Quite the adventurous ride a few weeks ago on the Saturday before Easter. Plan was to bike for 3.25 hours, which looking at the weather seemed fine as I headed out just before 4, which would have me finished just after 7, which was 20 minutes before sunset (which I had lights so no big deal either way) and before the rain was anticipated to come.

Decided to do my 22 mile Andover loop, go right into my 12 mile Wakefield/Reading loop, then finish off with another 22 mile Andover loop. Right off the bat, GPS was not working at all, and missed the first 20 miles (probably an an hour and 10 minutes or so). When it did get it back, it was all smooth sailing. Good amount of wind, but otherwise a great ride and I was able to keep the heart rate at my desired pace of around 140 BPM.

Half-way done on the last 22 mile loop, with just 40 minutes to go, the heavens broke open with a lot of rain. Thankfully I was plenty warm, I knew the road well, and I had my lights on, so it honestly was good practice more than anything. The part I wasn’t ready for was having multiple cars with me as I was on Haverhill Street (my favorite road to bike) crossing 62. Usually I’m the only one there and can be in the road for a short bit as the sidewalk juts out and there isn’t much of a shoulder. This time around, there were a lot of cars, and I was forced onto the shoulder. Combine that with a massive pothole, which frankly I’ve never noticed before, that was full of rainwater and didn’t see until it was too late.

Thankfully I didn’t get hit by a car, was going slow enough (only around 15 MPH), and braced my face with my right hand that I walked away relatively fine. Went to the ER to get my chin stitched up, and had quite a shiner for a bit, but in general, just had a few scrapes and was pretty sore. Had to shave parts of the beard to stitch the chin back up, so enjoy the rare `stache photos.

Brought the bike to my LBS, thankfully the carbon fork, frame, and drivetrain are not beyond repair. Only thing replaced was the rim and tire, and after a thorough inspection and $440 later, was back on the road. Still waiting on the ER bill for the stitches…

Been back on the bike for awhile, and two weeks after the crash I finally rode on the same section of road and noticed that the pothole was already filled in! I had submitted a pothole report on North Reading’s website, so I guess they actually looked at it and fixed it. Didn’t get any email confirmation from them, which for no reason just annoyed me. But at least I don’t have to look out for that pothole anymore.

Crash!

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