Athens Twilight 2013

Quick summary
Awesome weekend hanging out with friends in Athens. Perhaps the highlight of my weekend was being there to see Mark Fisher win the amateur finals race in a crazy solo move. I was also very happy with how I was able to stay near the front in the pro race and even attack to take a $100 prime late in the race. With two laps to go, a couple guys crashed in front of me of me going into turn 1. As soon as I hit the brakes to try to stop, the guy behind me plowed into me at pretty much full speed — popping me up into the air and then landing ironically on him, his bike and unfortunately for my right knee, his pedal (or my own headset). Initially, I thought I had shattered my knee b/c the pain/shock was so great that I was almost paralyzed to even try to move to unstraddle my bike. Somehow after untangling everything I still had one foot on the left side of my bike and the other foot on the right side of my bike. So I’m standing there trying to figure out whether I can still get back on my bike when the field starts to come down the stretch again. I knew at this point there was no way to even ride in easy so I scrambled off the course just before the remnants of the field came barrelling into turn 1 again with one lap to go. Disappointing finish to an otherwise great weekend! On Sunday, I partially redeemed the weekend by discovering a new Cat 2 climb for Alabama (Campington Ridge) on what was supposed to be a 120 mile ride home via Mount Cheaha. Instead, I got to climb Cheaha in a thunderstorm full of lightning and then descend it in a thunderstorm downpour. By the time I made it to Talledega, finishing the ride wasn’t even on the menu any more — but a hot coffee and supersonic breakfast burrito while waiting for Kristine to come pick me up definitely was!

The videos
Well, as it turns out my camera bounced off my handlebars in Turn 2 fairly early in the race … I think it may have been the second or third lap. Some kind soul found it for me and turned it into Ashley Travieso. So assuming that the camera card wasn’t broken by the impact, then I should have videos to post of the scrum, call-ups, and first one or two laps. I’m picking up the camera from Ashley at the Sandy Springs race on Sunday so I’ll probably have those videos posted by Sunday night or Monday morning!

The data

Athens Twilight Pro/1 2013
59th place, crash 2 to go
Lap	Time	Mi.	AvgPow	MaxPow	HR	RPM	MPH
1	1:27	0.6	299	888	154	83	25.7
2	1:19	0.6	293	791	167	82	26.2
3	1:17	0.6	256	815	169	79	27.5
4	1:19	0.6	264	824	168	80	27
5	1:15	0.6	246	877	167	81	27.6
6	1:14	0.6	259	851	170	84	27.7
7	1:12	0.6	239	736	173	84	28.6
8	1:13	0.6	258	862	174	80	28
9	1:20	0.6	245	807	174	83	25.3
10	1:17	0.6	272	849	173	81	26.8
11	1:17	0.6	246	880	176	79	27.3
12	1:20	0.6	254	862	174	77	26
13	1:14	0.6	246	847	176	81	27.8
14	1:16	0.6	274	868	177	81	27.6
15	1:12	0.6	269	896	178	83	29.2
16	1:19	0.6	207	856	175	79	26.8
17	1:21	0.6	250	855	170	84	26.1
18	1:14	0.6	262	833	172	84	27.6
19	1:21	0.6	224	827	175	78	26.3
20	1:19	0.6	248	820	172	83	26.9
21	1:16	0.6	243	838	173	79	27.6
22	1:16	0.6	269	851	175	82	27.7
23	1:12	0.6	232	929	178	78	29.1
24	1:20	0.6	257	826	172	80	26.5
25	1:18	0.6	251	859	178	76	26.6
26	1:16	0.6	244	771	176	80	27.9
27	1:15	0.6	244	824	173	79	28.3
28	1:14	0.6	270	788	173	82	28.5
29	1:11	0.6	249	781	177	80	29.8
30	1:13	0.6	239	892	175	78	29
31	1:17	0.6	241	832	176	74	27.4
32	1:20	0.6	231	723	172	81	26.4
33	1:15	0.6	241	868	173	83	27.9
34	1:12	0.6	241	835	176	79	28.5
35	1:12	0.6	239	789	174	81	28.9
36	1:18	0.6	242	865	170	74	27
37	1:17	0.6	243	829	174	79	27.2
38	1:14	0.6	240	829	174	81	28.2
39	1:15	0.6	232	781	172	83	27.7
40	1:21	0.6	286	796	178	81	25.9
41	1:13	0.6	266	854	180	80	28.7
42	1:14	0.6	244	868	175	78	28.2
43	1:16	0.6	243	879	172	80	27.8
44	1:16	0.6	242	821	170	80	27.5
45	1:17	0.6	236	801	170	82	27.3
46	1:15	0.6	250	797	170	80	27.7
47	1:15	0.6	221	769	171	79	28.4
48	1:15	0.6	257	770	170	81	28
49	1:16	0.6	244	795	172	84	28.1
50	1:14	0.6	246	767	171	86	29
51	1:13	0.6	249	807	170	81	29.3
52	1:16	0.6	224	731	169	82	28.3
53	1:15	0.6	261	793	167	80	28.4
54	1:15	0.6	252	788	174	78	28.4
55	1:16	0.6	248	745	172	81	27.5
56	1:25	0.6	216	783	166	78	24.9
57	1:18	0.6	234	763	164	79	27.1
58	1:15	0.6	226	783	163	80	27.8
59	1:18	0.6	243	837	159	79	27.1
60	1:17	0.6	253	776	167	77	27.3
61	1:12	0.6	255	808	170	83	29.4
62	1:21	0.6	255	745	172	79	26.1
63	1:19	0.6	234	711	169	79	26.5
64	1:16	0.6	286	716	168	80	28
65	1:18	0.6	221	727	170	80	26.9
66	1:25	0.6	216	617	161	81	24.8
67	1:11	0.6	418	741	172	82	29
68	1:24	0.6	262	548	183	84	25
69	1:16	0.6	242	750	175	83	27.7
70	1:19	0.6	261	732	168	82	27.1
71	1:18	0.6	269	772	173	79	27.1
72,73	2:34	1.2	241	734	171	80	27.4
74-76	4:00	1.8	265	819	175	80	26.7
77	1:20	0.6	277	794	179	81	26.7

Towards the end of the lap data with rain moving in, apparently my GPS couldn’t keep up with the turns anymore and my auto-lap feature wasn’t kicking in correctly. Looking at the data, it may be that my crash was actually with 3 laps to go (2.75 laps).

Athens Twilight 2013 Pro/1 – Heartrate zone summary
Athens Twilight 2013 Pro/1 – Annotated heartrate plot (click to enlarge)
Athens Twilight 2013 Pro/1 critical power curve

The detailed report
Athens Twilight is a race like no other in the country. From the atmosphere of thousands and thousands of people lining the entire course several rows deep, to the pre-race scrum fighting for position before the race even starts, to the super fast course, to the uncertainty of how the race itself could play out in any number of dramatically different scenarios. After racing it for seven years in a row now, I think I’ve figured out what makes the course so amazingly fast — the fact that turn 1 is so slow. What this does is it causes everyone from the back of the pack to have to accelerate really hard up the hill to keep from having gaps open up. Yet the course is so wide coming across the top of the hill that there are plenty of people with lots of momentum to slingshot past the guys at the front causing the guys at the front to respond and pick up their speed behind the new guys who are trying to attack or go off the front. And that new faster speed is easily carried through the wide turn #3. Heading into turn #4 you are coasting, so you have a chance to recover and then hit it really hard again through the start/finish. This process repeats itself enough times and pretty soon you are averaging over 30mph per lap.

I had a really great start in this year’s race on the second row, and I held good position towards the front third of the group until a crash coming out of Turn #1 at the very front of the field caused a pile-up. I could see guys pulling up behind it and getting ready to head back to the pit, but I also could see a way around the mess so I opted to just keep riding since there were no gaps I could see. Going up the hill out of turn #2, I was in a bit of a panic b/c I could see a front group of about 25 riders had separated itself from maybe the next 50 or so of us — and I was near the very back of this group. Fortunately, some heavy hitters were not in that front 25 so our group was able to catch back up before the end of that lap.

In the chaos of the crash and remerging of the groups, a few riders slipped away and formed a dangerous looking break. Predator missed the move, though, and after 15-20 laps of steady chasing they brought it back. A few laps later, a three man move including eventual winner Kevin Mullervy (Champion/NoTubes), Carlos Alzate (UHC), and Frank Travieso (Mountain Khakis) escaped and quickly got a good gap on the field. Predator went to the front again to chase, but they couldn’t get any help from anyone else. During these laps, I was slowly working my way back up towards the front. Then with maybe 16 or 17 laps to go, I was in good position and the pace of the field let up at the front so I thought about attacking up the hill with no real race objective other than to be off the front for Kristine. I realized it would be better to wait for a prime, though, and on the very next lap they rang the bell for a $100 field prime. The pace slowed again just a bit across the top and I took that opportunity to launch an attack to go for the prime.

I imagined the whole time I was attacking that I was just pulling the field with me or at least one or two other riders who would come around to take the prime, so I sprinted hard all the way to the line not realizing that I had escaped cleanly and had maybe a 5 second gap by the line. I was cooked from the effort, though, so I sat up, recovered, and waited for the field. I slotted back in at the front of the field and spent the next 12 laps attacking up the outside on the hill to keep from getting passed by the field and then slotting back in behind UHC through the start/finish. This was taking its toll on me but I was maintaining good position until 3 laps to go heading into Turn 3 when the pace eased up a bit on the downhill and I wasn’t close enough to the barriers so a whole slew of people came around me on the outside. I tapped the brakes feeling squeezed by the people on the inside and lost even more positions. I think I probably went from top 15 back down to top 30 by the start/finish line. Shortly after the start/finish line heading into turn #1, there was a big pile-up on the ground in front of me, and as I hit my brakes to try to stop before running into it, the guy behind me plowed into me from behind propelling me up into the air a bit and then ironically landing on top of him as he came sliding by me on the ground.

Side note – I’ve now crashed five times at Athens Twilight after racing it for 7 years. Out of those five times, my body has only hit the ground twice – once in 2007 when I landed on my butt in the straight section between Turn #3 and Turn #4 when somebody went too far outside hit the curb and bounced back into the group taking down a number of riders (including me) and then once in 2011 when I landed hard on my wrist in a very similar wreck to this year’s except going through Turn #1 instead of heading into it. The other three wrecks (two more in 2007, I had three wrecks that year, and one in either 2008 or 2009) have all involved me landing on top of other people already on the ground!

My first thought was get back up and try to tack back onto the riders who were still streaming by those of us caught up in the wreck. But my bike was so tangled up in two other rider’s bikes that it took a few seconds to even get the bikes untangled. By this point, the field was gone. Also, it was about that time I realized must have cracked my knee really hard on something (pedal, headset) as it was bleeding and hurting quite a bit. In fact, the location of the pain paralyzed me for a few seconds as I was afraid to move or bend my leg thinking that I had done some serious damage to my knee and would end up crumpling back to the ground if I tried to move. As I looked back to the start/finish I could see the lead moto and knew that the field was coming soon so this forced me to try to move and I found that I could move my knee without any additional pain. I climbed through the fence as spectators grabbed my bike and pulled it into the beer tent. Turning down numerous offers for beers, ambulances, and other forms of assistance, I was able to take my bike and ride it through the crowd to the start/finish line where Chad was interviewing the winner, Kevin.

Even having to pull out with three to go, I still ended up 59th as many of the nearly 100 starters had already abandoned the race earlier. So I’m happy to not have to put a DNF in my results! Kristine related to me later that the race for first was an intriguing one with Kevin attacking the break with six to go and Frank and Carlos hesistating to chase. This gave Kevin enough room to solo it in from six to go. Carlos ended up outsprinting Frank for 2nd with Frank rounding out the podium in 3rd. All-in-all I think it was a good race for me being in good position so late in the race and then just a bit of bad luck with two to go. C’est la vie – can’t wait until next year!!!!!

Alabama’s newest Cat 2 climb – Bain’s Gap to Campington Ridge
On the way home I had Kristine drop me off on the old Fort Mclellan property so I could ride a new Cat 2 climb and then bike almost 120 miles home via Mount Cheaha. Along the way I saw a really cool wild turkey run across the road, and a long black snake, and then I got absolutely soaked in a thunderstorm on the top of Mt Cheaha – quite scary with all the lightning – and a huge downpour on the descent down into Talladega. By the time I made it to Talladega, I was ready to be done riding so I called Kristine to come pick me up. I got some cool pics that I’ve posted in the gallery below.

Cut for the Moorman Mountain gravel climb (dark line on side of mountain)

Campington Ridge – behind the bomb range

The view of my tracks up the last bit of the Campington Ridge gravel climb

Cockpit minus a camera, but plus a new bike light purchased at Walmart to finish the ride in the dark

Mt Cheaha with a thunderstorm about to be on top of it (right about the time I finished climbing up to it)

Mt Cheaha tower – Alabama’s highest point at 2,407 feet above sea level

Sonic (and Kristine) to the rescue … one giant burnt coffee and a supersonic breakfast burrito to stop the uncontrollable shivering while I waited for Kristine to make the drive from Birmingham to Talledega

A rainbow on the drive home after Kristine came and picked me up in Talladega

Anatomy of a rainy crash

Branch segment that took me down on my commute into work.

Well, I almost made it through the rest of the year without crashing after my spill at the end of the Sandy Springs crit in May. Today, though, I hit the branch that is shown in the picture above. I never saw it because it was mixed in with a bunch of leaves on the ground. When I hit the branch, my wheels slid out immediately left and me and the bike went sliding on our right sides. It was not “slide friendly” pavement. Look at the damage to the handlebar tape and handlebar. Now imagine that same damage on my arm, hip, and hands. Or at least that’s what I thought I was going to find … instead I have some bad road rash in just a few isolated spots on my arm, hip, and hands. But enough to make it a challenge to type and to be dripping blood from those spots. I may have done something to my hip, though. Right now I am just hoping that I only damaged the muscles and tendons on the outside and inside of my hip.

As soon as I hit the branch and went flying along the ground with my bike, I had enough time to think as I was sliding along the ground for 8 SECONDS. My thoughts went something like this:

• What did I hit?
• I’m ok, that didn’t hurt too bad, I can still make it into school
• Oh no, this is a really long slide
• Oh crap, this is not good pavement to be sliding on
• When am I going to stop?
• Class is cancelled
• I can’t ride home

It’s amazing what all had to come together for me to crash. There was a bad storm system moving in, so I left for work early and was planning on going through Bluff Park. But as I got near Lorna Rd, the clouds were getting darker and the rain was starting to get heavier, so I decided to turn around and take the more direct Vestavia route into school. Still, as annotated in the map, I was planning on taking the Vestavia Forest route since I had plenty of time this morning to add on the extra mile. Unfortunately, I missed the Hwy 31 light and I wasn’t going to wait for it so I turned around and was planning on taking my normal route up Badham – Willoughby – Garland – Wickford. But when I got to the Willoughby intersection, I decided that I didn’t want to do the extra steep climb in the middle and opted to stay straight on Badham since it is a more gradual climb. So this put me onto a section of Badham that I normally do on my way home from work. But on that route home, I normally turn at the intersection where today I went straight. It was just past this intersection on a stretch of road that I hardly ever ride where I hit the branch hidden amongst the leaves on the road.

Anatomy of a wet bike crash

Here’s the link to the data on Strava … you click and zoom in on the section of the crash to see the 8 second slide. http://app.strava.com/rides/2349857

I stood up and was feeling some pain in my hip and a lot of pain from the road rash on my hands so I just started yelling “help” because I was hoping somebody would come out from their house and offer me a ride home or at least so I could borrow a phone to call home for Kristine to come pick me up. I stood there yelling for a minute or two and nobody came out. I walked back up the street and found the branch which was the only thing in the road that I could see that would have caused such a sudden jolt and crash. I stuck it in my backpack and tried to figure out what to do. By this point after falling, I had calmed down enough and had assessed the various pains enough to realized that I could probably ride home because I could still move everything and nothing appeared to be broken on my bike. I got on and started riding just as the storm really hit. It was a thunderstorm downpour all the way back to my house.

I was just inspired to see what I had written up about previous crashes … check them out here:

http://toonecycling.wordpress.com/tag/crash/

And a couple of accidents back to back in the summer of 2006:

http://www.toonesalive.com/blog/family/?p=244
http://www.toonesalive.com/blog/family/?p=232 (hit and run)

Sandy Springs crash, videos, and race report

Summary – racing well, but missed break which lapped the field. I was working hard to stay at the front with 2 laps to go when my front wheel started to slide out on the fast downhill turn #3. I straightened up to stop the slideout, but that meant that I wasn’t going to be able to finish making the turn at 32+ mph. I ended up slamming into the barriers shoulder first at 32.3 mph according to my iBike. Here’s the same explanation in video form at the hospital:

I am incredibly sore on both sides and the back of my neck. Here is a picture showing the bruising and swelling around my neck and where the helmet straps cut into the skin. Same thing on the other side of my neck. Ouch.
bruising around my neck
shoulder swelling
Sandy Springs crash power data annotated
Warm-up, race, and trip to hospital

More videos from the race…

Heartrate and power data…
2011 Sandy Springs power data annotated
2011 Sandy Springs heartrate data annotated
2011 Sandy Springs heartrate data summary

Strava lap data… http://app.strava.com/rides/536484

        MI	FT	MPH	WATTS	HR	TIME
Sandy 	0.6	32	15.3	143	118	0:02:22
Sandy 	0.6	32	14.2	112	117	0:02:33
Sandy 	0.6	32	16.8	136	115	0:02:09
Sandy 	0.8	32	10.3	135	119	0:03:31
Sandy 	0.6	32	25.5	310	150	0:01:25
Sandy 	0.6	32	28.9	423	166	0:01:15
Sandy 	0.6	32	29.3	449	168	0:01:14
Sandy 	0.6	32	28.9	425	168	0:01:15
Sandy 	0.6	32	28.1	386	169	0:01:17
Sandy 	0.6	32	28.5	435	169	0:01:16
Sandy 	0.6	32	28.5	418	173	0:01:16
Sandy 	0.6	32	27.8	401	173	0:01:18
Sandy 	0.6	32	26.7	357	174	0:01:21
Sandy 	0.6	32	28.5	433	173	0:01:16
Sandy 	0.6	32	26.1	354	171	0:01:23
Sandy 	0.6	32	27.8	368	172	0:01:18
Sandy 	0.6	32	27.4	381	174	0:01:19
Sandy 	0.6	32	30.9	518	178	0:01:10
Sandy 	0.6	32	29.7	454	176	0:01:13
Sandy 	0.6	32	26.1	331	172	0:01:23
Sandy 	0.6	32	27.4	384	174	0:01:19
Sandy 	0.6	32	27.4	367	174	0:01:19
Sandy 	0.6	32	26.1	322	172	0:01:23
Sandy 	0.6	32	26.4	354	172	0:01:22
Sandy 	0.6	32	30.1	456	176	0:01:12
Sandy 	0.6	32	26.1	357	172	0:01:23
Sandy 	0.6	32	28.9	452	180	0:01:15
Sandy 	0.6	32	28.9	456	187	0:01:15
Sandy 	0.6	32	26.4	354	182	0:01:22
Sandy 	0.6	32	26.7	363	171	0:01:21
Sandy 	0.6	32	27.1	370	168	0:01:20
Sandy 	0.6	32	27.8	371	170	0:01:18
Sandy 	0.6	32	29.3	407	174	0:01:14
Sandy 	0.6	32	27.1	343	171	0:01:20
Sandy 	0.6	32	27.4	383	171	0:01:19
Sandy 	0.6	32	27.8	361	173	0:01:18
Sandy 	0.6	32	27.8	371	172	0:01:18
Sandy 	0.6	32	27.8	359	172	0:01:18
Sandy 	0.6	32	27.1	353	172	0:01:20
Sandy 	0.6	32	25.2	311	173	0:01:26
Sandy 	0.6	32	25.5	324	172	0:01:25
Sandy 	0.6	32	26.1	323	171	0:01:23
Sandy 	0.6	32	25.8	324	175	0:01:24
Sandy 	0.6	32	26.1	337	175	0:01:23
Sandy 	0.6	32	27.1	349	174	0:01:20
Sandy 	0.6	32	27.1	352	173	0:01:20
Sandy 	0.6	32	28.9	428	175	0:01:15
Sandy 	0.6	32	27.4	363	176	0:01:19
Sandy 	0.6	32	27.8	401	178	0:01:18
Sandy 	0.6	32	28.1	409	179	0:01:17
Sandy 	0.6	32	28.1	405	180	0:01:17

Athens Twilight and Roswell Criterium race reports

Last night when we finally made it back to Birmingham, I couldn’t sleep so I went ahead and analyzed and posted my power and heartrate data. Here are my race reports:

2011 Athens Twilight Summary
Pat Allison and I were the two Tria riders in the race. Pat started at the back of the front group, and I started near the front of the back group, so we ended up starting not too far apart. I was lucky because the guy in front and to the left of me couldn’t clip in which opened up a whole in front of him that allowed me to pass a bunch of people right from the line. I was able to then work my way towards the front by about 20 laps into the race. Pat was just behind me when there was a crash in turn 1. I hit the rider who was on the ground in front of me and flipped up in the air. I came down onto my hand, chin, and knee. I blew out my front tire when I collided with the rider, so I was put back into the race with a new front wheel. Pat also got caught up in the crash. When we got placed back in, Pat went in a lap earlier than me towards the back of the group. I went in a lap later after the mechanics had changed out my flat wheel and gotten my shifters straightened out. They put me back in towards the front 1/3rd of the group. My wrist was really sore, but I was still able to pull up on the handlebars hard enough on the backside hill and fight for position towards the front of the field. I felt great and was always able to pass riders over the top of the backside hill. With 10 laps to go, there was a $100 prime, and as soon as I saw that nobody was sprinting for the prime, I attacked hard up the left side clearing the UHC train just in time to take the prime. I had a lot of momentum, so I went ahead and rolled off the front and stayed away until the top of the hill on the backside of the course. Then I fought hard for position and ended up 26th. Pat used a lot of energy moving back up after getting put back into the race and was still able to fight to finish 47th.

It is so hard to describe the atmosphere surrounding this race, you have to be there and experience it to really appreciate what it is like. With Chad Andrews announcing the race and getting everybody pumped up and over 30,000 people lining the streets, beer gardens, parking decks, hotels, loft windows, bar/restaurant open air second levels all screaming and cheering added to a race that averages 30mph all under the lights, it is easily the biggest adrenaline rush of the entire season. This year’s race was super smooth except for the one crash in turn #1 that unfortunately was just ahead of me. It was definitely the highest average speed for me. My friends Ashley and Stephen from Birmingham (who both graduated from UGA) drove up from Birmingham to watch the race! How cool is that! It was awesome to hear people all the way around the course cheering for me and for my teammate Pat. Thank you everyone!!!! I always tell people that if there is one race of the year to see what fast criterium racing is all about, it would be the Athens Twilight race.

Here are some videos and pics that my wife took:

Just after finishing – evidence of crash – landing on someone else’s chainring

Picture sent to the kids before the race. They loved it! The kids were staying with the Luncefords who have graciously hosted us every year for the past 4 years! The kids and us look forward to Twilight every year to enjoy the weekend together.

2011 Roswell Criterium Summary
This is normally a safe Pro/1/2 race, but this year there were numerous crashes. I was involved in two of them, and also broke a spoke on Turn #4. That meant that I was in the pit three times during the first half of the race. The first crash that I was in could be described as a fender bender with me running into the back end of the crash. I was able to clip out and catch myself before falling. The second crash was in the exact same spot with riders getting tangled up in front of me on the outside of Turn #2. Neither of them went down, but when they tried to untangle themselves one of them swerved right into me and took me straight into the barriers. My bike stopped for a moment, and I kept going forward flipping through the air. As soon as I knew I was ejected off the bike, I tucked up into a ball and fortunately landed partially on the air cushion that was being used as a barrier. My bike then continued on past me as my rear derailleur had gotten tangled up with somebody else’s bike. I had to walk forward to retrieve my bike. My rear derailleur was really bent, so when I made it back to the pit I was able to get a SRAM neutral bike to restart the race. With about 35 minutes left to go in the race, there was a nasty crash towards the top of the backside hill. It was a Tour de France style crash with the peloton bunched up together and riders in the middle getting tangled up and then taking down everyone near them blocking the entire road. The spectators moved the barriers to help the riders in the back (including me) get around, but when we made it back to the start/finish, the race had been neutralized with an ambulance on the course. I was pretty shaken up from my crash earlier in the race and after not being able to move very far up, I drifted towards the back where I proceeded to cramp up with a lap to go and eased up to cross the finish line behind the main field. There was another crash on the last turn in the last lap, but I was so far back I didn’t see what happened. I just saw riders picking themselves up off the ground after it was over.

Here is a video that my wife took early on in the race: (Look how big the field is!!! I guess that might explain why there were so many crashes)

Also, here are couple good pics that Dave Gearhart got of me in the pit at Roswell…

After breaking spoke, mechanic bends derailleur back into place and gives me a new rear wheel.

Mechanic helps push me up the hill back into the peloton. This was painful pulling on the bars with sore wrist. I definitely appreciated the help!!!

Power and heartrate data from Athens and Roswell

Here are my Athens Twilight lap split times from Strava:
http://app.strava.com/rides/496428

Name 		MI 	FT 	MPH 	PW 	HR 	Time 
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	12.3	64	110	0:03:03
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	26.2	371	166	0:01:26
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.7	454	178	0:01:16
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.3	433	179	0:01:17
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.5	510	180	0:01:14
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	31.8	461	177	0:01:11
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.7	463	177	0:01:16
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	31.3	528	181	0:01:12
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	32.2	511	181	0:01:10
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.3	429	181	0:01:17
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.5	440	181	0:01:14
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	27.5	468	183	0:01:22
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	32.2	503	183	0:01:10
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.7	466	181	0:01:16
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	27.5	395	183	0:01:22
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.5	472	180	0:01:14
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.7	389	182	0:01:16
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.5	457	181	0:01:14
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.9	451	182	0:01:13
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.7	443	182	0:01:16
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	32.2	476	181	0:01:10
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.1	470	180	0:01:15
Athens (1 lap) 	0.8	21	6.2	204	164	0:06:03
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	28.9	446	179	0:01:18
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.1	468	180	0:01:15
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.9	470	179	0:01:13
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.5	473	181	0:01:14
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.9	414	178	0:01:13
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.1	471	179	0:01:15
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.1	461	181	0:01:15
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.1	438	181	0:01:15
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.1	451	181	0:01:15
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.5	479	179	0:01:14
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.3	438	185	0:01:17
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.7	449	177	0:01:16
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.3	491	181	0:01:17
Athens (1 lap) 	0.7	21	29.7	436	180	0:01:16
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.3	348	175	0:01:17
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	32.2	412	178	0:01:10
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	28.2	454	178	0:01:20
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.5	375	173	0:01:14
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.7	466	173	0:01:16
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.5	450	176	0:01:14
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	27.5	431	176	0:01:22
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	27.9	363	175	0:01:21
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.1	413	179	0:01:15
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.3	445	179	0:01:17
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	28.9	400	176	0:01:18
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	28.6	368	171	0:01:19
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.7	383	167	0:01:16
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	27.2	364	168	0:01:23
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.7	410	173	0:01:16
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	28.9	367	173	0:01:18
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	28.6	402	169	0:01:19
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.5	400	169	0:01:14
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.5	458	173	0:01:14
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.9	409	175	0:01:13
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.5	406	174	0:01:14
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	27.5	394	174	0:01:22
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.5	456	176	0:01:14
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	31.3	417	174	0:01:12
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	28.9	453	175	0:01:18
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.3	487	176	0:01:17
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.5	443	175	0:01:14
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	28.2	407	176	0:01:20
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	28.9	413	176	0:01:18
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	28.6	409	186	0:01:19
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.3	413	179	0:01:17
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.3	456	178	0:01:17
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	28.6	379	178	0:01:19
Athens (1 lap) 	0.7	21	28.9	408	177	0:01:18
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	29.7	405	177	0:01:16
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	31.3	431	181	0:01:12
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.5	457	183	0:01:14
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	30.9	510	185	0:01:13
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	33.2	545	187	0:01:08
Athens (1 lap) 	0.6	21	2.6	72	137	0:14:16

And here are my Roswell lap split times from Strava:
http://app.strava.com/rides/502567

Name 		MI 	FT 	MPH 	PW 	HR 	Time 
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	26.6	367	155	0:02:05
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	27.9	429	166	0:01:59
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	29.7	472	169	0:01:52
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	30.2	470	171	0:01:50
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	13.9	388	166	0:03:59
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	29.7	448	168	0:01:52
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	27.7	426	166	0:02:00
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	29.1	427	170	0:01:54
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	28.9	463	172	0:01:55
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	13.8	176	151	0:04:01
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	27	394	165	0:02:03
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	27.5	406	167	0:02:01
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	26.6	385	168	0:02:05
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	27.5	400	171	0:02:01
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	28.1	420	171	0:01:58
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	29.4	437	174	0:01:53
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	29.1	475	172	0:01:54
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	28.1	411	169	0:01:58
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	28.9	409	168	0:01:55
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	9.2	197	152	0:06:01
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	27.7	434	163	0:02:00
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	28.6	481	172	0:01:56
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	28.9	448	171	0:01:55
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	12.2	192	153	0:04:33
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	26.6	390	156	0:02:05
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	29.7	487	169	0:01:52
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	26.8	363	171	0:02:04
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	27.5	454	171	0:02:01
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	28.1	432	170	0:01:58
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	28.6	483	169	0:01:56
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	26.6	410	168	0:02:05
Roswell(1 lap) 	1	22	27.5	492	169	0:02:01
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	27.9	444	171	0:01:59
Roswell(1 lap) 	1	22	29.1	452	168	0:01:54
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	27.2	419	166	0:02:02
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	27	417	168	0:02:03
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	27.7	463	175	0:02:00
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	29.1	449	168	0:01:54
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	29.9	514	168	0:01:51
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	27.2	413	165	0:02:02
Roswell(1 lap) 	0.9	22	21.7	208	148	0:02:33

Bad accident narrowly avoided

Today, I narrowly avoided a really bad accident more by luck than anything else unless there was some angels keeping me from low or high-siding the bike during the sideways skid to avoid a collision with a pick-up truck. Here’s the details and a caution / warning for a particularly bad intersection in the Hoover area … the intersection of Patton Chapel Rd and Chapel Ln. BE CAREFUL IF YOU RIDE THROUGH THERE IN THE LATE AFTERNOON!. The maps and data tell part of the story, but you will want to read the short narrative below to see how I almost got creamed by a pick-up truck that never saw me and why I didn’t see him until it was almost too late.

narrow miss overview map

closeup of the dangerous intersection(s) – if you click on the picture to view the large version you can see the deviation in the GPS data from the sideways skid when decelerating from 25mph to 12mph in 1 second

annotated speed and elevation data including the deceleration from 25 to 12mph

So it all started with my commute home from work. I was climbing up Smyer and ran into Chad Hubbard who was heading the same way as me over towards Bluff Park. (Chad, if you are reading this, great riding with you today! This all happened about 10 minutes after we parted ways) Normally on a commute route home through Bluff Park, I would take Farley over to Shenandoah (crazy steep) and then down Mountain Oaks (fast and dangerous) and Hackberry (crazy fast 50+mph but not as dangerous). Instead, I wanted to get home with an easier route and less climbing so I headed down Patton Chapel (relatively slow and straight) which is not a particularly fun road to descend because it isn’t very fast, goes between two schools across the street from each other (imagine the chaos around 3:00 in the afternoon!), and then has the dangerous intersection with Moss Rock Preserve Parkway and Chapel Ln towards the bottom where I almost got into an accident today.

Today was MLK day though so I knew that the schools were closed. The sun was starting to get low in the sky to the west, though, and I’m sure that played a role in why the old man in the pickup truck with snow white hair never saw me. So anyway, here is what happened. I was descending between the schools at about 32-35 mph (speed limit is either 30 or 35). I made it past the schools and started to approach the two traffic lights which are very close to each other. The first traffic light is newer and it was easy to tell that it was green. The second traffic light is older and much harder to see when the sun is behind you. So you have to look really hard at the traffic light as you approach it. I had slowed down to about 25mph because I wasn’t sure if the light was green or red. As I was looking at it trying to decide if I was going to have to stop, I finally made it to the angle where you could see the traffic light instead of the sun’s glare. I thought, hey, that’s great I’ve got a green light. Well, because I had been so focused on the traffic light and the car waiting to leave from the side street (b/c if he started to move before I could see my light I would know that my light was red), I didn’t see that there was a pick-up truck coming from the opposite direction as me who decided to turn in front of me. There was no room. Let me repeat, there was no room. I looked down from the green light and was immediately staring into the side of a white pick-up truck moving slowly across the intersection. I had enough time to do two things: slam on the brakes and steer left. As I slammed on the brakes, the rear wheel locked up and slid sideways while the front wheel continued to roll (I think). This pointed me hard to the left and when the rear wheel stopped skidding I had slowed down enough and moved far enough left (12mph – nowhere near close enough to stopping) that the pick-up truck had just cleared out of the way in front of me. I mean we are talking inches (or less) from what would have been a 12mph collision with the side of a truck. Not super fast, but it definitely would not have been good. The worst case scenario that was narrowly avoided would have been if my front wheel slid out or if it had grabbed too hard and I high-sided over the bike and slid right under the rear wheels of the pick-up. That guy didn’t see me. As I cleared him barely to the left and looked through the back of the pickup truck, I saw that he had snow-white hair so I’m assuming he was really old. Especially since he was turning so slow. If he had darted across in front of me, then it would have scared the you-know-what out of me, but I might not have even needed to touch the brakes. Instead, he was sorta just rolling across the intersection slowly. Anyway if he was old enough and out of his senses enough, he may have just kept right on driving with me under the wheels.

Just to clear up any confusion though, I had a green light. The next person after me to get a green light would be the guy who was waiting at the intersection to turn left onto Patton Chapel Rd. The guy in the pickup truck who turned across my lane was turning not on a left arrow, but rather on a green light where you are allowed to proceed if there is no oncoming traffic. He clearly didn’t see me, and he almost ran over me. So anyway, all that is to say please be careful at that intersection.

Also, as far as visibility, this is what I had on today – (although the picture below was taken back in early December and today I had on my green Nature Valley kit underneath the reflective rain jacket so my shorts were a contrasting green color)