Goal    99 miles

Actual Total  miles 106

1^st Ride 16 miles

2^nd Ride 28 miles

3^rd Ride 28 miles

4^th Ride 6

5^th Ride 28

Week Total  106 miles

1^st Ride:  The fall color change is finally here in full and I’m seeing so much that would be nice for the videos especially on the Silver Comet. Zeta took a lot of the leaves. It will be a shortened color season, but I’m not filming yet, so it only has temporary impact.

2^nd Ride:   The paths had less hard tree litter. Usually there will be a path worked in the leaf litter by cyclists, but not so much today. The breezy post hurricane wind moved things around too much for a break in the debris to stay open. It was a good training ride.

3^rd Ride:  Another good training ride. My hand is better. I can ride without the padded gloves now, but I’m trying to remember them. My hands are showing that they’ve been held up and out in the sun regularly and I could use the extra protection from the rays.

4^th Ride: The ride was shortened because Russ flew over his handle bars at the trail’s intersection with Clarkwood Rd west of Rockmart. There’s a Ghost Bike at the intersection. I don’t know what happened to the rider that bike memorializes. The one article I’ve read on the subject says more about the healthcare provided than the accident and then switches into some boilerplate safety advice that may hint at details or may not.

What happened to Russ is that there was debris in the road. I was riding behind him and had just happened to think (not for the first time) that if I left the marked crossing (which curves) and went straight through the intersection there would be less debris to avoid. If you don’t ride (Or if you have never been stranded by a Mitsubishi transmission barefoot in the middle of an intersection late at night, different story) it can be quite surprising to drivers how much broken glass and other small sharp debris accumulates in some intersections.

So, there I was in clear view of the debris and the Ghost Bike watching Russ go end over teakettle. I heard a loud metal clang, which was apparently his handlebar hitting the bollard, that barrier post with the hazard stripes that keeps motorized vehicles off the path. He flipped over and down the hill and luckily stopped rolling before the bottom. I caught up to him and started to find and pick up things like his wallet. After a few minutes I said “I’m being quiet to give you time to process, but I do care.” I’m not sure he heard the “but I do care” because he was responding with “More of that please.” I went for the car. As I drove him home, I asked him to explain his injuries to me, just so I’d know what to do. It took him a few days before he actually had it all figured out, or partly figured out at least. He was trying to get control of the bike back. The uneven pavement here is really not too bad when your in control of the bike, but he was coming from the grass and out of control.It might have contributed.

5th Ride: I did that one without Russ. Thankfully, it was pretty uneventful.

I was pretty surprised that he was interested in getting back on the bike the next week. That’s when we noticed how bent his handlebars were.

We’re thankful that he’s seems ok, bent but moving forward. I got a little behind in my writing, but the updates will catch up to events soon.