Mike's Bike Blog

Today's workout called for a race simulation. "There’s not really one specific task for this ride; there are a few. Find two of the hardest climbs in your area and ride a loop that includes the two of them. Ride each of the climbs at the highest pace you can sustain." I went out and did the Volente Loop, I tried to keep the pace at 20 plus miles per hour. I've yet to compete in a real race so I was just winging it, mainly concentrating on keeping my speed up and powering thru the rollers and steeper climbs. I figure this was more like a time trial effort as the power and effort were too consistent. A real race would probably be a bit more chaotic with huge power surges to either stay with a group or to jockey for position.

As I came to the big climb on Limecreek Road had been averaging 19.75 mph. If you recall my fastest time up the Sisters is 3 minutes and 47 seconds. I hit the base of the hill, which in my opinion is the hardest part, and I was out of the saddle giving it my all. Not sure what gear I was in, but I know I had a few gears to shift to if needed, but I was attacking it like nobodies business. I then went up the middle sister, as I crested her I shifted down one to speed up my cadence a bit to give my legs a little rest before the third sister. I then shifted one more, stood up to sprint up the last portion and then it happened.

The chain came off the cassette, I immediately sat back down and looked down to see what was going on. I was quickly slowing down from 8 mph. When I realized the chain was completely stuck between the hub and cassette and as such it was like applying the break so I didn't have any time to release from the pedals.

Now I would like to point out the finer points of crashing:

• Don't tense up, you'll want to be as pliable as possible so your body is not so ridged that it can freely move. You'll get hurt more if you are fighting your body.
• Don't stick your hand out to try to catch yourself. Keep your hands on the bars. When you stick your hand out to try and catch yourself you're more likely to break an arm or wrist. Plus you will be in a prone position that can lead to a broken collarbone or separated shoulder.
• Roll with it. I'm not sure exactly how to describe this, but when I hit the road I immediately roll up into a ball. This keeps me from sliding on an one body part. For example I went down to the right, my right knee hit first and as I made contact with the pavement I rolled up into a ball and rolled on my back. This allowed me to distribute the blow with the pavement. Granted I probably ended up with more bruises on my backside and back, but my knee only sustained a scratch and a bump. I think it could have been a lot worse.
• This might be the most important nugget of advice I can give you grasshopper. Once you do a quick inventory of all your vital parts, now it's all about saving your pride. Of course as soon as I'm laying there in the dirt I hear a car coming around the bend. I quickly got off my back and onto my knees and had my bike upright again. Last thing you want to do is get caught looking stupid. I did a google search and youtube search and luckily I was the only one in the vicinity.

The chain was stuck good, it wasn't budging and I couldn't do much with it, I had to call the SAG wagon to come pick me up. I walked up the rest of the way up the Sisters carrying my bike over my shoulder like a wounded soldier. This workout turned out to be more race like than simulation as I got the big 'Ol DNF (Did Not Finish). Hopefully when I do jump into my first race I've got the DNF out of the way and I can race in peace.

The diagnosis for the bike was good, Eric at Spin City was able to fix it up. He also said the rear derail er was out of alignment which caused the over shift.