The group had slowed up to make sure everyone got across an intersection and was beginning to pick up steam again. I was on the right side of the road and turned to see if everyone was through yet. My bike drifted further to the right and hit a small pothole. My front wheel popped out of the pothole at a sharp angle. My hand slipped from the handlebar as the bike jumped abruptly to the left. Fortunately for me there was someone next to me. This was not fortunate for the someone next to me. As my bike leaped to the left I hit him which brought me back into an upright position and I was able to regain control of my bike. He on the other hand went down hard.
I quickly stopped and went back to see if he was ok, immediately taking the blame for the accident and apologizing profusely along the way. He was a bit dazed and had a bit of road rash on his elbow, but the bike was ok and no one else was affected. Since he was wearing sunglasses I couldn't tell if the guy accepted my apology or not. He ended up turning back instead of continuing the ride. I felt horrible about the whole thing. I pride myself in being smooth and stable during pack rides, and now I had just reinforced the stereotype that most roadies have a triathletes - we have no bike handling skills.
For the remainder of the ride the group was a bit twitchy and I'm sure people were extra cautious as they rode near me. I felt bad about this but didn't get caught up in it - I can control my thoughts and reactions but not theirs, and I refuse to worry about what I can't control. I did what was supposed to do in light of the situation - I took responsibility and did what I could to make sure that the guy was ok and that he knew that I was sorry. He may be ok with it - knowing that accidents happen and that I hadn't done it on purpose. On the other hand he may think I'm just another tri-jerk with no bike handling skills who shouldn't be riding in a pack. Regardless, I have no control over what he will think and I won't let that stop me from riding with the group. If I let that influence me I will have lost control of more than just my bike, I will have lost control of the only thing that I truly do have control over - myself.
Workout Summary
The club rides are usually fast and I stay up with lead group most of the time so that's expected. During the run after the bike I felt stronger and faster than usual - clocking a 7:30 pace for most of the runs which is about 1:30 faster than what I've been running at.
Had to get into work early again so I trimmed my planned 3K swim down to 2K, but pushed a bit harder than normal and did it in 1/2 hour.
1 comment:
So true so true!
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