northbend 

I rode what may be the last ride of the summer on Sunday.
A friend of mine, Sean, invited me to go with him and his regular ride partner on a 50 mile loop in the central Cascade mountains. I was really looking forward to this and was a bit anxious as both these guys are strong and experienced gravel racers having done all the dirty fondos in Washington State. their machines were decidedly more modern than my Bruce Gordon but Sean assured me my 32mm tires and gearing would be fine for this route.
We started on Snoqualmie Pass at the Hyak trailhead and rode East on the Iron Horse trail. We turned South and climbed the gravel road up to Stampede Pass.
Ascending Stampede on my last ride for awhile by NBend, on Flickr

We stopped by a small lake just below the Summit where I took a couple of pictures of my partners.
Sean has extensive knowledge of the dirt roads in the central Cascades.
He is a fine ride leader who seems to have eyes in the back of his head. He always kept me and Eric in contact.
The ringleader Sean by NBend, on Flickr

Eric is built like a brick.
Descends like one too and is one of the funniest guys I’ve ever ridden with. Later on he really helped lift my spirits when I was hurt..
The sidekick Eric by NBend, on Flickr

As we descended from Stampede Pass, I did my best to keep them in sight. The road was really in pretty good shape but not knowing the area, I rode feathering my brakes on the long downhill.. The guys always waited for me when the slope lessened. Near the bottom of the descent, I got trapped by a waterbar that had formed on the center of the road, a little gully of sand and rock that began to drift to the right side of the road where I was descending. I waited too long to change my line and when I did, my front wheel dug in and went sideways on me, slamming me to the ground. I knew right away I had broken my left collarbone. I had broken it before in 2010 but this time, the pain wasn’t as bad.
I got up and was surveying the damage when Eric and Sean rode back up to me. My helmet was intact, though dented. I had some pebble filled gouges on my arm that I washed out with my water bottle and my left hip was hurting with minor rash there and on my shoulder. My bike fired better: the left brake lever was bent slightly but that was it.

After dusting myself off and walking around a bit we discussed what to do next. According to Seans computer we were almost 21 miles in…about 1/2 way. The guys suggested riding back to Hyak and getting the car but I insisted on trying ride out. I felt embarrassed that I had caused this change in our plans and honestly felt good enough to keep going. If it got too tough, they could still ride ahead and get the car to pick me up. Either way, it would take just as long so off we rode at a slower pace.

The road continued down a little more then we reached the turnoff for Yakima Pass. This was the big climb of the day, about 9 miles long. Going uphill wasn’t too painful if I avoided the potholes and larger rocks. I could lightly grip the brake hood with my left hand which helped stability. I just dropped it into the granny and we ground it out stopping occasionally to rest. I was over the shock of the fall and even though I hurt, it wasn’t so all consuming and I actually was enjoying the ride again. I kept thinking of the TdF racer Lawson Craddock who was racing with a broken Scapula and did my best to channel him. It was getting hot - temps around 90. ahh glorious suffering!

The farther into the ride we got the more determined I was to finish it. I take a certain amount of pride in being able get myself out of difficult situations. Yakima Pass was reached, then another climb to the high point of the day then it was downhill from here to Stampede Pass road and beyond.
The descents after I broke my collarbone by NBend, on Flickr

The down hills were brutal - very painful to negotiate. I stopped often to ease the pain. The guys watching over me and supporting as best they could. Eric’s humor helped a lot.
When we reached level ground again on the Iron Horse Trail, it was less painful and we were now just 6 or 7 flat miles away from the car.
We had a coolish headwind off of Lake Ketchelus as we pedaled by. What a great feeling to get back to the car!

The guys dropped me off at home.
I showered then went to the nearby urgent care. X-rays confirmed the break.
Oops, broke it again by NBend, on Flickr
Today I had a follow up with the Orthopedic Dr, he confirmed no surgery is required. It’ll heal on it’s own so no bike riding for 6-8 weeks.

Sean's Strava shows the route and elevation profile. I fell just before the lowest point in the profile:

https://www.relive.cc/view/1721282923

merziac

Wow, sorry to hear this. Hope it heals well and as quickly as possible.

King Romulus

noglider 

I hope you heal painlessly, @northbend. Next year, try to injure yourself at the end of the season, not the middle.

Yesterday, I rode to work, as I do almost every day. The Hudson River, dividing New York City from New Jersey, is over a mile wide, and the George Washington Bridge is at one of the narrowest spans. You can see it in the distance.

Drillium Dude 

Good deal. The "crack" I thought I saw was a tiny black line at the front of the clamp (not the opening at the back, where one usually finds screwdriver marks and the like), where these types of stems tend to break. We've had a couple collarbone breaks in our C&V peloton in the last week and I didn't like the idea of another one joining them via equipment failure

DD

jimmuller 

I expressed my best wishes in gugie's 4 of a kind thread but I'll do it again here.

Ouch! Bummer. Heal well and quickly.

Slightspeed

13.5 miles today up thru Porter Ranch, CA. it's been in the high 100s for several days, seems like forever. I stopped by the sidewalk library on White Oak, dropped off three, brought home 2 books. Neat deal, the sidewalk library. Thanks, who ever does them. I was done by 10am , and it was only 90°. Nice ride on the old Raleigh.

Slightspeed

I love the look of your bike. Is the head tube cream color, or kind of goldish? Was that a stock color scheme, or your own invention? Great looking bike! I built mine from an abused frame, spray painted pea soup green. I used a a Toyota Spruce Mica, BRG, with a little gold flake. I considered doing my headtube in cream, but decided on gold outlined lugs instead. I see you have both. Is your seat tube the same as the head tube, or white? Heres my '73.

DQRider 

Thank you, Slightspeed. I sort of specialize in carefully applied rattle-can Rust-Oleum paint jobs, and this is my best one yet. The head tube and seat tube center panel are Rust-Oleum Almond Creme and the main color is Hunter Green. I apply 5 coats, let it cure for a week, and then hit it with the rubbing compound, and then polishing compound. I was so eager to ride this bike that I haven't waxed it yet, that will have to wait until winter now.

So no, this was not a paint scheme offered by Raleigh or Carlton. The decals are ones I selected from Velocals because I thought they would look nice on there. I've never seen another bike with the "Made in England" script on the chainstay, but I thought it looked like it belonged there. I'm still trying to decide whether to mount a chainguard or not. If I do, it will have a Raleigh decal on it.

Your bike is a very nice restoration. The color you selected looks like it should have been offered by the factory. I like it better than the bronze-green my bike was originally painted.

.

ButchA

Did a nice and easy, 13.65 miles from my house down to the James River, along Riverside Dr, here in Richmond, Virginia. Great day for it after the rain stopped yesterday and it cleared up. Sections of the road (especially down by the river) were still a bit wet, but otherwise it was excellent. 56:10 was my time and maybe a 14½ mph speed on avg.

Here's the route...



...just came off the Huguenot Bridge, onto Riverside Dr.




Lastly, as a joke, I made a comment asking, "Anyone need anything from Pleasant's Hardware while I'm here?" ha ha ha...

Bianchi84

Almost had to stop to "re-energize" during today's ride... but didn't.

rccardr 

Another lovely day down by the Potomac River on the Virginia side. 32-ish miles from Vienna, looping past Four Mile Run, then up the river and back via the Martha Custis Trail.
It was the '88 Bottecchia Team Record's turn in rotation this week.

Spaghetti Legs 

@northbend - you are a hard man. Glad nothing more serious (or your bike) was broken. Tough week for C+V shoulders.

I did my birthday ride today - 50 at 50. I recently moved; kind of familiar with the roads but broke into some unfamiliar territory. Rode from just outside Crozet, VA, up through Afton to the Blue Ridge Parkway. The first 19 miles took an hour and a half - almost all uphill except for maybe abut 3 miles! Descended off the Parkway at Reed's Gap down to Devil's Backbone Brewery. I hit 50 mph on the descent, so scored the trifecta of 50's today! I was sorely tempted to get a beer but had a ways to go and my conditioning isn't so good, so I settled for a Coke and brewery made potato chips. the 20+ miles back were up and down rollers. Legs were definitely wet spaghetti by the finish but I had only 49 miles, so I rode past the finish (up a hill no less, ouch!) to get my 50 in.

This is the overlook to the northeast right after getting onto the Parkway



Raven's Roost. Highest point on the ride today at about 3100 feet. Looking west into the Shenandoah Valley.





Heading back towards Batesville. Looks like gravel but actually relatively smooth chip and seal.

Sir_Name 

jimmuller 

Fine crop of pics, ride reports from S_N, S_L, hg, DQR,. Who did I forget?

djkashuba 

Sunday Morning, Sonoma Coast by djk762, on Flickr

jimmuller 

We rode the tandrm for 30.25 miles. An easy day but we needed the rest.

Vonruden

Quite a few rides in one weekend
[U

RL=https://s1266.photobucket.com/user/vonruden1/media/EDC74E43-70CE-411B-9A64-14DC6E5836F2_zpsknp3croi.jpg.html][/URL]

scozim 

Had a family gathering to celebrate the 100th anniversary of my parents house. First time all the siblings and 90% of the grandchildren had been together in quite a few years. Since I was in the Palouse again I had to go tackle Steptoe Butte that we just rode two weeks ago in the Tour de Palouse. This time I tackled the climb at 7:30 am so the temps were much better. Unfortunately, the only rain I encountered was at the summit, and big heavy drops at that, and I couldn't cut it loose on the downhill with wet tires. Still a fun ride - wish I could do it more often. My dad used to do intervals on that climb - the most being 5 in one day.

Ballenxj

Now that was a memorable event to record.

MezzoLew

Thanks for sharing these photos - they grabbed my attention and I found out a bit more about Henry Whitfield here. I am impressed with the man who travelled across the Atlantic in 1639 with a bunch of mates to setup a new life.
https://minerdescent.com/2011/11/10/...nry-whitfield/

scozim 

This makes for a "bumpy" ride home. Jumped the chain past the big chain ring on my dad's Vitus/Peugeot on a shake down ride to see what it needs and then jammed the crankset as the chain got to the pedal. Happened about 9 miles from home. I got the chain back on and hear a "noise". After finally stopping a 2nd time I finally saw the damage - sheered teeth from the upper pulley on the rear derailleur. Not the first Simplex I've had with this problem. The advantage was the faster I spun the less noise it made and more efficient the chain was going over that spot so it was still a good workout.

curbtender

Took the Fisher out for a run and saw this tree. Reminded me of "It's a mad mad world". Wasn't the cash under the 'W'?

3speedslow

zammykoo

That's cool that they let you ride your road bike on the track. Our local velodrome is strict on track bikes only.

Did you try riding the banking?