SylvainG

... is was tainted by a jerk that wanted to teach me a lesson.

Century was going well. Was at 32 miles in when while crossing an entrance to a parking lot from a parkway (I was going West, he was entering the parking, see below), this guy when he saw me adjusting my speed to pass behind him instead of stopping (there is a stop sign), stopped dead at the intersection, blocking my path. I veered but still clipped his trunk with my handlebar. Of course I lost control and flipped. Luckily, I only ended up with a skinned elbow and no damage to the bike. What surprised me is I was clipped in and my cleats are not the multi release kind but nevertheless, I somehow got unclipped and rolled on the pavement, away from the bike. When I asked him why the hell did he block the intersection like that, he asked me why I didn't do my stop!!! That was the reason why he blocked me, because I wasn't stopping! Felt like punching him.

Anyway, beside that adventure. It went well. About 95% of my travel was on MUP or bicycle paths, no roads. Took me 7h55m, including all stops for 101.4 miles. Moving time was 6h13m. Moving speed was 16.3 mph and avg speed (including rests) was 12.8 mph.

sevenmag

Grats on your ride. Just amazing why people think they need to send that kind of message with no thought of causing an injury.

TimothyH

Cleats are supposed to release in a crash. You are supposed to separate from the bike.

If the bike flips with your feet attached to the pedal it could break your ankle. If the bike gets trapped under a car with your feet locked to the pedals then you could get dragged along the road with the bike.

Same deal with ski bindings. If the binding is too tight and the ski twists then it will break your leg. You want it to come apart.


-Tim-

OldTryGuy

Great stats, you should feel good about your accomplishment. That was also a nice recovery from the incident. Better luck for your next 100+.

CliffordK

Hopefully you left some nice deep scratches and dents on the guy's car.

It turns out that I roll through a lot of stops, but I try to slow down and am vigilant. Defensive Riding is key. Always expect the unexpected.

canklecat

Well done! Good average moving speed too. Glad you weren't hurt any worse.

SylvainG

Thanks all. Yeah it did feel good after the ride. Never thought two years ago when I went back into cycling that I would ride 100 miles on one ride. Yeah I like my numbers. Being on MUP and cycling paths (but mostly MUP), I often had to slow down because of MUP traffic. I still prefer that than dealing with cars though. Nevertheless, although I passed many, I never got passed for the whole 100 miles Sure if I would have taken the road though, road warriors would have breezed by me

Nice to know. That was always a concern of mine.

Yeah, I hope I scratched it. I did slow down to adjust my speed to pass after him. It was an empty parking lot in a parkway on a Saturday morning. There was no car or people in sight beside him and me. Beside blocking me, there was absolutely no reason for him to stop blocking the MUP.

berner

A very fine effort. I am sorry to say that there are many people who wish to make the world a better place by modifying everyone else's behavior. Most often such people speak in declarative sentences and seldom ask any questions. Consequently they never learn anything new.

GrainBrain

Nice stats! Sorry to hear about that wacko, I'll have people lay on the horn when behind me sometimes, just to signal their disapproval of me creeping through an empty intersection.

Good job on recovering, that's important for long distance riding I think. My first century I hit mud and wiped out hard but was able to continue scratched/bruised up.

E53 

Congratulations on the century!!! I'm glad you're okay after the spill too.

Wildwood