Friday, April 27, 2012

Down goes Allen! Down gooooesss Allen!

If you ride, you wreck. That's that, there is no other way. No person is immune, no person escapes. Sometimes it just takes longer to happen...

Allen, Galloway, and I started the morning with a swim. Well, not exactly. I actually started my day with an all-too-early phone call from my corporation-provided health care provider. Turns out they had my measles vaccination in (the one I have to get because of lack of proof of having had measles). No biggie, shots don't bother me a bit, but I sure could have used the extra hour of sleep.

So I jostled myself alert, got my shot, then went to McDonald's. I ate a burrito, drank my drink, then headed to the pool. That takes us back to Allen and Galloway.

Tim just gets in and does his job. No mucking around, no time wasted, just dive in and go. It's a trademark thingy. I told Allen I'd swim quickly, watching him the whole time, then I'd help him. He grabbed a kickboard and flippers and went to work.

I found I could catch Galloway about every 150 yards. My 1000-yard swim was over in about 15 minutes, then it was on to Allen.

We worked on creating a better breathing opportunity in his stroke. I helped him introduce a Michael Phelps "gallop" to his stroke. Phelps has a distinctive asymmetric stroke, and it's perfect for someone wanting more time to breathe. Allen hadn't perfected before we left, but he was improving quickly.

After leaving the pool, we met at Lighthouse. We kicked out, headed up the road, and somewhere just past Highway 60, on the climb to the Bernards, it happened. I was alongside Allen when, and I saw it exactly when it happened because I just happened to be looking at his back wheel, his bike overshifted past the inner cog on his cassette. The rear derailleur instantly bundled up, and I started yelling, "STOP! STOP!" Allen continued to try to grind through it, and it firmly wrapped his chain into his axle until the wheel froze.

He stopped then.

When his wheel locked, he fell over. We got him upright, checked his bike, and finally unstuck the chain from the axle. The rear wheel would not spin free. At first I was afraid he'd damaged the axle. Then I looked at the brakes, and found the rear wheel had warped badly enough to rub on every turn. By opening the calipers all the way, we found a way to get the wheel spinning freely.

Decision time. Allen wasn't hurt, no spokes were broken, and other than a warped rim he would be able to ride. If he wanted to. He only hesitated a moment, then we continued on.

Allen started the day wanting 50-60 miles. Galloway didn't want nearly as much, so we knew we'd part company at some point. We discussed heading back towards the start and doing another loop, but Allen's first suggestion told me his mind was set on 337. So we parted with Galloway by Orleans Elementary and headed to Bromer.

The wind was blowing in our faces most of the way out, so I pulled, slowly. Allen was to my rear, offset to the right to stay out of the wind as much as possible. I stayed upright to provide as much wind break as I could. Before too long we were there.

After Allen refueled, we started the way back. I laid it out thusly; I'd pull 22-23 on the flats, a bit faster on the downhills. I assured him we would get some assist from the wind, so it shouldn't be too tough. I was wrong, at least at first. At the very best we had a crosswind, but for the first half of the ride back it was more headwind than anything. Finally, on the back half, things got better, improving to outstanding by the final stretch.

We hit Huck's after that, then headed for home. It really wasn't bad, even though the wind was in our faces the rest of the ride. Even the highway stretch wasn't bad. I held 25 mph or so for most of it despite a strong headwind. Allen hung in there right behind.

Allen complained of wrist and knee aches, other than that he was none the worse for wear after his first crash. On a scale of Galloway to Heatherly I'd have to rate it as a Miller - that's where you fall over while barely moving but hurt your wrist.

Running a 5k in the morning. There will be the regular 8 AM group at Parkview, the race is at Circle K at 9, and the Louisville races are, well, at Louisville. Good luck to the Derby Festival runners!

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