On 2019-08-04 17:37, jbeattie wrote:
On Sunday, August 4, 2019 at 7:58:0javascript:;2 AM UTC-7, Joerg
wrote:
On 2019-08-03 18:06, jbeattie wrote:
On Saturday, August 3, 2019 at 11:31:40 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
Folks,
Had a nasty crash about three months ago. Long story short my
handlebar broke without any warning. There was no cause such as
a speed bump or pothole.
http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/Handlebar1.jpg
The handlebar was not cheap, an ITM Mondial. It seems they
botched the design in that they used a non-coated steel
stiffener tube in the center. This corroded the aluminum from
the inside out, interestingly in riding direction. Possibly
because that's where the headwinds are hitting it and maybe
cause condensation:
http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/Handlebar1.jpg
Luckily it didn't happen 1/2h earlier where I was coming down
a steep hill at more than 40mph, with a rocky drainage ditch.
It happened at a leisurely travel speed of 15-17mph. Thanks to
the fact that it was a very wide bike lane I had space to roll
and at the end I skidded to avoid traffic. In the lane I'd have
crashed into the path of vehicles. About the only body part
that wasn't hurt was my head, thanks to the helmet.
http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/Helmet1.jpg
I am back in the saddle. I no longer trust aluminum and
certainly not any kind of plastic stuff so the road bike now
has a flat steel MTB handlebar. Put MeetLocks ergo handles on
it, rides nicely.
As a side note I cycled by the crash site a week ago. I still
saw the scrape marks on the asphalt and debris from my bike
which I cleaned up. Interestingly all the blood was gone. Maybe
a wild animal has licked it clean.
Well, I'm glad to hear you're O.K. I broke a modern (2006-ish)
Cinelli bar in the same place after less than three years in
service, but it happened relatively slowly. I thought the brake
lever clamp had slipped but realized my lever was moving because
the bar was breaking off. I rode the rest of the way to work with
one-sided bars, holding on to the dangling broken section. No
crash.
In hindsight I was lucky even with the crash. To get out of Cameron
Park to the west without using a busy two-lane county road you have
to cross a hill. The descent is very steep and cyclists tend to
"let'er rip", going down there at well over 40mph. So did I. Since
the crash I don't do that no more. There is a drainage ditch with
boulders to the right and it dead-ends into a busy road at the end
of that descent.
I'm still riding with aluminum bars. They are generally safe.
And don't think that steel is going to save the day.
That looks like a very cheap handlebar. I mean something serious
for MTB use. That's what I have on it now. It's heavy. Not having a
dopbar took getting used to, might cost me a few minutes on longer
trips. Though I never spent much time in the drops.
Amazingly three car drivers stopped immediately and almost got into
an argument about who gets to bring me home, despite the bleeding.
A fellow immigrant drove me home. Almost new car, quite fancy, he
just turned the floor mats around in case of blood. He had a nice
bike in the back and put mine on top. Couldn't believe it. There
are a lot of good people in this world.
What surprised me was how much muscle and power one can lose in
two months. My avg speed down in the flatlands dropped from
15-16mph to almost 12mph. Creeping back up and now at 14mph but
that took nearly a month. I still feel like a slowpoke.
Joerg, I'm hijacking your thread for a moment.
I was on a ride today with my riding buddy of 19 years when I touched
his rear wheel with my front and went down. Dopey and not something
I've done in decades. I was changing bottles and kind of bobbling
around, expecting him to go straight when he turned. It was low
speed, so no "helmet saved my life" claim. Anyway, I twisted my back
as I fell, and when I hit the ground -- every last O2 molecule was
knocked out of my lungs. 30 years ago, I would have jumped up and
pretended it didn't happen. Instead, I just stayed down, wondering
if I would ever get up. As you grow old, dopey little crashes are so
much more consequential. The last 30 miles of that ride were the
hardest I've ridden in my life. My friend was on fire, and we were
really cooking before the mishap -- 62 miles and about 4000 feet of
climbing, mostly rollers with a few multi-mile climbs on the way
home. Beautiful, hot day, but a struggle to get home.
Yeah, the price of getting old. I didn't experience the O2 thing but my
rib cage hurt so bad that I could not sleep on a side for weeks.
Considering the really bad high-speed crashes I had in my teens and
twenties this was surprising.
I ride more carefully since that crash. No more bombing down hills at
over 40mph. Trying to keep it below 35mph.
--
Regards, Joerg
http://www.analogconsultants.com/