CLERMONT, FLORIDA
Undecided which of the “familiarization” routes for the Horrible Hundred I would do today, I thought I was too late for the 8:30 a.m. 50-mile “Bakery Ride.” Although I arrived at 8:20 a.m. and somehow grabbed a primo parking spot just yards from the start, I also did not want to rush.
There would be a 35-mile ride at 8:45 and a 42-mile ride at 9:00 a.m. I called Joe Berezo who I knew was riding the 35-mile route. I thought I would jump in with him. The time was 8:33 a.m. so I assumed the group waiting was his. But then they pulled out. It did not take much encouragement from Joe to have me jump in the 50-mile ride. We would meet after our rides.
And off we went. I didn’t try to get an accurate count but would estimate there were 60 riders or more. I’m not of a fan of such a large group and write about that later.
We rode two and three abreast. Sometimes we were on country roads but for short stretches, we were also on main roads. On main roads, the shoulder was large enough for only one rider and the group seemed to stay one on the shoulder with one in the far right travel lane. I’m a bit fearful and stayed on the right shoulder.
Advertised with a 17-18 mph pace, it seemed we were often rolling along at 21-22 mph. But that data show we rolled through the first 20 miles at 17.4 mph so I guess the estimate was right.
DISASTER STRIKES
Well, not really disaster. We were on Highway 19 which is a somewhat busy two-lane road with traffic. The group was rolling along, slightly downhill when someone touched their brakes. That sent a ripple through the peloton and two guys behind me touched wheels. The sound of a crash in unmistakable.
A number of us yelled “crash” but the group kept rolling. I stopped. We stopped. A rider was down. A car was stopped in the lane and it was unclear if the riders had been hit. We would learn that the riders went down in front of the driver. She almost hit them but did not but she was shaken up.
Everyone seemed to be a doctor, and maybe they were. I offered two things: First, two bikes were partially on the road. I removed them from the road and put them clearly in the grass. Thoughts of Jamie Roberts losing her life in Kentucky while standing at the edge of the road were enough to make me ensure that we were all safely off the road.
Second, I had them check his helmet. Sure enough, it was cracked. I suggested we call 911. No one did. Instead, they called for a friend to come pick him up. I think with a cracked helmet he needed to be evaluated by medical professionals. Thoughts of my own experience in Ohio on May 16 are still fresh with me.
Now down to half a group, minus one (or three as two riders stayed with him), we rode off towards the bakery. I thought with half a group it was a more sensible pace. The data show that the next eight miles we averaged 18.1 mph. Shows you what I know or how off my perception is.
The bakery is a nice stop. I did not buy anything so I cannot be a food critic. And then we rolled home.
I had met two riders, Evelyn and Robyn (Robin?). Evelyn had noticed my socks, “Hillclimb Worlds” and thought that was the coolest thing. Or a joke. I told her they were real and I finished DFL. Not so sure she thinks it was so cool now.
We came to three rollers. The first was preceded by a nice downhill and we were all touching our brakes – before a climb. On the first climb, I rolled up with the peloton. But then I gave them 50 meters. I did not want to roll down the next hill touching my brakes. And that worked. At the end of the three we waited 4-5 minutes for some who had been dropped.
Once we rolled out I stayed with Evelyn and Robyn. I didn’t have to worry about braking in the group and Evelyn took us a different way back onto one of the trails which was thoroughly enjoyable.
They said goodbye and “see you tomorrow” although I doubt in the thousands (or hundreds) that show up I will see them again. I met Joe and we had an enjoyable lunch at Zaxby’s – important because we’re riding different routes tomorrow.
And now my thoughts on the ride:
Our group was too large. I don’t know if they had ride leaders enough to split it but two groups of 30 or three groups of 20 would have been much better. The second group could have left five minutes after the first group. And the second group 10 minutes later.
While most who jumped in the “A” ride are decent bike handlers, we are not professionals. With 60+ riders in the peloton there was too much yo-yo-ing in the group. Even on a flat road at 21-22 mph, there were riders touching their brakes. One woman yelled out “would you all quit braking!” (She would later crash, not from braking but from her chain coming off while she was going uphill.)
IMHO, it was the size of the group which led to someone touching their brakes while we were rolling along and the ripple effect caused the two riders to crash – one was badly hurt. When we rode as a small group to the bakery this wasn’t happening.
Second, the size of the group exposed us all to frustrated, impatient, and even pissed-off drivers. On more than one occasion a truck (it was always a pickup truck – the reader can draw their own conclusions) passed a very long line of cyclists crossing the double yellow lines. On one occasion the truck was going extremely fast while an oncoming car seemed willing to play “chicken” with the truck. With riders two abreast, and there was no shoulder here, he sped up even faster to get past the front of the group and cut back with less than a second before a collision.
A long, stretched-out peloton, like we had today, is hard for a motorist to pass. But they will try. And if you are thinking riders should ride single file, if there is no shoulder they will be in a travel lane and single file is twice as long as two-abreast. Most motorists underestimate how fast cyclists are traveling. A group traveling at 21-22 mph takes much longer to pass than drivers estimate. Of course, they don’t realize this until they are in the opposite lane facing a car coming at them.
I LOVE this ride. The familiarization rides on Saturday are great. But there were times today I felt my safety was in danger just because of the size of our group. And I think it was a contributing cause to the accident today.
EDIT/EPILOGUE – NOVEMBER 18 – At lunch, I met a rider who was up front in the peloton. He said the chain-reaction crash was caused by a rider who decided he had to take a nature break so he hit his brakes and pulled over. Wow. This differs from what Robin heard – that someone had a mechanical although I will say I did not see anyone repairing their bike while we waited with the injured rider.
