Tumbles and Triumphs

It seems I have emailed, texted, Facebooked…you name it, enough times that I don’t think a blog post is really worthy. But since I referenced it in my last post, I thought I would expand on it a little. That being getting hit by a car, or hitting a car. Whatever it might be.

It happened just as Murphy intended. Take a bike that took me 4 weeks to build, get the “right” parts for, cost way too much, get it polished, fit, and wait for that perfect sunny day. Then, take it out for its maiden voyage and crash. I even joked with a few people about the probability of crashing on that first ride. I did this in hopes that if I verbalized it, it obviously wouldn’t happen. Wrong.

I was excited to ride it for the first time. I had been riding a similar bike (same frame) that Kalen Darling loaned me for the winter. Nice loaner huh? Kalen was so kind to do so and it really allowed me to get things perfectly dialed in. So when I got “my” bike, it really was no mystery as to what measurements I was working with. Kalen’s bike was built up with SRAM Red. Good stuff really. I rode the same kit last year and it worked well. However, I would be making a HUGE jump in going with the Shimano di2 TT kit on my new bike. I have been pretty familiar with this product since I also have it on my Orbea Orca road bike. If you have not tried the di2, try it. I promise you, you will want to get it. I have ridden a lot of good components. The di2 blows away any advancement in shifting. But as I say about many things, maybe a topic for another blog post.

It took me some time to get all the parts I needed. The TIMEX Multipost Team provided me with almost all of it, but there were a few finite parts that add a touch or personality. Those I got at Fitness Fanatics. Robin and her amazing staff always go out of their way to get me the “just right” stuff. I appreciate all they do for me, and so many others. So after getting everything I needed, the assembly would start. When you are running powermeters and di2, you have to get a bit more creative with how you run things, especially on TT bikes that don’t seem to conform to any rules. So I end up using quite a bit of tape, ties, and creativity. Morgan (mechanic at Fitness Fanatics) really helped give me some direction and options on making it all come together.

After it was all assembled, I took about 25 measurements, remeasured everything a dozen times, tightened everything, and was ready to ride. Though I run through all this in a couple paragraphs, this was a lengthy process. I never like to “rush” the assembly of bikes. Especially TT bikes. You really count on them to be perfect.

I went out for about an hour and half ride to get an idea of what was fit correctly and what needed adjustment. All in all it felt great. My power output was solid which translated into some swift speed. I decided to ride a large loop as to not write off the speed to a tailwind and rode about an hour at just under threshold. This is pretty easy to do on a new bike. Once I got back near town, I shut it down and took a quick peek at the data. Looked good. Bike felt good. Two thumbs up. As I was riding home, I maintained a pretty solid speed in the bike lane on Farwell. As I rolled through the light on Hwy 2, I was next to a new Chevy Impala. As we approached a side road, the Impala turned without indicating with a blinker or brake lights. I did my best to turn with the vehicle, but hit it and my body smashed up against it. I could feel my shoe rubbing against the tire until I lost all balance, momentum, and energy and was thrown to the ground. As I was bouncing off the ground, I could see me new bike tumbling down the road…bouncing. Not good. I stood up and did a quick ‘head to toes’ and knew I was alive. The driver came out of the car and asked if I was okay, and I said, “No…no I am not.” I got to my bike and did a quick look over and saw evidence of it hitting the ground pretty hard. I could feel my shoulder starting throb knowing that I must have hit the ground hard too. I gave a call to Jessi and she promptly came and got me. I was only 2 miles from home. But there was no way I could ride.

Not really my bike, but needed a picture

I cannot imagine the horror in Jessi’s mind when she got the message and heard I was just by a car. Even if I said that I was “okay,” a crash is a crash, and one involving a car and a bike is never good. Jessi and Emma arrived quickly and I think it really scared Emma a bit but she was trying to be ‘strong’ for me. But eventually, on the short drive home, she started to cry because she was scared. You just never know what goes through a kid’s mind in situations like this. As adults, we can try to logic this all out, but the reality is that kids often don’t think…they feel. And Emma ‘feels’ a lot. We talked and I reassured her I was fine. I just tipped over near a car. The grimace on my face and me holding my shoulder in pain did not help, but she felt better.

We got home and Jessi then realized I was not as “okay” as I said I was. I think I may have been going into some minor shock and she went into nurse mode. Jessi is normally more than happy to yield to my requests about not needing things, or being fine. But I think she saw some indicators that showed I was not fine. She buzzed around the house getting food, clothes, fluids, etc. She was ready to cut off my clothes, but because there really was no damage to them, we attempted to get them off by being creative.

Jessi immediately called Tiffany and asked if Emma could hang out with them for a short bit because we were going to the hospital. Tiff was more than happy and in all honesty was probably excited for some Emma time anyway :). Emma loves our friends…and our friends love Emma. We are so fortunate that we have so many people that give her love and support. And the street Tiffany lives on has many of these friends…including Natalie, Greg, Eric (Tiffany’s husband) and Steve. Fortunately they all live only 5 minutes from our home.

The rest is just hospital talk. However, my mom always told me to wear clean underwear because you never know when you may be rushed to the hospital. I don’t think I was wearing underwear at that point, but ran into many people I knew there that happened to be working or came to visit. Amy, Jessi’s sister, came and gave her support. It was great to see her and talk accidents. Amy has had the unfortunate opportunity to be in a few auto accidents and actually got hit by a car while running…none of these being her fault, but the recipient of a lot of PT and hospital time. My mom and dad came down too. It seems like they have been in the hospital waaaaay too much in the last few months. Last time I was in the hospital because I was hit by a car on my bike was when I was 13 years old and was in ICU for about a week. Different circumstances. It was so nice to have people there to talk with. Once I found out that I did not break anything, I felt relieved.

Now, it would be about recovery. It’s been a painful couple of weeks with my shoulder, but all things considered, I am very fortunate and lucky.

A big thank you to the insurance company that is handling the claim, State Farm. They have been very helpful and are helping get the bike all taken care of as quickly as possible. There was a bit more damage to the bike than I initially thought after a professional assessment.

Thanks also to Robin (owner of Fitness Fanatics) and Morgan (mechanic at Fitness Fanatics) for answering all my random questions and helping me get my bike up and running again. They are always super helpful, professional, and timely. I don’t know anyone that has gone in there and not appreciated how they were treated.

So now I need to reassess the season, get healthy, and hopefully be able to start training again. All in time. The body will heal, and the bike will be fixed. Life is good, and I am blessed.