Team,
Last night we had a massive turnout for TnT. Jenn was there to represent the ladies and we saw several new riders come out for a pretty windy paceline ride to Cochrane. The group headed to !A and made its way along the at a good paceline.
Unfortunately, as we got to the end of the double lane road, we had a crash in the rear of the group sending Jeff onto the road pretty hard and Jenn into the ditch. From all accounts, Jenn did some fabulous riding to minimize her damage. Jeff was not so lucky. Twisted handlebars, scraped carbon, small holes in jacket, gloves and his brand new STC cycling shorts.
Oh yeah, Jeff also scraped his face on the road and will have some interesting shaving patterns for the next 2 weeks as his lip and chin heal.
We discussed with the group that stayed back with the riders to try and see what happened and what learning lessons we could take from the crash. We were not travelling overly fast and nobody wants to donate tissue if they can avoid it. It did sound like there was inadvertent half-wheeling which resulted into wheels touching.
In all conditions, we need to make sure that we ride a steady line, minimize half wheeling and be aware of our surroundings. I hope that in the comments section, some senior riders can post their comments on tips for team. Last night was an excellent example of the importance of practicing these skills and recognizing what is happening in the group. If you don't get the opportunity to practice, you are unable to develop safe riding practices and it will impact your race experience.
My wife came out to pick up bikes and riders and by the time we got back to ride start, Jeff's lip was pretty swollen and he was getting stiff. He sounded to be in pretty good spirits and will be fine. I'm sure Cam at Speed Theory will get his bike back up and running in no time.
So, thanks again everyone for coming out, I hope that the riders that continued on were able to work together and practice more of the essential skills that will make us the safest riding team in Alberta.
Slayer Dan
Full Calendar
4 comments:
a big thank you again to Dan's wife for driving out the team van to pick me up from the side of the road....really, I'm not a rookie! i swear! and my apologies again to Jenn for sending her into the ditch.
No worries Jeff. I just wished I could have bunny hopped your rear wheel. Next skills session maybe?
Glad you are doing okay!
P.S. To all the women: get out and ride! It was super fun and not at all intimidating.
Glad Jeff is okay. Hope to see you out soon. Would offer a set of wheels to you for a while but my container has not arrived from the UK so I only have one bike.
Other top tips: always keep your head up in a paceline, especially when you start to get tired, leave half a wheel between you and the person in front at all times, watch out for the wind. Cover off the brakes as much as possible, sudden use of brakes is a real gotcha too.
Great ride back, those intervals were a tester!! :-)
good for you guy's for being active in passing on pack riding skills I would just like to add that touching wheels doesn't mean an automatic trip to the pavement. When your front wheel comes in contact with the rear wheel of of the rider in front of you, turn slightly into his rear wheel not away from it. This allows you to regain balance and turn smoothly away from the contact without crashing. It sounds counter intuitive, but it works.
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