The school of hard knocks

From my reading, I knew that I would have to take corners slower on my fixed gear. This is to prevent the pedal from hitting the ground and causing a crash. Unfortunately, I did not slow down enough on on turn this morning and I crashed. I got some road rash on my elbow and shoulder, and pretty much just banged up the left side of my body. Fortunately there were no serious injuries. I got back on the bike and rode the rest of the way to work. I felt OK while I was riding, but once I got to work and stopped, everything started to stiffen up. I'll take it easy this weekend and I probably feel better in a couple of days.

Backpack, Backpack

Since my regular commuter bike is in the shop being converted to a fixed gear, I riding my Litespeed to work. It doesn't have a rack so I needed another way to carry my clothes and computer. I decided that buying a camelback backpack would be the best way to go. That lets me carry my stuff and I can also use it to carry water on my longer rides.
I used it for the first time on Monday. It is going to take a little getting used to. Weight on your back feels heavier the weight in panniers. Also, my back was a little sore after I got to work.

Converting to a fixed gear

On Thursday, my rear shifter stopped working on the way to work. I thought it was a broken cable since I've had that happen several times on this bike. I rode the rest of the way to work and rode home in a single gear. I dropped the bike off at Maplewood Bicycle to have them take a look at it.

Josh called me on Friday to let me know that the shifter was broken. It was going to be rather expensive to replace so I told him that I was thinking about converting it to a fixed gear. I thought about it for a while and decided to do it.

There are a few reasons for riding a fixed gear. Since I ride in bad weather, there are fewer parts to wear out. Some people say it gives you better control on the bike in bad conditions. Since there is only one gear you have to work harder up the hills, but that makes you stronger.

This week

On Sunday, I went on my first long ride on the new bike. It was a social ride with four other people: Jeff, Theresa, Pam, and George. The plan was to ride to Fast Eddie's in Alton, have something to eat, and then ride back. This was not a hammer fest and we averaged about 14 mph.

We got to Fast Eddie's around 1:30 at it was packed. We would have had to wait an hour to get anything to eat. Since we were too hungry to wait, so we went to McDonald's instead.

The ride back was at about the same pace, but George and I sprinted ahead for a little bit and then waited for everyone to catch up. After we had cross back over the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, Theresa was ready to pack it in. She had already almost doubled her previous longest ride and she was done. Pam decided to wait with her while Jeff went back to the start to get his car to pick them up. George and I rode with him.

We decided to hammer it pretty hard at this point to get Jeff to his car as quickly as possible. We had a slight tailwind so that helped our speed, but I was impressed that we were able to maintain 23 mph for several miles. In my head I was imagining myself as Jeff's lead-out man on a sprint to the finish. At one point we dropped George.

After leaving the Riverfront Trail, George caught up to us. Then it was my turn to get dropped when my rear light fell off crossing some railroad tracks. I stopped to get it and then got caught at an intersection. Now I had a new mental picture, I was a lone rider trying to bridge up to a breakaway. I did finally manage to catch them.

I ended up turning for home before we got back to the start. Jeff and George made it back to the start and everyone made it home safely. I had a good time hope to do some more group rides this summer.

I was a little tired the next day riding to work, but nothing too bad. Tuesday evening, I was extra slow on the ride home. There were three reasons for this: One, I had given blood on the way to work that morning. Two, I was still a little tired from Sunday. And three , the temperature was 100° and the heat index was somewhere between stun and kill.

Wednesday was just as hot. When I left work, it felt like I was riding across a cast iron pan. Things aren't as bad once I get moving, and a get a little shade later in the ride. At least it's only about 8 miles.

The heat also cause a problem with my helmet mirror. The double sided tape that held it on had been weakening for a while and the heat finally did it in. I rode without it on Wednesday. This was the first time I had ridden without a mirror for quite a while and I really missed it. It just makes it so much easier to keep an eye on what's going on behind me. Especially when merging into traffic from the incredible disappearing bike lanes.

Bought a new bike

I went splurge on a new bike last week. It's a Litespeed Xicon. It's a lot lighter than my Salsa Casseroll. Partly because my new bike is titanium and partly because the new bike doesn't have a rack or fenders. I also think that it's a little more aerodynamic.

It won't be my everyday commuter bike but I have ridden to work a couple of times. Each time I took an extra set of clothes the day before. This is because I don't have a way to carry much. The first commute was almost 3 minutes faster than my previous best.

Mediation

On Wednesday, I went to mediation for my lawsuit about my accident. The judge said that we we had to at least try mediation before the case went to trial (the trial date was set for September). Mediation is different than arbitration in that the mediator has no power to enforce an agreement. The mediator can help the two sides reach and agreement but either side can walk away at any time.

Since I had never done mediation before, I had no idea what to expect. So far Coca Cola seemed to be doing everything they could to delay case. I didn't know if they would be negotiating in good faith, or just showing up because they had to. We met at a mediation company downtown. There were me and my lawyer, Coke's representative and their lawyer, and the mediator. We started out in one room where each lawyer explained their case. After that, the Coke people went to a different room and the mediator went back and forth talking to each of us.

The negotiations were based not on the facts of the case, but on what a jury might believe. For example, I think that the evidence and witness show that the Coke driver did not have a left turn arrow like he claimed he did. But Coke's lawyer would try to convince a jury that he did. People on the jury might have a bias against cyclists. The accident took place in St. Louis County so that might mean the jury is stingier than one in St. Louis City. Coke wanted to keep there name off the lawsuit because a jury would give more money in a lawsuit against a corporation that they would in a lawsuit against John Smith.

After about four hours we came to an agreement. People have asked me if I think that it's fair. I tell them that fair has nothing to do with it. I didn't get what I think I deserved, I got what I could get. If the case went to trial, there is the possibility that I would get nothing.

There is one thing left to be negotiated. Anheuser-Busch still gets a chunk of money for the medical payments that they made. I have no problem with that, we just want them to pay a share of the attorney's fees. My lawyer is still talking to the subrogation company to work something out. That will affect the amount of money that I get.

400K

Last Saturday was the 400K. I wasn't sure whether or not I was going to do the ride because I was having trouble arranging a ride to the start. I had talked to George about getting a ride but I had trouble arranging the details. I had pretty much decided that I wasn't going to do the ride until George called me Friday afternoon.

I still needed to ride home Friday evening into a very strong headwind. Then I rode the Heights for A.J.'s birthday party. He had a pool party so I needed to be in the water to help watch the kids. Everyone had a good time but we didn't get leave until around 8:00. I rode home and helped get the kids in bed. After that I started getting everything ready. George was going to pick me up at 4:00 am so I set my alarm clock for 3, or at least I meant to. The alarm wasn't set but I woke up at about 3:50. I quickly did the last few things that I needed to do but I didn't have time to eat breakfast.

We got to Edwardsville and turned in our registrations. After the rider meeting and having our lights and reflective gear inspected, everyone was ready to go. I was more than ready actually because it was chilly and I was ready to start riding to warm up. It was very windy, but at least it was out of the west so we would have a tailwind for the first 30 miles.

At 5:00 we started the ride. I started out with another rider up front. I knew that I would not be up front for very long so I was not surprise when some other riders caught up to us after a few miles. I hung out with the front group for a while but once I noticed that we were cruising at 24 mph I decided to drop back. There was a strong tailwind but that's still very fast.

I stopped in Pocahontas (mile 24) to get something to eat. With the tailwind I has a 19 mph average at this point. I was able to get back on the road pretty quickly. I rode with several different riders through Breese (mile 51) and then to Okawville (mile 78). I was riding with George into Okawville. He had said that he would give me a ride home if we finished near the same time but I told him that he would most likely finish long before me.

A few riders passed me while I was in Okawville, but I managed to catch them once I got back on the road. I caught up with Scott who also offered to give me a ride home, but he later had two flats in succession and had to abandon.

I was still feeling pretty good when I got to Ava (mile 150). As I was getting ready to leave, a man came up to me and said "I think one of your buddies left this." It was a Ziploc bag containing a phone, cash, and brevet card. I thanked him and said that I would catch up to the owner.

It belonged to Dan, a rider on a recumbent who was doing his first 400K. I was able to catch him before he noticed that he had forgotten it so he hadn't needed to backtrack. At this point I was starting to feel tired. We had turned into the wind before Ava and this section was pretty hilly. After we stopped so I could give Dan his belongings, I took a 10 minute break on the side of the road. I caught up to Dan and another rider at Sparta (mile 177).

Many of the convenience stores along the route have places to sit. The checkpoint at Sparta did not. This was disappointing because I really wanted to be able to sit somewhere besides a curb. It was starting to get dark so we put our reflective gear
back on and turned on our lights. It was also getting colder.

I suggested that we stop in Coulterville (mile 186) because that would be the last place for supplies until New Baden (mile 217). Coulterville didn't have place to sit either so it was a relatively quick stop. When we started up again after a stop, I really felt the cold. This was because we were moving so we had wind but we hadn't warmed up yet. At least the wind had died down by this point.

Once we got to New Baden we were really starting to feel the miles. We joked about quitting but I think that if one of us had quit the rest might have too. We stopped over an hour and a half. I think all three of us took a short nap. I know I did. Quitting at this point would have been pretty silly because we only had 32 miles to go and over 7 hours left on the clock.

We started the final leg at 12:45am. The nap in New Baden had really improved my mood. I guess being so close to the end helped too. I was a little concerned about the battery for my headlight. It was rated to last 7 hours at low power (which it was I was using) but I estimated I would have had it on for more that that when I finished (including the time I used it in the morning). I had a backup headlight but I was not looking forward to switching them by the side of the road.

We finished the ride at 3:50. 22:50 is not a great time but it is well before the deadline of 27 hours. Zac came and got me and took me home. I owe him big time for that. I showered, slept for about three hours, and then got up to make waffles (from scratch) for Helen for Mother's Day. After that I went back to bed for another hour or so.