jjiggajouncer

I had my first non-solo geared ride today (I've only been riding about a month and so far only on a fixed gear). I borrowed my friend's Raleigh with 8 speed downtube shifters and he was on his S-Works. I needed to swap out the pedals (Crank Brothers Candy SL) from my fixed gear over to his Raleigh. Man, those littles buggers were on there pretty snug, I ended up busting my knuckles a bit on the chainring when I was finally able to get the first one free. A quick cleanup later and we were on the road by 11am.

The plan was a leisurely 12 mile ride. About 3 miles in, I got a little antsy being on his back wheel and decided to hammer past him mainly as a joke since I'm quite certain he could drop me at any time with little effort. So, off I went and he just kept his pace. I let up a bit at the top of a short climb and he got back on my wheel. I noticed he was breathing fairly heavily but I didn't think too much of it.

After a few minutes he yelled out that he might have to pull off and "open the purge valve" since he has a weak stomach. I kind of thought he was joking but since I've never ridden with him before I took him at least a little bit seriously.

Another slight climb was ahead of us and I held my pace and he was right with me. A couple minutes later I take a glance back and notice my buddy way back. Sure enough, he had pulled off to the side of the road. I doubled back and when I got to him he was just about finished yacking up his morning coffee.

I asked if he was ok and he said he was fine. In fact, he said he was feeling better so we continued on. I decided to let him lead and set the pace and he seemed fine with that. Off we went.

We are now at about mile number six and cruising at about 18-20 mph in a very low traffic older residential neighborhood. I'm on my friend's right side, maybe five feet off his front wheel. I noticed that he was turning his head towards me as though to tell me something. Just as he did this, I noticed a speed bump maybe three feet in front of his wheel. I started to yell "look out!" but it was too late. He never even saw it and plowed right into it. Up and over his bars he went. He managed to unclip in the air and his bike went off to the right a bit and he went off to the left. I was able to slow down just enough and got over the speed bump without much of a problem. I stopped right beside him and he was just laying face down and groaning. He said his shoulder was hurting and I began to look him over for any obvious road rash being sure not to move him at this point just in case he had any serious injuries.

He continued to lay there and eventually looked like he was trying to roll over and sit up. This didn't last too long and he returned to his face down position. He then asked me to help him roll over and when he got himself righted he immediately grabbed his left shoulder with his right hand. At this point I thought to myself broken collar bone. A few seconds later he said that he also thought it was a broken collar bone.

I found my friend's cell phone in his jersey pocket and asked him who he wanted me to call. I was about to call an ambulance when he stopped me and said to call his wife instead. I didn't argue with him about it and gave her a call. I calmly explained to her what happened and she said she would be right there.

In the meantime I had managed to fashion a sling out of my friend's jersey in order to get his arm and shoulder as stable as possible. All I could do was stay there with him and keep his as comfortable as possible and give him water and whatnot. It sucked, I felt so helpless.

About ten minutes later his wife arrived and I loaded the bikes in the back of their pickup truck as she got my friend in the passenger seat. Off to the hospital we went.

After doping my friend up with some painkillers and taking some x-rays, sure enough, it was a broken collar bone. They said it was a clean break that shouldn't require surgery, just plenty of time to heal.

That's about it for my (first) "Sunday Ride Report". Hopefully I'll fare better on future rides than my friend did on this one.

I guess it's back to riding solo for me.

EventServices

That was just one other rider.
You need to unleash your fury on a large group of riders.

Just think of the stories you'll tell the office on Monday morning.

Bike enthusiast

Agreed!!!!!! Say, "Hello" to RyanF for me, will ya????

jkizzle

yeah man, go find some road nazis and raise hell!

spry

Whats up with the term "speed bumps"?They sure didn,t help you friend gain speed and turned him into road pizza in the process.They should call them "thump bumps".
Too bad about the dude but what in God,s name happened to the poor bike?
Can you pull your friend around in one of those child-trailers till he heals?

roadfix

Get back onto your fixed gear, ride with a large peloton, and show them who the King Of The Road is!

koine2002

Please. I use my weekly night group ride for a recovery (it's billed as easy and relaxed), but recently a large group of road nazis joined because their ride at the same time ended until next spring. It has now turned into a testosterone fest of crazy dudes going well over 20 mph in the dark in a tight paceline. Even a bad wreck didn't slow them down. I've decided to ride sweep since I need the recovery time. All that to say, could you join my ride--as long as I'm not there? Seriously though, quick healing to your friend--and don't be afraid to ride with him (or another) again--I think he was just having a bad day.

Duke of Kent

Perhaps your friend should learn how to ride a bicycle.

Unless this speed bumb was shaped my like a curb/rain gutter and 4"+ tall, he should be avoided at all costs whilst on the road.

jjiggajouncer

his bike seemed to fare pretty well, much better than he did anyway. the saddle got a few scrapes, a hood got torqued a bit but no apparent damage, and maybe a few other very minor scrapes. he crunched one of his cleats (look keo) and i'm sure it will need replacing. the wheels, amazingly enough, stayed true, but i don't know if they got knocked out of round, or not.

he asked about the bike while he was in the emergency room. i just had to take the opportunity by the reigns and i told him that the fork had a hairline fracture and that a crankarm snapped in two. he looked sick and just said "great, freakin' great! there goes another eight hundred bucks!". he was pretty relieved to find out that i was lying through my teeth about it when we got him back home, although this was only after he had a few choice words for me.

man, tugging his @ss around in a kiddie trailer for a couple months would really get me in shape! hahaha, the mental imagery is so great! i can see it now, cruising around town with him in a trailer with a can of guinness in hand demanding that i pick up the pace. hahaha!!

jjiggajouncer

in his defense on this issue...

the speed bump was in shadows from a lone tree by the side of the road. it did not have any distinguishing markings (yellow paint, painted pattern, etc.) which is normally found on speed bumps around here. it was the exact same color and texture as the road it was on (just regular asphalt, not concrete or anything. it actually looked as though it had been covered with asphalt maybe a few years prior). there weren't any road signs indicating a speed bump ahead.

also, as i said in the original post, he appeared to be turning to tell me something as he was approaching the speed bump. i only noticed it myself when i was maybe 10 or 12 feet away from it and i was looking forward the whole time.

i am tempted to go attack the thing with a can of krylon.

csr

I guess we shouldn't ride when we're sick. Takes away our concentration.

kudude

NOT COOL.

celerystalksme

hilarious! and hilarious!

mgmoore7

I would be calling the city or county about the lack of marking and signs for the speed bump.

Sorry he got hurt. Most of the time, I hate speed bumps. Around here, they don't install speed bumps often anymore but rather speed humps. A hump would have caused a rough ride if you did not know it was there but likely, he would not have fallen.

spry

No friend in the kiddie trailer?There is a screen you can zip shut so no one is aware of your cargo.
How about plan B?Is his wife hauwt?Can she ride his bike with you,just to be sure the wheel bearings and brifters dont seize up do to neglect?

jjiggajouncer

i would seize her wheel bearings and brifters...

wait, WHAT?!?!