  My plan was to head out on Sept 9th and ride a metric century to stretch my endurance even more.  The planned 62 miles was not much more than the 50 I had already done, and I had been steadily increasing my speed up to an average of 17mph which was getting very close to what I was used to.  Things were going great.

I woke up on the morning of the 9th to wet roads, and a light mist.  What in the world?!??!?!  The weather had been forecasting sunny skies for the day and great riding conditions.  I didn't give up, and hoped that things would be getting better soon.  I had planned to leave at 7:30, but ended up waiting an hour for the rain to stop and the roads to start drying.  Since I had been hydrating seriously the day before and had loaded up on carbs, I figured I really needed to make this ride happen, so I went out to the garage and pumped up the tires to get ready.

By the time I cleared the neighborhood, the roads were starting to get clear, and I was feeling great.  This was the first warm up that I had done that I actually felt normal.  I had high hopes for a nice long ride with a reasonably strong finish.  I continued down the road gradually increasing my pace and having a wonderful time.  I made my turn onto Old Walkertown Rd and started to settle into my ride.  I was in tune with the bike, the road sounds were nearly hypnotic, and I was right back in my groove from the end of last year.  I was a cyclist again....the grin was permanently affixed to my face.

As I was traveling West along Old Walkertown Rd, I saw a beige Dodge stopping at the railroad tracks on Dorris Rd.  I saw it start to move forward about to enter Old Walkertown Rd and I slowed a little bit just in case he turned left.  As it turned out, he turned right and stayed completely out of my lane.  I started to put more steam on the pedals again as I proceeded on.  Just as were were set to pass, the car pulls to the left suddenly, turning into the Citgo Station.  I saw the bumper clearing the double yellow line and I grabbed the brakes hard.  I'm thinking that my rear tire locked up and started to skid a little bit.  I attempted to turn to the left in hopes of clearing the rear of the car, but in a split second I knew that I was going to collide.  As I screamed a few expletives, I put my right hand out to brace the impact.  I hit hard and wasn't really sure what was happening.  As the car cleared my path, I remember falling to the ground and seeing what I thought was a wheel spoke flying up in the air.  I landed on the ground on my right side.  I said some more choice words, that essentially amounted to "I can't believe this has happened, this is a brand new bike, this really sucks!"  but there were quite a few more words added in that I don't feel like sharing here.

I was on the ground, I had crashed, but I was alive.  Instinctively I got up quickly so I wasn't out in traffic to get run over.  I expected to find my bike completely shattered in the road, with a demolished front wheel.  What I found was a bike that appeared to be intact with no equipment, short of a tail light missing.  I was amazed, but had to collect my bike and get off the road as quick as I could.  It rolled well, and I realized that I was walking without any difficulties.  My arms felt fine as well.  In fact, I didn't feel hurt at all.  Instead of assessing my body when I got into the parking lot, I assessed the bike first.  It appeared to be ok, but there was some abrasions on the shifter, and bar end cap.  The car also stopped in the parking lot and the driver was exiting.  I think he asked if I was ok, and I remember him saying that he just didn't see me.  Keep in mind that I was riding in the most dayglow yellow jersey that I've ever seen.  But he obviously had not seen me at all, but I think it was because he just wasn't looking.  Anyway we were both there, and a crash had happened.  I stepped into cop mode since that was how I was used to dealing with these things.

I asked him for his license and registration.  He gave me that look I know all too well as he was handing me the registration.  He said that he didn't have a driver's license.  Oh wow....this was going to be fun.  Without even thinking about whether or not this was going to be reportable or not, I went ahead and called the Winston Salem PD to respond just to check the status of everything to make sure that his insurance was valid and hopefully charge him with driving without a license.  I also called Toni in one of the hardest calls I've ever had to make to her.  She was asleep, and when she answered I just told her that I needed her to come and pick me up that I had been in an accident.  She handled it better than I thought she would, and actually arrived before the police did.

Damage starts under the door mirror and continues through the rear door.  My estimate is approximately $800

While waiting for Toni and the police to arrive, I started collecting myself and figuring out what kind of damage I was dealing with.  I also stopped for a minute and looked at myself.  I was fine, no scratches, nothing broken, nothing hurting.  I was alive and very fortunate.  Now it was time to figure out what had happened.  From the damage, it appears that I hit the car at an angle starting at the mirror.  My bar slid down the side of the car with my hand along the roofline.  There was a dent at the bottom of the rear door that I think came from my foot hitting it.  That spoke that I saw fly off into the sky actually turned out to be his antenna which I knocked off with my bike, arm, or head...just not sure.  From my days working in a body shop, it looked like about $800 worth of damage to his car.  Not bad considering that my bike was still in one piece.  I was feeling pretty good about things at this point.  I wasn't hurt, the bike looked to be salvageable, and I knew I wasn't at fault for it.

When Toni arrived, I got the bike loaded in the back of the truck.  I felt bad for laying it on the side, but there are no cleats installed in her truck.  She was nice enough to bring blankets so there would be no more damage to the bike than was already done.  We got it secured and ready to transport home.

The police arrived and I went through my account of what happened, and explained that I wasn't hurt, but that the damage might be extensive if the carbon fiber had been compromised.  She took the hint and made this a reportable accident which is defined as damage in excess of $1000, injury, or death.  She verified that the other driver did have active insurance per DMV, and that his license was in a state of revocation.  Again, I slipped into cop mode and gave him my standard chewing out for driving without a license and all the issues that it could potentially cause the other party in an accident.  Oh wait....that other party was me.  Uh oh....this might go bad really quick.  I was starting to worry about whether or not Progressive would honor the claim since he was not supposed to be driving.  I was getting worried for the first time.  I was still paying on this bike for another year, and at the very least, I was seeing about $2000 damage on it without counting the frame.  If insurance didn't pay, I was going to be out a bike because I couldn't afford to fix it.  To make matters worse, I was still going to be paying $450/month  for nearly a year for it.

I got my exchange slip and pointed out to the officer exactly where the area of impact was so her diagram would be accurate.  I saw her going over to the other driver with a citation in hand.  I didn't know what was on that citation, but at least he was holding paper of some sort for the crash.  With all of my equipment loaded up, Toni drove me home.  While riding she suggested that I go ahead and call insurance to get the claim started.  It was a good suggestion and I went ahead and made the call.  I got everything started, and was told that I would be contacted later by a claims representative to take my statement.  I also made a call to Paul's and spoke with Dennis who thought I was playing a really bad joke on him.  After he realized that I was being serious, he told me to bring the bike in and they would check it out to see what type of damage I was looking at.

Right side bar end cap

Scarred shift lever

The most visible damage was to the right side of the handlebar.  I imagine that most of the damage was from the impact with the car and subsequent dropping on the pavement.  The lever appeared to be functioning properly, but with only 130 miles on the bike, this was not acceptable at all.  There was also some minor abrasions on the rear derailleur from hitting the pavement.  The shift cable was also frayed where it got crimped by the pavement.  This would have to be replaced as well.

I had missed this originally

With the bike up on the stand, I was able to see more than I had seen before.  I found a very uniform score mark on the non-drive side of the rear wheel.  It took a minute to figure out what had caused this, but I realized that the Garmin speed/cadence sensor had been knocked over by my foot when I went down to the ground.  The wheel was still spinning apparently and the sensor had dug into the rim.  Other than being cosmetic, this was a carbon wheel and I really felt like it was shot at this point.

I spoke briefly with Patrick who had built the bike and he felt like the frame was probably sound, but wanted Jimmy to look at it when he came back from school.  I had no problem leaving the bike there since I wasn't wanting to ride it in its current state until I knew for sure that the frame wasn't compromised.  We left the bike, as well as my helmet and shoes for the insurance adjuster to look at.

Carbon sole and cleat cover were torn up

Even the buckle got chewed up

With no bike, no helmet, and no shoes, Toni and I headed home.  I eventually spoke to the claims representative who asked me the standard questions about what happened in the accident and got all of the preliminary stuff out of the way.  She was nice, and seemed very willing to take this cyclist serious.  Honestly, I was worried that talking to the insurance company I would be blow off because I was just "riding a bike" and if I wasn't hurt there was not going to be much they could do for me.  That was not the feeling I had after my conversation.  My claim was being treated with as much seriousness as if I had been in a car.  I was relieved, but still nervous because they had not yet spoken to the other driver.

I again made contact with insurance the next day to ask if they had talked with the other driver.  They hadn't, but had left several voice mails and had sent a letter out to him as well.  They would give him a week to respond before she would get authorization to proceed without his statement.  Because of my police training, I am evidence driven, so I offered to send her the link to my Garmin file that showed all of the metrics of the short ride.  It would prove my speed, direction, and the sudden impact.  I also sent her pictures of the car and tag to help with her investigation.  Unfortunately though, I had realized that the officer's report was wrong.  Not a small detail wrong, but having me in the wrong lane, and the crash happening at a stage where there had been no problem wrong.  I had called the officer and explained, again, what had happened and she said that she would change the report.  I forwarded insurance that information as well.

sometimes you find funny things in the midst of disaster

When I was looking at the Garmin file, I happened to see my heart rate for the ride.  It was looking pretty good up until the very end.  There was a huge spike at the time of the crash.  Nothing like a visual of what happens when the pucker factor tries to suck up your saddle.  The official heart rate was right at 188bpm!

I settled into a waiting game and just tried to keep in touch with everyone hoping to be able to expedite anything that I could.  I found out that the adjuster had been to Paul's and looked at the bike, helmet, and shoes.  Dale told me that with the frame being carbon there was just no way to determine if it was sound after the crash and fall to the ground.  He was going to recommend a full replacement for safety.  I agreed, because the last thing that I would want would be for me to be coasting down a hill at 40mph and the frame fall apart beneath me.  There would be no way around getting seriously hurt in that situation.  The Specialized rep happened to be at the shop while I was discussing that and he looked at the order status.  It appeared that my bike was now backordered until the end of October.  At the earliest, I was looking at the beginning of November before I would have a new bike at the earliest.  This sucks!

I left Paul's with the reality that the fitness that I had gained was going to be long gone by the time I got the bike back.  I was going to have to do something to keep my heart strong and my lungs active.  Since Toni was starting to get into running, I decided to give that a go with her.  We both went out for a short 30 minute run.  While I didn't like it, I was able to keep up with her and found that running would be a suitable alternative for the short term.  I ran a total of four days in a row, and got faster and faster each time.  I still didn't like running, but I was still active and burning calories.

On Monday, I heard from insurance and found that they had finally spoken with the other driver.  The rep said that she had some good news and some bad news for me.  Here we go....here was the moment that I was going to get "its just a bike" and get blown off.  She started with the good news that she had spoke with the driver and found that he was at fault in the crash.  They would be accepting liability.  OK, the good news was expected, but still a relief for me.  Now for the bad news.  She said that they had been talking with the bike shop as well as the Specialized rep.  I knew all of this, and was getting anxious about where the bad news came in.  She said that the recommendation from the shop was for full replacement.  She was sorry, but the bike was totaled.  Bad news...not at all.  I wasn't willing to trust the bike after all the research I had done on carbon fiber crashes.  She said that since it was brand new, they would just send me a check for the full price on the bike.  WIN!!!!!  This was what I was hoping would work out, and it had.  This was great news all the way around!

I sent the requested receipts to her in an email and also asked about the damaged bike and what options I had for it.  She had said that they would come by and pick it up since they were sending me a check.  I asked if there was a way that I could buy the bike back from them.  I didn't trust it for the road, but felt that it would be fine for a stationary trainer.  Hey, if the frame explodes, I'll land on carpet.  I felt that injury would be minor at worst in that scenario.  Having that bike on the trainer would allow me to not only keep the fitness that I had gained, I would also have a very good alternative to road riding through the winter.  It was worth a shot to see if I could buy it back at salvage value.

She said that she would have to contact her manager to see just how they could deal with my request and she would get back to me the next day.  I was at work the next day, and didn't have a chance to follow up with her, but she did call me at the end of the day as I was unloading the car.  It was exactly a week after the crash.  She confirmed the amount of the check that they would be sending which included tax and everything for full replacement.  She also said that their plans for the bike would be to throw it away, so if I wanted it, I could just go and pick it up.  It just doesn't get any better than that!!!!  I had my trainer bike back...at least I was pretty sure it would survive under the load of the trainer.  I was willing to give it a try at least.  If nothing else, I could hang the bike in the garage as the survivor from a crash.

What had started out as a less than ideal way to end a 62 mile ride has ended with me being made whole by Progressive.  I just can't say enough good things about them and how they handled this claim.  I hate that it happened, and would have been very happy with my original bike for many thousands of miles, but having had the crash, I think I came out of it very well.  Most importantly, I am still unhurt, and have had no issues since the crash.  I also have a war story that stars the quality of Specialized's carbon frames and how well they stand up to automotive steel.  I'm sold on Specialized, and will continue to ride their product as long as my legs let me.

Will FedEx Ever Get Here?!?

OK, so I have no patience at all.  I've learned that about myself in the past week.  It all started around the middle of last week when I got word that my new bike had been shipped, and was due in at the end of the week or beginning of the next week.  That started the excitement because that meant that Paul's had managed to swipe one of the bikes slated for the West Coast (sorry guys) and got them to reroute one of the first of these bikes to Winston Salem.  I confirmed that my shoes and bottle cages were also on order (but not there yet).  Now started the waiting game, which I decided I'm just not that good at.

There was a strong possibility that it would be at the shop by the end of the week, so I waited anxiously by the phone while I was at work all day Friday hoping that I would get the call.  No such luck.  I waited until about lunch time on Saturday and couldn't wait any longer.  I had to make the call.  With Labor Day coming on Monday, I really needed that bike to be delivered before Tuesday came.  I talked to one of the part time guys, and asked about my bike.  After he looked at the board, he came back to the phone and told me that it wasn't in yet.  Well crap!!!  Looks like I would be waiting for Tuesday for it to get to the shop.  I had been told that it was a three hour build for an S-Works, so that had to be done before I could even start the fit process, which would take an hour or two for a preliminary fit.  Then I had another hour or so once I got home to swap in tires (ones that had a better mileage rating), and put on my accessories.

Monday was my first day off, of 20 days away from work so that I would have ample time to get back in the swing of riding.  I could do nothing about riding since the bike wasn't here, and the shop was closed.  Oh well, I needed some down time to relax with Toni.  When Tuesday rolled around, I was starting to get worried since I had heard nothing, so I went ahead and called around lunch time to see if they had heard anything.

Well, they had heard something...but apparently I had missed something in translation.  The bike was there!!!  I was so happy that it was there, but wait, there was more.  It actually got there on Friday, and was built between Friday and Saturday.  This was the first day I was going to be able to get down there with my work schedule anyway, so that was a win for me!!  I asked if the shoes and cages had come in yet, and was told that they didn't know.  I went ahead and gave them 15 minutes to check the shipments while I pulled the cover off of the bed of my truck in anticipation of going to pick up the bike.  I called them back and was told that the shoes weren't in.  This was a problem because without the shoes, I wasn't able to get fit to the bike, and wasn't able to ride it at all.  This was sad news to say the least, but I decided that since Toni and I had to go out for a bit anyway, we would stop by so I could see the bike for the first time.

Patrick flipping the stem to get a little bit of height for me

There it was hanging on an end cap to one of the displays.  It was so pretty with the white, gloss black, and raw carbon paint scheme on it.  I started to talk to Dale about it, and asked some questions about the fit of the bike.  As it turned out, the seatpost was canted to the rear, and Patrick had adjusted the seat as far forward as it would go, but it was still about a centimeter away from where my fit sheet showed it to be.  The stem was also a bit longer, and lower than my last stem.  While my other bike was simple to swap stems on, this S-Works bike had an exchange program where I could swap the parts that didn't fit for ones that would fit better.  Pretty cool, but I guess that is what you get with a high end bike.

In addition to the fit issues, Dale told me about some new Speedplay pedals that had come in and he had thought of me.  They were the Pave' versions and he had been told that they were for the distance rider.  Of course, he thought of me, and offered the upgrade since he only had one set of the pedals.  After discussing it briefly, I went ahead and authorized the swap from my original Zero pedals.

Well, we were there about an hour, and I had successfully spent another $100.00 (upgraded pedals), so it was time to go before I got in any deeper.  Boy, that was a long night!  I had been told that the shoes and cages were coming in on the shipment that was due in on Wednesday.  It was coming in FedEx, which was normally there before lunch.  It could be as early as 9:00, or right at lunch time.  I let them know that my plan was to come in about 10 or so and wait on the delivery so that I could get the fit started as soon as possible.  With that, Toni and I left to take care of our other errands.

Wednesday.....

Overnight, I was thinking about the pedals, and choice that I had made.  I started to research the Pave' pedals to see just how much more durable they were.  I mean, I had gone about 8000 miles on my last Speedplay Zeros and felt quite confident in them.  Everything that I pulled up on Google, including Speedplay's own website showed these pedals to be designed for the road surfaces similar to the Paris Roubaix with a lot of dirt and grit.  The minimalist design was created to help engage and disengage easier in that kind of environment.  Anyone that knows me, knows that I rarely ride in inclement weather, and never venture off of the blacktop, so the main purpose of these pedals were kind of lost on me.  I made the decision to see if I could switch them back out to the regular Zero pedals when I got to the shop in the morning.

The problem I had was, what if FedEx got there at 9.  The shoes would be built with the Pave' cleats which wasn't necessarily a horrible thing, as they are easy to swap out, but I wanted to make a minimal impact on the shop and save their time as much as possible.  To combat that, I decided that I would go ahead and get there when they opened and beat the shoes getting there.

The Speedplay Zero pedals are on, replacing the Pave's that I had spec'd the day before

I arrived right as they were opening and talked to Dale.  He was great as usual and had Patrick swap out the Pave's for the Zeros which he did really quickly.  The bike stayed on the stand all morning long while I waited for FedEx to arrive.

I waited.....

I waited.....

I shopped......

I waited....

I heard a nice couple come in and start talking to each other about getting their son a bike.  They started over at the clearance section for road bikes and I could hear them talking about how expensive they were.  I recognized the discussion as it was one that I had had many times before.  They couldn't understand  why the bikes cost so much.  Well, since I was waiting around, not doing anything, and the rest of the staff was busy with other customers, I took it upon myself to speak with them briefly about what they were looking at.

We ended up talking about all sorts of things in relation to their 13 year old son and his new affection for cycling.  We moved from what type of bike to get, into cyclometers, storage, and everything else under the sun.  After about 30 minutes they had decided that they needed to bring their son to test out some bikes over the weekend.  We parted ways, and I could see the Harrell's by the register watching me.  Dale was the first to talk and asked if I had clocked in.  That made me smile....I just love talking bikes with those wanting to get into the sport, and would have done it again and again if the opportunity presented itself.  We had a little laugh over it, and I went back to what I was doing before.

I waited......

I waited......

I was told that FedEx might be as late as 2:00, so....

I waited....

I waited.....

While sitting down at the fitting station watching my chance for a ride slowing going away, I looked at my watch.  It was creeping ever so close to 2:00.  Would FedEx get here, and would the merchandise be onboard if it did come?  I was starting to feel like I should have just stayed home.  Then at 1:57, I saw the FedEx truck arrive!!!  I got a sudden bust of energy and ran out to my truck and got my footbeds to put in the new shoes.  When I came back in, Dale was already going through the boxes and found my shoes.  I tried them on quickly and confirmed that they fit my boat sized foot.  Hey, I'm wearing a size 47!!!  With that out of the way, Patrick started to put the cleats on the shoes along with the two stackers on my left foot to offset my different leg lengths.

Things had been going smoothly for all of 10 minutes so I was due for a hiccup.  After putting the two stackers on the cleat, we determined that the supplied screws were not long enough to securely mount the cleat to the shoe.  Well crap!!!  I knew that Dale had the Speedplay parts kit over at the fitting station so I went over there and grabbed what I needed for the Zeros and found out that only the torx head screws were long enough to fit, and only barely at that.  We got them put on, and my shoes were all ready to go.  Now we just had to find the bottle cages to install before it was time to get the bike dialed in.  We weren't finding them in any of the boxes, and then Dale came in and said that he had them in the box that he was going through elsewhere in the store.

Everything was here now, and I was ready to hop on the bike for the first time since buying it three weeks ago.  I was a little nervous, but excited at the same time.  Dale trimmed my footbeds and inserted them in my shoes, and saw from the old fit sheet that I also used wedges in both shoes, so he added those as well.  I'm still not sure how there is room in the shoe for my foot, but I slipped it on and it felt....well....snug....but oh so familiar.  I was starting to remember how things were supposed to feel.

Specialized BG Pro Road Shoe

I was wearing my Jolly Roger socks which had the hole in the side from my crash on this first day on the new bike.  I figured that was fitting.  I think I was also wearing the same shorts, but it was hard to tell since the shorts weren't damaged in the crash.  It was a fitting way to transition to the new bike I thought.

It was finally time to get on the bike.  I crawled over the top tube, forgetting just how high up these bikes are when on a trainer.  My first task was to pedal lightly for a little while to get my legs and butt in the position that I would default to while riding.  I noticed something odd right from the beginning.  It felt like my right leg was extending much further than my left one, and was a little uncomfortable.  After a few minutes, Dale started to examine how my body was moving on the bike.  He was making some strange faces, and looking at me much more in depth than I remembered from the full fit session before.  He started to take pictures of me, and he videoed me as well.  This was strange.

What he finally told me was that my right leg was tracking perfectly, while my left leg was moving outboard at the top of the stroke.  It wasn't a consistent thing that would indicate bad foot positioning, but it was something else entirely.  After some time, he determined that the cause might be from my stackers on my left foot.  While this was how things were set up before, he felt that I might benefit from having only one stacker this time.  We did some more checking before making any more adjustments though.  He had me pedal for about 20 minutes to make sure that I was in the basic position on the saddle before looking at my kneed in relation to the pedal spindle.  Yeah, I remember why I hate the trainer now...I was getting very hot!

That is the sweat from just a light spin.

I've owned this bike for three weeks now, and have now baptized it in sweat...but still haven't ridden it on the pavement yet!  After the mini-workout was over, some more measurements were taken.  My knee was in perfect relation to the pedal, which made me feel very good considering the seat was as far forward as the seatpost would allow.  This meant that I didn't have to wait for Specialized to swap out the part while using a throw down part for the operation of the bike.  That was one hurdle I was happy to be over.  My knee bend was right at 30* which was a little more than the 28* I had been running before.  However, I could tell that my ankling was a bit more pronounced at this session that it was before, so that was probably to blame for the increase in angle.  Either way, 30* was spot on perfect for what I was needing right now.  We started to look at the bars.  I could tell that they were further out, and lower than they were before, but I remember wanting just that change on my other bike.  After talking with Dale, we decided that for now, we would keep it as is and see how it worked out for me on my rides.

The only adjustment that needed to be made from the way Patrick built the bike was to take a shim off of my left shoe.  Dale gave me the option, but I agreed to do what he thought would be the best.  After a few minutes, he came back with my left shoe, with the correct screws in the single shimmed cleat.  Another small hurdle over that made me happy.  It was time to get back on the bike to see how the adjustment went.

With the first pedal stroke, I could tell a huge difference.  I felt more balanced, and felt like I had equal power on both legs.  Dale did the walk around and I could see a smile developing in his face.  I already knew the outcome before he said anything.  Both of my legs were tracking correctly, and everything was looking great.  When it comes to fits, Dale is a genius!  That pretty much wrapped things up, and it was time to get all my stuff loaded up and head home to start the next phase of the experience.

Very happy that I still have my cleats attached to the truck

Fortunately, I never removed the cleats from the truck.  My thought was, I might need to transport bikes for somebody some day and they would come in handy.  Well, I can transport my own bike with them, and that is a great thing!  On the way out, Dale hooked me up with some swag which was really nice.  It was a gift from Paul's, which I very much appreciated.  It was time to head home....it was almost dinner time as a matter of fact.

After a quick dinner it was time to set the bike up on the work stand and start to get things personalized on the bike.  I had given up on the possibility of riding today, but wanted it all set for the morning.  I needed to swap the tires and tubes to something more durable, clean and lube the chain, install the Garmin computer, and put the saddle bag on.  It wasn't much, and I was expecting to spend about an hour doing all of that.

This is my first time using a mechanic's stand.  I have to say, its quite nice!

Just as I thought that things were finally going to go smoothly, I ran into a bit of a glitch.  After getting the tires off of the wheels, I started mounting the new Continental GP4000S II tires.  I noticed after I started to set the second bead that the valve stem was a lot shorter than I was thinking it should be.  I had a 60mm stem, and figured that would be plenty.  Well, it was a good bit shorter than the OE tube, only showing about half as much.  I pulled the tube back out and verified that the valve stem was a bit shorter (20mm I think).  There wasn't enough room to pump the tire up, so I was left with only one option.  I had to reuse the original tubes which isn't a bad thing, but they are thinner and more prone to flatting than the standard ones I was hoping to use.  Well, I had to go with what I had available until I could pick up some new tubes.

My next bit of problem came when I was setting the bead on the Continentals.  Apparently, the bead is a good bit thicker than the OE race tires.  I was having a hard time getting the tube to get all the way inside of the tire at the valve stem.  I finally figured out that in order to make it work, I had to creatively roll the tube with the tire to get it out of the way.  I was able to get that done, and successfully air up two tires to 120 and 110psi without popping the tube.  Check that hurdle off the list.

Roval CLX 40 with 700-23C Continental GP4000S II tires.

With the tires mounted, I figured that the hard stuff was over.  I went ahead and started on the Garmin computer installation.  This is something that I had done on my other bike, and I was using the same parts.  I had the GX10 speed/cadence sensor, and the K-Edge mount for the handlebars.  It should be a simple and straightforward installation.  Well...that wasn't the case.

The geometry has changed on this bike and things are in different relative positions from what I was used to working with.  Some things are beefier, while other things have much more clearance.  It took a little playing around to get the magnets lined up on the main unit, but I was able to finally make it happen.  I started up the Garmin to see if it worked as it should.  Funny thing....it locked up after booting up.  I had to force a close and turn it back on again.  It finished doing some updates and finally gave me the main screen.  I spun the wheel and it registered movement.  I repeated that with the crank arm, and got movement as well.  Everything was lined up and ready do go, so I tightened the cable ties at their final positions.

This is a nice looking cockpit!

The K-Edge mount was next to go on.  It was simple and fit perfectly.  Unlike my last one, it is not adjustable so the Garmin 510 is a little further out in front than I would like it to be, but I'm not unhappy with it at all.  Less pieces to the mount is probably a good thing in the grand scheme of things.  I could have used the supplied Garmin piece, but opted not to for two main reasons.  First of all, the reviews stated that there was an issue with this mount that lead to the breaking of the ears on the computer mount.  This was not a warranty issue.  I wasn't looking forward to a $70.00 repair from using the supplied mount.  Second of all, I preferred the CNC machined aluminum piece as I've found it to be near bulletproof in riding conditions.

Next was to get the chain cleaned up and lubed.  Yes, I know it is a brand new chain, but they are coated in a thick, sticky substance to keep them from rusting during shipping.  This has to come off, and proper dry lube applied.  This was a pretty quick process, and I opted not to use the chain machine for it this time.  There will be plenty of opportunity to use the machine later on, and I felt that a rag and degreaser would work just fine.  While lubing the chain, I went ahead and lubed up the pedals and cleats as well.  I also made a little bit of adjustment to the float of the cleat to limit my heel in on both sides.

This looks strangely familiar, but it means that the bike is all ready to roll

In my typical fashion, I grabbed a quick front and rear picture of the bike before I put it up in the garage.  Everything is built and ready to roll tomorrow morning.  I'll come back and update how that first ride went after I get finished.  My goal is to do 25 miles, but if I can squeak out 50 that would make me very happy, and be a very good indicator that my fitness level hasn't been overly affected in the 10 months I've been out of the saddle.  Until the morning....

All tucked in

Thursday....

The day was finally here, the day that I was going to go on a ride with my new bike.  Seems like a simple want when you hear it come from a 40 year old, but it runs a lot deeper than just wanting to go for a bike ride.  In the 10 months I've been off of the bike, I have felt my age, gained weight, and just generally not been as happy about myself as I once was (when I was riding regularly).  I had the bike, everything was right with it, and I had the day off to be able to get out and ride in an attempt to rediscover the young, fit man I had left behind last Fall.  I honestly wasn't sure what the day would bring.  I was telling myself that I was going to aim for 25 miles, and take a route that would allow me the ability to bail out at several different points with the hopes that I could make 50 miles.

Hmmmm, 50 miles seems like nothing knowing what kind of rider I once was.  I could knock out 50 miles without stopping, averaging over 18mph, and come home to mow the grass afterwards.  That was then, this was now.  Fifty miles had taken on whole new meaning for me in the last ten months.  It was a goal now, something to strive for, not just take for granted.  It was something that I feared, yet yearned to achieve (again).  Would all of this money and effort to get back on the bike be wasted, or would I be able to recapture some of what I had previously achieved?  My mind was ready for that magic number because I have done it before, but I wasn't sure my body was up for it.

When I woke up to send my daughter off to school, I looked at the weather.  There was a good chance of storms until about 11:00 which kind of put a damper on my spirits.  I wasn't really wanting to ride in the rain today, but I really wanted to ride.  I kept an eye on the weather, and the sky.  It seemed that most of the moisture was breaking down as it got close to here, so I decided to give it a chance. I was only thinking about doing 25 miles which I had been able to do in just over an hour.  Today, I was guessing that the 25 miles would need about 50% more time.

When I was packing up for the ride, I packed enough food for 50 miles, and filled two water bottles which normally would have been enough for a metric century.  I aired up my tires, turned on the tail light, activated the Garmin, and did a mental check that I had everything....Road ID, glasses, helmet, gloves, HRM, tire pump, etc.

Yeah, that is the look of apprehension on my face

I had chosen to wear the Spare Tires jersey because of one of the captains of the group.  Aaron Houston had purchased my Zipp wheels when I was getting out of cycling.  I remember one of the things that he said to me as we were concluding business.  He said something to the effect of "I hate that you are getting out of cycling, but remember that cycling will always be there should you decide to return."  I had dismissed it at the time, but those words hung with me and I realized that he was right about what he had said.  I may be out of shape, but cycling was still there, and was ready to be as fun as it was before for me.  That made my jersey choice easy for this ride.

I pulled out my phone (took this picture), and started the live track so that Toni could see where I was whenever she wanted to look.  I wasn't sure exactly how this was going to work, but I had a pretty good feeling that it would work perfectly for our needs.  I pressed "Ride" on the Garmin, clipped in with the right foot, and took a deep breath.  I hadn't started a bike with clipless pedals in a very long time.  I would kill myself if I picked now to miss the pedal and flop on the ground.  I pushed off, and started to crank the drivetrain.  I did miss with my left foot, but I was able to recover without missing a beat and heard the confident clip of the Speedplay pedals as I locked myself into the bike.  I was off.  I rode down the same street that I always took on my rides, but quickly noticed that the Garmin wasn't showing how far I had traveled.  Hmmm, that is interesting.  I was seeing speed and cadence, but nothing else.

I stopped at the first stop sign, and realized that pressing "Ride" didn't have anything to do with "Start", so I pressed the start button and heard the beep as the computer kicked on and started to record my movements.  I carried on down the street and saw that things were recording as they should.  I realized that I was feeling very comfortable on the bike as I came out to the main road.  I stopped again, remembered to unclip, and made it look natural.  I might not have lost my motor skills as much much as I was afraid I had.  I made the turn on the main road, and started to pick up speed.  I was used to operating in the little ring through here because this was my normal warm up route that lasted for 10 miles.  Today, however, I would not be transitioning into the big ring because I knew my legs weren't ready for the big hammer gears, and I didn't want to blow out my knee.  I decided that no matter how long the ride went, I would stay in the little ring and make due.

As I started clicking past the third mile, I was starting to get winded.  I could tell that I was out of shape, but I also remembered that the first 10 miles were always the hardest to get motivated through.  I carried on, telling myself that I could bail out and return home at several points if this proved too much.  In the meantime, I tried to keep my speed moderate so I didn't expend all of my energy early on.  The route was familiar, and strangely comforting to me.  I was getting used to the new noises between the new helmet shape (much quieter) and the hum of the bike (much more fitting than my aging bike with creaks and groans before).  I felt...at home, but my body was complaining about the use.  I was expecting that, and dismissed the objections to movement.

I passed the 12 mile mark, and entered Hwy 66 and actually felt pretty good.  It was here that I would normally switch into the big ring and start putting the power down.  I didn't think that I would be able to make that happen, and I had already told myself that I was staying in the little ring today.  I found that my speed was better than I was expecting on the flats (due to the bike I'm sure), but going up hills I was slowing way down (all on me).  I had work to do, but that was what this ride was about.  I had to test my limits to see what things have been affected.  Fortunately, my handling skills seemed to be pretty close which was good.  The bike felt great, and the fit was really close.  It was just the application of power, and the ability to sustain output which was getting me.

At the magical junction that would decide 25 miles or more, I decided that even though I was going slow, I would carry on and try for at least 35 miles.  I was feeling that confident about my ability, and I was also just having so much fun that I didn't want to call it quits just yet.  I hadn't even stopped to take a break yet.  That wouldn't happen until I was right at 25 miles, which put me in Kernersville.  Here I stopped and was able to talk to Toni for the first time since I left.

Screenshot from the Live Track

Toni let me know that she knew exactly where I was, and actually told me some of the information that I didn't know because for some reason I started in the wrong page on the Garmin and couldn't figure out how to switch it to the one with all my metrics.  I didn't know how long I had been riding, and didn't know my average speed.  These things she was able to tell me, and I was really happy with the average speed considering the conditions.  We chatted for a bit, and I ate a snack before heading back out.

As I was leaving Kernersville, I wasn't quite sure where I wanted to go from here since my normal route was closed due to construction.  Instead of trying a really hilly route for the return leg, I opted for a little less intense route, and one that I had not previously done in this direction.  I went ahead and rode into Greensboro, and cut down S Bunker Hill Rd, which eventually brought me back out to Hwy 66.  This was about 10 more miles and I found that I needed to stop once again because my left calf was starting to cramp up really bad.  Fortunately, it wasn't a joint issue which would tell me that my bike fit was off.  This was a muscle issue, and due to poor fitness I'm sure.  Either way, I pulled off the road for another break, and some serious rehydration.

I never thought that I would get this far out today

After I had some time to get my leg feeling better, I Started out again with about 15 miles to go before reaching my really big goal of 50 miles.  I was feeling fine, but I could tell that I was tired, and my legs were just no longer responding to my want to turn the pedals.  I could see that my speed was starting to drop, and I was having a much harder time making headway.  It was OK though, because at this point, I had no choice but to ride home, or call for Toni to come and pick me up.  The latter wasn't an option, although she would have jumped at the chance to come and get me.  This was a pride thing, and a desire thing.  I wanted to get that 50 miles done today and I was willing to hurt for it.  It has been far too long since I have felt that pain of accomplishment on a bike, and I missed it.

Before long I was back in Kernersville again, and knew this to be right at 10 miles from home.  I was going to have my 50, and maybe even 52 depending on the turns I made.  Funny thing happened to me while I was in Kernersville though.  I was riding down W Mountain St and an SUV passed me by.  Just as it passed me, the horn sounded.  It took me by surprise at first, and then I saw the window decal on the back and recognized this truck as belonging to my friend Marcia Pearce.  I picked up speed just a little bit hoping that she would pull off the road so I could say hi.  She pulled into the Olympic Restaurant and I heard he yell out something, but I was paying attention to the road as I was about to make the turn into the parking lot.  It was so great to get to see her since she is also a cyclist, and also a Spare Tire (fortunate I was wearing the jersey).  We talked about her recovery and work in returning to cycling.  Always a good feeling to share a similar goal.  After a few minutes, I headed back out to the road, and started to face my biggest decision yet.  Which route to get home from here.

I could go Old Hollow Rd, which was a little quicker, and more level, with a couple of different end games so I could manipulate the mileage, or I could go down Walkertown Gutherie Rd which was where I had crashed out before.  Being true to myself, I opted for the more difficult route, and chose that fateful road, which would just about nail a full 50 miles.

The ride down Walkertown Gutherie Rd was uneventful, but very uncomfortable.  There is a very long duration incline which wasn't normally too bad, but my tired legs were really starting to worry me.  My right quad was screaming and my left calf was still cramping badly.  I was also out of water, so dealing with dehydration wasn't going to be possible now.  At least I was close to home.

This was a far cry from how I looked when I started this ride.

I had to make just one more stop before I got home.  With only about 4 miles to go, I had to pull off and let my legs rest for a minute.  They were both screaming at me, and I didn't have much left.  I had to continue though, it was not an option at all for me.  My next stop would be home, and I pretty much limped into the driveway.  Again, the Live Tracker paid off with great dividends.  Toni was there waiting for me with a protein shake that was cold, creamy, and hit the spot!  She offered to take the bike up the hill to the garage, but I held onto it since I needed the support as I tried to walk up the hill.

This is one tired dude!

In about four and a half hours since I left, I returned home with 50.55 miles under my tires.  It was a huge accomplishment for me, even though my average moving speed was 15.2.  I had proven that I still had a long ride in me, and I now knew without a doubt what I had to work with.  It was no longer guesswork.  I had a starting point, and I had a plan to get back to where I wanted to be.  But first, I needed to stretch, and rest for a quick minute.

The moose  is doing CPR

The quick minute apparently turned into quite a while as I pretty much passed out after stretching my IT bands.   Toni, being the comedian in this instance decided to put a stuffed moose on my stomach and she took a picture of me while I was zonked out.  Yeah, she will pay for this!  I just don't know how yet.

Garmin data from the first ride.

On Pins and Needles

So here we are, two weeks after placing the order for the new bike.  I still haven't ridden anywhere yet, and still have no idea when the bike will be here.  I've been busy purchasing things in preparation for my first ride, and have been getting my mind right about riding again.  Toni has compared it to being pregnant.  I'm spending so much time thinking about it that by the time the bike actually gets here, I'll be burned out.  Lets hope that's not the case.

Part of my prep work has been getting all the odds and ends that I was use to having when I was riding before.  This meant some long nights reading reviews, and finding the right items to purchase.  Paul's had the vast majority of the things I needed and they were either purchased, or ordered at the time I ordered the bike, but there were other things I needed which they did not carry.

One of the things that I needed right off was going to be new tires.  Why new tires on a new bike you ask?  Well, the S-Works Tarmac is a racing bike and accordingly comes with racing tires.  These are thin, lightweight tires which will last only around 800 miles.  In addition to the short lifespan, they offer little to no puncture resistance which is a negative in my book since I don't have a SAG vehicle with me on my rides.  I was going to need to replace them with a more suitable "training" tire.  Specialized offers several different tires which are very good for all purposes.  However, based on a suggestion from a friend years ago, I started using Continental Grand Prix 4000S tires on my last Tarmac.  These tires were awesome to say it simply.  They would last nearly 4000 miles with my use, I never had a flat using them, and they were actually significantly faster than the racing tires that came on the Tarmac originally.  As my cycling season was coming to a close last year, Continental had released a mark II version of that tire with better protection, and better grip which I was planning on getting when I finished wearing the current tires out.

With the cycling rebirth, it was as good a time as any to go ahead and purchase a set to put on the S-Works.  It originally came with 700x24mm tires as a result of testing done by Specialized.  Apparently, these are more aerodynamic than the normal 23mm tires and offer a bit more comfort.  I looked for that size and found that Continental did not make a 4000S II in that size.  My choices were either a 23mm or 25mm.  I did a lot of research between the two sizes and ultimately came to the conclusion that I was talking only 1mm difference either way from the OE tire.  I opted for what I knew, and went with a 23mm tire which is actually a bit oversized when compared to Specialized rubber, so I figured that I was still going to be at that 24mm size when it came down to it.

In addition to tires, I also purchased some more tools, a tail light, and a K-Edge mount for the Garmin 510 which was ordered.  I had gone through multiple mounting options with my previous Garmin 500 and found that the best option, hands down was the K-Edge which put the computer out in front of the bars, and held the unit on like superglue.  The Garmin kit came with an "Out Front Mount" which was very similar to the K-Edge part, but was made out of plastic instead of CNC machined aluminum like the K-Edge.  The reviews also pointed out that the Garmin piece tended to break the ears on the computer mount which cost $70 to repair.  I knew K-Edge, and liked the product (also matched the chain spotter on the front derailleur on the bike), so I went ahead and bought that as well.  After about a week or so, I had a pile of parts in the office just waiting on a bike.

I mentioned the Garmin, which came in to Paul's after only a week.  I went ahead and picked that up and started to play with it.  Its a neat piece of equipment that records the ride both with GPS information as well as a bunch of biometrics.  It will also allow live tracking which was a must have for me for Toni's sake.  I wanted her to be able to see where I was in real time at any time during a ride.  She could also tell if I was moving since it would show speed, direction, heart rate, cadence, etc on her end.  This was going to be a very important aspect of my cycling.  It also is linked to a website called Garmin Connect which tracks your rides, and other aspects of your personal training.  So that everything is accurate, Garmin asks that you input your height and weight, along with other fitness indicators to make sure that your calorie counts are accurate during a ride.  This was going to be the moment of truth for me.  I hadn't grown, only aged a year, and I could answer most questions without hesitation.  When I was asked for weight, I was scared of the answer.  The last time I weighed in (before the crash) I was at 181, which was a little heavier than I was at my peak training.

I pulled the scale out of the closet, and got on in what was going to become a weekly routine once again.  It was with mixed emotions that I saw an even 200lbs on the dial.  On one hand, I was deeply saddened that I had gained that much weight, and was back to where I was at some point in early 2012.  On the other hand, I guess it could have been much worse since I haven't done much exercising at all since November.  Either way you looked at it, I was 200lbs now, after a low of 174lbs about a year ago.  I was going to have to get that under control.  I'm setting my initial goal at 180lbs which was a really good weight for me overall.  I have my mission, and know that the way to make it happen will be on two wheels, with many miles.  I just need to get that danged bike!  Is it here yet????

For those who are into cycling, you know that the clothes are anything but cheap.  Well, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with all my kits when I quit in November.  I felt that many of them were memorabilia, and worth keeping, and all of them had memories.  Toni convinced me to just box them up and keep them.  I never intended on wearing them again, but she was right, I didn't want to get rid of those memories.  Fortunately for me, I had listened to her.  I unboxed the clothes and sorted through them.  There were some that were just worn out, and some that were too loose on me.  I left them in the box and pulled out the items that fit and still looked good.  One of them was my 2012 Double Down jersey which I don't plan on wearing any time soon.  It was my century jersey, and I plan on wearing it next year while I am training for my participation in the 2015 DD2TB.  It will take a while before I am conditioned to that kind of ride again, but I'm hoping that my first one will be in March.

My bike still isn't here!  UGH!!!!!

I have things ordered, clothes out and back in the closet, Its just a waiting game at this point.  Hang on, there is something else I can do in preparation for the arrival of the bike.  I can create space for it in the garage.  Seems like a simple task, but my garage is pretty full since I have a host of tools for doing maintenance, and lots of detailing supplies for the truck that resides inside.  I was debating on where I wanted to make room and decided that I would use the same corner as I had used before.  This time there would only be one bike instead of two.  I moved everything out of the corner and found other places for the tool boxes and shelves.  It was time to start going through all of the new items and get things organized in the corner.

I placed old door mats on the floor to keep the wheels elevated when parked so they didn't end up sitting in standing water in the winter with the melting snow.  I had a single bike stand at the head, and a mechanic's workstand in the corner.  The toolbox contained all of the tools that I had purchased for the new bike, along with some of the cleaning supplies which I will be using after most rides.  Of course, I also have my original tire pump ready to air up the new Continentals when the bike gets here.  Is it here yet?

Another nice touch that I added was my bit of Specialized paraphernalia which I had saved from before as well.  It went right back up on the wall where it had been.  I also added three pictures from different events which I had hanging in the office for my trainer sessions to keep me motivated.  Every time I went to get the bike for a ride, I would be reminded of riding a century at the Tour to Tanglewood in 2012, climbing Ceasar's Head in 2013, and completing 212.24 miles in the 2013 Double Down to the Beach.  These would keep me motivated to keep adding to the distance and difficulty of my rides...to find that fitness level I had enjoyed a few months ago.

Hey!!!!!   My bike is here!  Oh wait...that's my old one.  Nuts!  As you can see on the wall to the right, I used to collect my dead parts as trophies for the miles ridden.  I had tires, chains, cassette, stem, saddle, etc hanging on the wall.  These all got tossed when I cleared out my cycling corner, and that turned out to be just fine since I was thinking about doing that anyway because I was running out of room and I was spitting out chains every other month or so.  This time,  I opted to do something different with the space.  I still had my old bib numbers from events, as well as a plaque from being a Mission Possible rider in the 2013 Tour to Tanglewood.  These would go on the wall with room for more numbers as I attended more event rides in the future.

Toni is now referring to this corner of the garage as the nursery.  I have been decorating it, and getting everything placed just so with no clear idea when the due date is on the bike.  Speaking of which, is my bike here yet?

Nope.....

Everything has been bought now, I'm just waiting for the bike to put it all together and go out on my first ride.  I'm not sure how long it will be, or how fast it will go.  I don't have a lot of hope for far and fast, but I would like to think that I could still do a strong 25 miles to start with.  That is my goal, and if I'm feeling froggy, I would like to try for 50 miles with a tired finish.  If I can pull that off, I think I will be on the road to a quick recovery of my fitness.  All I can do is speculate at this point on how things will go, and hope that the bike arrives in enough time that I can still put in some serious miles before it gets cold.

Getting Old Sucks!

Its been a while since I've written here.  Actually, its only by a stroke of luck that this journal even still exists.  Why you ask?  Well, even though it appears that my riding was going better than ever at the close of 2013, things have a way of changing quickly.  I was coming off of my eleventh century ride for the year and was starting to taper off into my winter riding routine at the end of October, and coming into the beginning of November.  I was still in incredible shape, and felt great on the bike.  I was actually looking forward to some more time on the trainer as the weather got colder so I could do some more intervals, and build my fitness even more.  Fate it would seem had other plans for me though.

I set out on a 50 mile ride on the morning of November 3rd.  There was nothing out of the ordinary about this ride.  I was going to do my Macy Grove Loop which was a fun little ride that I would do just to get out and hammer the pedals.  It was chilly, but not cold enough to really worry about, and there was a slight breeze in the air.  It was a pretty good day to ride considering the time of year.  Everything went as planned, and I was having a nice and relaxing ride.  When I was coming back through Kernersville, I even met up with another cyclist and we rode together for a few miles and chatted about the past riding season.  Since it was windy, and he wasn't as strong of a rider, I offered to do all the pulling for a while and let him just hang on in the draft.  After a few miles, his route changed from mine and we parted ways.  I was coming into the last 7 or so miles of my route and turned onto Walkertown Guthrie Rd and did the brief descent into the valley and started to climb back up.  I had ridden this route many times and could do it with my eyes closed.

As I was climbing out of the valley, I heard a truck coming up behind me and looked to see what it was.  It was a Uhaul box truck which always makes me nervous since the people driving them are usually only used to a car the size of a Honda.  It started to pass me with plenty of room, but as it passed me, it blocked the wind that had been pushing me to the right.  I started to move over closer to the truck, which I expected, and I was able to correct for.  As the truck continued to pass, he started to merge back over but had not cleared me yet.  Apparently, they had not estimated my 13mph climb very well.  As they came closer, I started to ease off the pedals and hugged the right shoulder of the road.  This was going to be close, and I already had an exit strategy planned if he forced me off the road.  There were no curbs here, so I could just go into the grass and come to a stop if needed.

What I wasn't expecting, was what actually happened.  The truck finally cleared my bike, which was right on the edge of the pavement, which allowed that gusty wind to hit me broadside once again.  I had already turned the wheel to the left getting ready to move back out into the lane when the gust hit me.  I was pushed to the right, with the wheel turning to the left, just as the front wheel was pushed off the road and into the grass.  Without time to compensate to go into the grass, the wheel stuck on the edge of the pavement and I felt the bike slide out from under me.  The next thing that I was aware of was laying on my side still firmly attached to the pedals.  I was laying in the middle of the road!  I quickly unclipped and escaped from under the bike, moving the mess off to the side of the road so I would be safe.

It was time to assess the damage.  The bike looked ok, the shifters were boogered up from hitting the pavement, the seat was scarred, and the bar tape was shredded on the left side, and the aluminum bar was gouged pretty badly from the impact.  I got the chain put back on, and everything appeared to shift fine.  I collected my water bottles and put everything back together on the bike.  Then I started to look at me.  I was bleeding on my left knee, but there were no broken bones that I was aware of.  I had some pretty good road rash on my left leg as well.  My shoes were torn up, but still intact.  After collecting myself, and stifling the tears because I had hurt my bike, I climbed back on and checked my cleats to make sure that they would still clip in to the pedals.  They did...so with a deep breath I went ahead and started back pedaling to finish the ride.

I quickly noticed that my chain was slipping badly, and I was having a hard time making it stop.  I figured that the derailleur had been knocked out of adjustment.  All I knew was that to keep from slipping, I needed to be in second or third gear, and in the little ring up front.  This meant that I was pedalling really fast, and not making much speed, but at least I was able to make it home under my own steam.

The last five miles of that ride took what seemed to be an eternity.  I could see the blood rushing down my leg, my ankle was hurting, and my shoulder was stinging.  My mind was racing.  I had been having the conversation with myself for most of the ride already about where I wanted to go from here.  Did I want to repeat all the training that I had done and do the same events, or did I want to go for something more impressive for 2014?  Did I want to slack off and enjoy the ride for the ride's sake?  I was at a crucial point in my cycling career.  Now I had a new thought rolling through my mind, and it was one that I had never considered before...

The biggest lie that I have ever told my wife Toni in the time that I have known her was that I was safe at work.  I'm a police officer that works call answering in the field.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this could potentially be a very dangerous job.  She knew it, as did I...but I would always reassure her that I did everything that I could to remain safe and out of harm's way while still doing my job.  I would come home to her every day, that was my promise.

The second biggest lie I ever told her was that I was perfectly safe on my bike, and I had no problem handling traffic.  I would always finish my rides and return to her safely.  That was my promise to her.  Here I was, still bleeding, and limping home on a busted bike getting ready to face her at the door with no way of disguising the fact that I had been lying to her about my safety on a bike.  I started to cry again, not able to hold back the tears.  This time it wasn't for my bike, it wasn't for me, it was for the worry that I was going to put her through.  I would have ridden another 100 miles in my current state if I could have put that off, but I was going to have to face the music eventually.

When I walked into the door to the kitchen, Toni greeted me, and could tell that something wasn't right.  I tried to minimize the incident as much as I could.  I mean, I just had a little road rash on my leg, and a bloody knee.  Well, she was seeing all that I couldn't which started to make things look worse than I wanted to admit.  She immediately saw the hole in my jersey (favorite one dammit) over my left shoulder.  I lifted the sleeve and saw why I had felt the burning.  I had worn a few layers of skin off of the shoulder.  As I took my socks off, I found that there was a hole in the sock as well, which matched up to a really bad place on my ankle.  I hadn't ground the skin completely off, but this was really deep, and really painful.  My socks were soaked with blood from this one, and it was much worse than the knee I had fallen on. I also had some really bad road rash right at the sock level in the front of my leg.  Oh, this was going to feel good putting boots on for work in a couple of days.

Toni was great about the whole thing.  She just helped me to get cleaned up and remove the road grit from my wounds.  I told her about the accident, and still tried to minimize it.  I mean, I just fell off my bike, that was all.  However, I had my answer to the ride's biggest questions at this point...what to do for 2014?  I was done cycling.  That was it, I didn't want to continue and risk Toni finding out that this wasn't my only lie to her.  I didn't want her worrying about me at work like I knew she would.  For her, and her sanity, I was going to quit cycling.  She was supportive of this decision, as she would have been with any other decision I made, but I felt that this was what she wanted me to do anyway.



It took me a little while to figure out what was next, as I am not one to just sit around in my off time.  After a lot of soul searching, I decided to go back to photography, which was my passion before cycling.  The more I started to talk about, the more I wanted to get back into it.  Toni had taken up pastels and I wanted us to be an artistic family, and I wanted to share that common thread with her.  I started to piece together a kit to get started with, and got it all picked out.  The only problem was I was going to need money to afford it.  That was where my cycling gear came into play.  I started to post it up for sale, and eventually sold everything, including the bike as it was after the crash.  The shifting problem turned out to be very simple, and was fixed by reseating the wheels in the dropouts.  Butter smooth again.  I was able to make enough liquid cash that I was able to get back into the photography game once again and set out making pictures by the end of the month.  By December, I was already maintaining a web presence through www.446photo.com which was my gallery as well as journal for my "Treks" as I called them.  It wasn't nearly as extensive as what I had before cycling, but it was enough...or so I thought.

As the months passed, I got my photographic eye back, and started to create really cool images of old cars, barns, landscapes, etc.  I even made the cover of a book by a local author.  Ever since I started photography seriously in 2005, I had wanted to get published.  It was a huge goal of mine for so long, and here we were, just a few weeks into getting back into photography, I had been given that chance.  I wasn't all that exited about it when I made the deal though, and that concerned me.  I told myself that I wasn't going to get excited until I actually saw the book in print with my picture on it.  When that happened, I still didn't get that excited about it.  What in the world was wrong with me?!?!?!?!  This was a goal of mine for so long, and it meant next to nothing to me.  I couldn't explain it, and there was no excuse available to make me understand.

I kept on taking pictures, and working on more and more complex compositions, and I was traveling more and more to get to these places.  For once, I was able to take both Toni and our daughter Sierra with me on these treks (unlike when I would go for a ride).  That made me happy, but I still felt a certain hole in my heart.  Something was missing.  I tried to focus on the photography more and more, but I was finding it hard to keep my attention on it, and found myself forcing treks because its what I should be doing.

In the meantime, there were some things that I was starting to notice about my body.  First of all, within a few weeks of giving up cycling, my acid reflux had returned.  Thankfully, not with the intensity it had before I started cycling (couple times a weeks).  But it was back, and that wasn't a good thing at all.  It only took about 4 months before I had an episode that put me over the sink throwing up in the middle of the night for about 30 minutes.  I remember saying very gruffly going back to bed that this wouldn't be happening if I were still cycling.

I was also noticing that I was no longer comfortable in my uniform at work.  I had shortened my belts while I was cycling, and had extra room in them even then.  Now, I was starting to feel the belt cutting into my waist after a full day. By June, I was finding it hard to buckle my duty belt unless I really pulled the actual belt tight before adding the duty belt.  I refused to go into a bigger size belt because I know that path all too well, and it ended me up at a whopping 238# just a short time before.  I was going to have to control my eating if I was going to avoid gaining weight.

My knees were another point of distress for me.  I have always had terrible knees, the kind that sound like rice krispies walking up stairs.  Before cycling, it was snap, crackle, pop with every step.  After I had been cycling for a while, that all but disappeared.  Now that I wasn't cycling again, it was back, just as bad as before.

Then there was the sleep issue.  I've always been able to sleep any time and anywhere, but without cycling, I seemed to never be able to wake refreshed in the morning.  I was always groggy and lethargic.

Lets face facts, after I gave up cycling, I had a 40th birthday.  I was getting older, and there was no escaping that.  On the other hand, when I was cycling, I went from feeling like I was 40, to feeling like I was 20 again.  The day I stopped, I was in the best shape of my life, and felt young.  In just a half year, I went from that to feeling every bit of my 40, and making excuses for my body yet again.

I had to take a hard look at my lifestyle.  Sure, I was eating reasonably, and hiking a few times a month.  I wasn't obese like I had been (although I was on that track).  I could sit back and accept it, or I could fight it.  I decided to accept it.

Then on a very fateful day while at work, I ran into Mike Beane from the Kernersville Cycling club on a call I was on.  He asked if I had time to talk because he had been wanting to talk with me about something cycling related.  He caught my attention when he referred to me as one of his mentors (never really put myself in that position before).  What he was waiting to talk about was whether or not he should continue cycling.  We discussed his feelings on the issue and I remember saying that I didnt' think that he was ready to give it up, and offered some alternatives that would make it more enjoyable for him.  I compared it to my situation and told him that when I quit; it was the right time for the right reasons.  I honestly believed it, and hadn't really looked back since quitting.

It wasn't until some hours after talking with Mike I started to examine why I had quit, and what I had given up.  I realized that I had given up a lifestyle.  It wasn't a bike that I had given up, it wasn't the adrenaline of the fast descent.  It was who I was deep down....I had given up who I was.  That hit me like a sack of bricks, and it hurt.  It hurt much more than any crash on a bike could ever hurt.

I realized why making the cover of the book wasn't fulfilling for me.  While I will always enjoy photography, being a photographer is not who I am, its what I do.  It was nice to have the recognition for the picture, but there was no inner celebration like when I climbed to the top of a category 1 mountain, or when I made it 212.24 miles in one day to the beach.  Those were celebrations that I could have internally that were independent of what anyone else thought.  It was me surpassing myself, and no camera in the world can give me that kind of satisfaction.



So, what do we do from here?  I had recognized the issue, but had no idea what the solution was going to be.  Unlike so many who want to get into cycling, I wasn't going to be able to do this cheap.  In my two and a half years in the saddle, I learned an awful lot about what works and what doesn't.  I had in mind what my next upgrade was going to be, and it was going to be an investment I couldn't afford, and that pretty much made the thoughts end there.  Well, I still yearned for a chance to ride a bike down the road, but decided I had missed my opportunity.

To add insult to injury, three of my friends from my squad started riding after work.  They would bring their bikes to the station and go out for a 14 mile ride after work a few times a week.  It wouldn't have bothered me except that they knew I was pretty big into cycling at one time and when they had questions they would ask me.  As time progressed, I went from giving advice to actually touching the bikes and making adjustments on them.  That was the last straw.  My hands were remembering what a bike felt like, and the smells were coming back.  I could see in their faces the looks I had grown accustomed to with group rides and it took me right back to the Tuesday evening KCC rides.

I found myself thinking about riding a bike I didn't have more often than taking pictures with a camera I did have.  My world was completely out of balance, and I was starting to get really depressed over my choices back in November.  It was getting to the point where I was letting things slip out at home about riding bikes.  Toni keyed in on it very quickly, and much to my surprise said that she thought I should go back to it.  That was my last bastion of hope for not going full tilt into cycling once again.  With that gone, my only excuse was...."we can't afford it, I'm not spending money like that for a hobby."

Toni knows me better than I give her credit for most of the time, and she knew exactly what was going on.  She saw my need for riding, and knew that I needed this in my life.  What she didn't know was that I had been lying to her about riding, and my job.  It took a long time to get up the nerve to tell her my thoughts on this, but I finally did.  I expected some sort of big reaction, but instead she came back with...."Well duh!  of course your job is dangerous, I know that, and I'm ok with it."  Hmm, so in essence, she was ok with the risks involved with work because it was my chosen career path, and was ok with the risks involved with cycling because I had it in my blood.  OoooooooK.  Now what?

As luck would have it, I had just finished paying my truck off a month or so ago, and had a little bit of extra money that wasn't accounted for yet.  Would this be enough to get back into cycling at the level I wanted to?  I started to look at bikes to see what I was going to be looking at.  Just as before, I started to look at Cannondale, particularly at the CAAD10.  I figured that I wasn't going to get into it as hard core as before and could deal with an aluminum frame as long as the drivetrain was good.  I opted for an Ultegra race model that fit my needs well.  The price was good, and I was going to be able to afford this bike without a problem.  I started to research it, and found that the bottom bracket was a weakness in terms of producing noises, which I actually remember hearing from other Cannondale bikes before on group rides.  I found ways of addressing that problem, but then started to read about how the ultra light aluminum frames are just as prone to failure as a carbon fiber frame.  They also have a fatigue life which the way I ride might actually pose a problem for longevity.  Of course, much of this is based on opinions instead of scientific fact, but it was enough to catch my attention.

I started to look back at my old friend the Specialized Tarmac and found that the prices were about where I remembered them being.  I found an Ultegra equipped model which was similar to what I had ridden before, but I was going to have to do quite a bit of upgrading to get it back to where I had mine.  The next option up, addressed the wheels, and optioned in a set of carbons, and changed the drivetrain out to a SRAM Force 22 group.  This would be perfect and the price was at the top end of what I wanted to spend.

It was time to call Paul's Cycling and see what they had in stock.  Me and my timing!!!!  Apparently this was the close of the model year, and there were no more of that bike available until the 2015's were released.  That meant that I was going to have to wait a while longer, but that was ok because I really wanted this bike.  All of the research I had done said that SRAM was the way to go, and it addressed all the weak points that I had with the Ultegra drivetrain before.  I was sold on SRAM!

Toni decided to take me hostage and we went to Paul's on Friday.  Dale, who I normally deal with, was not at work that day, but I had a chance to talk with Paul and Dennis.  They confirmed that I wasn't able to get the Pro Race Tarmac as a 2014.  I asked for them to pull up the 2015's and the model was still there at the same price....Perfect!!!  I even liked the paint much better than before.  This was going to be sweet.  That is until I started to skim the specs on the bike.  SRAM Force had been replaced with Shimano Ultegra.  That wasn't all that bad because I did like my Ultegra.  However, the more I talked around the shop, the more everyone agreed that SRAM was the better choice overall.  Looking at the offerings, SRAM wasn't available until you moved into the S-Works line of the Tarmac.  For those of you who don't know, this is the professional level bike with the FACT 11R frame, and top of the line everything.  It comes with a top of the line price as well...UGH!!!

Fortunately, I found a 2011 SL3 Tarmac Expert (a year later than what I had) on closeout because it hadn't been sold yet.  The price was about what I had paid for mine, but had been in the shop quite a bit longer so I asked how much lower they could go.  They weren't able to drop the price to where I felt comfortable buying it to upgrade components on.  Back to square one....I could get the new Ultegra model, or step up to the S-Works which was what I had been lusting after in the closing months of my riding before.

We left after three hours without buying anything and no clear decision on what to do next.  I only knew that I would be back the next day to talk with Dale.  In the meantime, I debated on how to pay for whatever I chose.  My only reasonable option was to use in-store credit which I detest doing, and Have only used credit in extreme circumstances before.  Toni convinced me that this was extreme, and I should go ahead and use the credit, especially since my truck was paid off, and I had that monthly payment not spoken for.  She had a good point, and made good sense.  Which bike?????

We came back on Saturday right at opening and started talking the fundamental differences between the two bikes.  For the S-Works, I was getting a better frame, much better groupset, and ceramic bearings in the wheel hubs and derailleurs.  I was drooling at the idea of owning this bike, and really wanted it.  Oh, the Ultegra was a nice bike too.  Toni caught the nuisances of how I was talking about the two bikes and used her persuasive capabilities to convince me to go with what I wanted instead of worrying about upgrading right after buying.  The logic was sound, and I went ahead and applied for credit.

You know you are a cyclist when your buying process for a bike is the same as for a car!!!!

With the credit app done, I was approved for a little over where I was expecting to be for all that I would need to buy...remember, I had sold everything cycling related, and essentially needed to start over.  All I had left was my clothes (which are expensive in their own rights), and water bottles.  everything else I would have to get new.

After another nearly 4 hours, I had a receipt that was about as tall as I was, and a picture of a bike that was still being manufactured overseas.  I came home with three bags of items with several more bags on order.  Its all a waiting game until everything arrives, with the bike being the last one in.  I expect it around the end of the month, or beginning of September.  Then it will be all about how quickly can I get back in shape and start taking control of my body again.