I really wanted to comment on one of the Post articles on this accident, but by the time I got there hotter heads had already taken over with comments like "One less obstacle on the road". Once that crap happens any discussion becomes entirely useless. So instead I bring it home to a much less visible location.
First off, I can only imagine what Allison experienced in those last few seconds and what her friends and family are left with. I'm so sorry for their loss; no matter what anyone may say, it is a senseless and heartbreaking loss, accidental or not.
In an attempt at an unbiased look into this situation, I'd like to pose the following question.
My assumption (I know the investigation is underway and nothing has been said about how this happened, this is simply my slightly uneducated, educated guess) is that Allison was riding along in the cross walk, either she or the trash truck came up on the other and she ended up riding beside it in the blind spot. No blame laid here, just as with a car in a trucks blind spot does not entail blame. The truck pulls a right turn while Allison is right next to it leaving her no time to react. We all know where it goes from there.
Assume the case is the same truck on the highway, with a car riding in the lane next to it in the blind spot. The truck moves over to the right lane, hitting the car in the process. The truck had signaled but the driver of the car could not see this since it was in front of the rear lights but still in the blind spot. Where does the blame lie? With the trucker who moved over into the car correct? Criminal blame? Not so much but legally speaking the trucker was responsible for the accident.
Now consider a vehicle driving down a 2 lane, one way street in the left lane. Suddenly they turn right at a street, cutting across the right lane to do so. If they hit a car in that lane (or more likely a car runs into them as they cut across their lane), who is to blame? The vehicle that made the turn. Obviously. Still not generally a criminal offense, though if there was a death, I would guess an involuntary manslaughter ruling would not be out of the question.
So, what would make this case any different. The bike lane should be treated simply as another lane of traffic. Laws, and more importantly legal settlements should represent this. I'm saying there should be criminal charges here but in the case I've assumed, which is something that happens to many cyclists, though not to the extreme outcome of this case, the truck driver would be at fault. The insurance company would be liable for damages in the car on car incident. So should they be in the truck on bike.
Am I just way off base with this? Why do I doubt there will be any liability assigned on this case though?
Friday, July 11, 2008
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Sunday I got my first ever "podium" finish in a race (aside from my single greenbelt C race win), though it was only in my age group. I did the General Smallwood Sprint Triathlon down in Indianhead, MD and had a pretty decent time of it. I slept horribly the two nights before (like a grand total of maybe 4 hours) and didn't eat well Saturday but luckily that didn't come back to haunt me too much. I think I felt it, especially in the bike when I was mentally losing my drive a little bit but I managed to get through it.
The swim was pretty fun and interesting. The water was 85 degrees so wetsuits were banned. I'd luckily gone out the day before and picked up a singlet which I liked a lot more then my two piece and it definitely was a lot better for drag in the swim. The grass was filled with a lake sea grass that was thankfully not slimy since I swam through every single tall clump out there on the way back in. Despite my lack of swimming since Nanticoke I did well; not as well as I'd thought but well enough. Swim was 3rd age group and 24th overall.
The run from the swim finish to the transition area was a bit of a trek which I practically sprinted and not pulling off a wetsuit was pretty great. My T1 time was 2nd AG and 5th Overall.
The bike portion could have been a bit better for me this time. I went out pretty solidly but pretty quickly hit some rollers that hit back. I gave a bit more in the swim and the run to transition took a bit out of me as well so the hills which caught me by surprise were a bit of a bear to get through. I was still moving and passing people all over so I didn't feel too bad mentally yet. The turn for the Olympic vs Sprint almost caught me off guard but I noticed the markings at the last second and went the right way. Now after passing one more person I was out alone for a while before someone was in sight behind me. I could tell the guy was catching up and this is where i started losing mentally.
I was pretty physically drained at this point and this started to break me down mentally as well. After he passed I saw a whole slew of guys coming up. When they passed I finally realized they were the leaders from the Olympic distance and not my competition so I relaxed a bit and got my mind back under control. I finished up the bike strong catching a couple of guys who'd caught me previously, dismounted on the fly and ran into transition. Bike was 3rd AG and 11th Overall.
My second transition was also fairly quick, 3rd AG and 10th Overall.
Hitting the run leg I was immediately excited when I realized my calves weren't cramping up like they'd always done previously so I ended up going out pretty hard and passing a few guys. The we hit the hills again and I slowed drastically. One or two of the guys I passed ended up coming around me with one in my sprint race. Hit the turn around and then turned off the main road onto some "off-road" trails which also caught me by surprise. I pretty much coasted through the run, consistently losing time to the guy in front of me but keeping an eye on the guy behind and making sure he didn't catch me.
Came through the finish in 8th overall with 2nd in my age group. Overall pretty satisfying race though I know I can do better. Always room for improvement and this race was certainly no excepption. I'd like to think that with a couple of good nights' rest I'd have been a bit more mentally capable of overcoming things in a couple of places but how much of a difference that would have made in my placement I don't really know.
I stuck around for my first awards ceremony (well over 2 hours after I finished in the blistering sun without knowing anyone there) and got a folding chair for my time. It felt good to get called up though I'm not sure I'd want to stick around that long again for the ceremony. I guess though since I've lost all my chairs before now it was good to get a new one.
Age Group Results
Overall Results
Photos will soon be here
Oh and if you feel like looking:
Pics from Kinetic Sprint
Pics from Nanticoke Sprint
The swim was pretty fun and interesting. The water was 85 degrees so wetsuits were banned. I'd luckily gone out the day before and picked up a singlet which I liked a lot more then my two piece and it definitely was a lot better for drag in the swim. The grass was filled with a lake sea grass that was thankfully not slimy since I swam through every single tall clump out there on the way back in. Despite my lack of swimming since Nanticoke I did well; not as well as I'd thought but well enough. Swim was 3rd age group and 24th overall.
The run from the swim finish to the transition area was a bit of a trek which I practically sprinted and not pulling off a wetsuit was pretty great. My T1 time was 2nd AG and 5th Overall.
The bike portion could have been a bit better for me this time. I went out pretty solidly but pretty quickly hit some rollers that hit back. I gave a bit more in the swim and the run to transition took a bit out of me as well so the hills which caught me by surprise were a bit of a bear to get through. I was still moving and passing people all over so I didn't feel too bad mentally yet. The turn for the Olympic vs Sprint almost caught me off guard but I noticed the markings at the last second and went the right way. Now after passing one more person I was out alone for a while before someone was in sight behind me. I could tell the guy was catching up and this is where i started losing mentally.
I was pretty physically drained at this point and this started to break me down mentally as well. After he passed I saw a whole slew of guys coming up. When they passed I finally realized they were the leaders from the Olympic distance and not my competition so I relaxed a bit and got my mind back under control. I finished up the bike strong catching a couple of guys who'd caught me previously, dismounted on the fly and ran into transition. Bike was 3rd AG and 11th Overall.
My second transition was also fairly quick, 3rd AG and 10th Overall.
Hitting the run leg I was immediately excited when I realized my calves weren't cramping up like they'd always done previously so I ended up going out pretty hard and passing a few guys. The we hit the hills again and I slowed drastically. One or two of the guys I passed ended up coming around me with one in my sprint race. Hit the turn around and then turned off the main road onto some "off-road" trails which also caught me by surprise. I pretty much coasted through the run, consistently losing time to the guy in front of me but keeping an eye on the guy behind and making sure he didn't catch me.
Came through the finish in 8th overall with 2nd in my age group. Overall pretty satisfying race though I know I can do better. Always room for improvement and this race was certainly no excepption. I'd like to think that with a couple of good nights' rest I'd have been a bit more mentally capable of overcoming things in a couple of places but how much of a difference that would have made in my placement I don't really know.
I stuck around for my first awards ceremony (well over 2 hours after I finished in the blistering sun without knowing anyone there) and got a folding chair for my time. It felt good to get called up though I'm not sure I'd want to stick around that long again for the ceremony. I guess though since I've lost all my chairs before now it was good to get a new one.
Age Group Results
Overall Results
Photos will soon be here
Oh and if you feel like looking:
Pics from Kinetic Sprint
Pics from Nanticoke Sprint
Friday, June 20, 2008
Sick day ride
Was feeling pretty bad this morning after a week of allergy /cold build up so I took the day off to stay with Cass who just had her lady loss surgery yesterday. Poor dog. Anyway, by the afternoon I was feeling substantially better and decided to get out for the long ride I've been wanting to do now for a little while. Perfect weather for a ride, not too hot, not too cold; just perfect open jersey cruising. Averaged right around 18.5 miles an hour or so but the only technology I had was a watch and now gmaps pedometer so exact numbers are unknown to me. Not worried about it though.
The route was nice; looking back over things it's funny to see how one little turn would have changed things so dramatically as I was just riding and turning directions that looked promising. Heading down 450, I turned around when I saw signs for 495 and Rt 50 noting that traffic volume was picking up as were reckless speeds. The other way On 450 past Race Track Rd the shoulder completely disappeared and with too many blind turns I quickly turned around and headed back to RT Rd. Spun down into the National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center parking lot and down to look at the lake and realized for the first time just how extensive the area is. Can't wait to get back in there to really check things out.
The route: Gmaps Pedometer
All in all somewhere right around 2:20/30 with stopping time (lake admiration, etc...) and just under 43 miles. First ride significantly over an hour in a while and amazing the backside is in good shape. I guess the many hour long lunch rides and commutes I've been doing have been paying off at least a little bit.
Tomorrow I'll hopefully get in a mountain bike ride at Rosaryville, first since Big Bear. Though that'll be pending a bike repair. Off to Proteus to see what can be done.
The route was nice; looking back over things it's funny to see how one little turn would have changed things so dramatically as I was just riding and turning directions that looked promising. Heading down 450, I turned around when I saw signs for 495 and Rt 50 noting that traffic volume was picking up as were reckless speeds. The other way On 450 past Race Track Rd the shoulder completely disappeared and with too many blind turns I quickly turned around and headed back to RT Rd. Spun down into the National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center parking lot and down to look at the lake and realized for the first time just how extensive the area is. Can't wait to get back in there to really check things out.
The route: Gmaps Pedometer
All in all somewhere right around 2:20/30 with stopping time (lake admiration, etc...) and just under 43 miles. First ride significantly over an hour in a while and amazing the backside is in good shape. I guess the many hour long lunch rides and commutes I've been doing have been paying off at least a little bit.
Tomorrow I'll hopefully get in a mountain bike ride at Rosaryville, first since Big Bear. Though that'll be pending a bike repair. Off to Proteus to see what can be done.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
24 Hours of Big Bear
Wow, talk about an ass kicking time! 24 Hours of Big Bear was this past weekend and I went out with a (supposed) 4 person team to race (ride) in the "just for fun" category with some guys from Proteus, Jim, Ben and Zach, who mysteriously never showed up...
I rode the Jamis Exile 29'er, still rigid single speed and basically had my ass handed to me; at least on the first lap. It's funny how I use my upcoming blog posts to distract myself when riding through the pain and suffering of a race. This course (and my first lap more specifically) was the hardest mountain biking I have ever done. The key tipping point for this? My tires were pumped to 50 PSI... a number a rigid 29'er in my eyes should NEVER see. Wes came out and played mechanic though and really hooked us up with some much needed bike tuneups before and between laps. The one thing we didn't so much get right though was that tire pressure.
During my first lap I should have been able to figure something like that out, but my mind simply was not there and I just took the beating of a lifetime; unable to sit for the majority of the lap due to the rough terrain. The rocky steep downhill sections were terrifying especially when I realized my brakes were set too low after a handlebar adjustment as well. Anyway, despite all this bitching and moaning I did survive my first lap with a reasonable (for me) time of 1 hour 47 minutes and got some rest and adjustments on the bike.
My second lap started off great with my lights on as it was about 10:30 or so. With the tire pressure back down to 30 I was feeling 100 % better and my comfort on the bike was back. For the first three miles things were golden until on a steep climb where I just couldn't quite make it I pulled the right brake lever to keep from rolling back while i dismounted. The brake didn't engage and I was rolling back anyway. When I managed to get off I looked at the brake line and there was a liquid running down it. My brake line had popped off the compression fitting; goodbye rear brake.
This of course was before the horrifyingly steep and rocky downhill section so I kept going, riding the front brake through the majority of downhills to prevent any necessary hard stopping though still endo-ing a couple of times. On the steepest downhill section I managed about halfway but on my 5th or 6th front wheelie I decided to call it quits and walk the rest of the way. Considering there were guys on fully suspended rigs doing the same thing around me in the dark I didn't feel too bad about it, though I really didn't want to be doing it that way.
When I finally made it back in I checked with the mechanics on hand; no dice, the bike, or at least the brake was out of commission for the day. On that note I decided to actually follow through on my desire to ride one of the Ellsworth's being demo'd at the race and managed to score the full squishy 29'er, the Evolve. I've never ridden a full suspension bike before so I didn't have too much to compare it to but WOW! This bike was incredible. From the moment I hit the trail on it I just felt amazing. I could fly over the toughest of sections with ease and comfort and could keep the lines I'd struggled with so much previously. Having gears was pretty cool too, with some pretty serious climbing at the end of the course they certainly came in handy. The downhill sections were a breeze; nothing like before.
In the end I came out with my fastest lap being my last lap; by far. I cut somewhere around 10 minutes from my previous best lap time, and actually I won the contest being put on by Ellsworth. Biggest time improvement by a rider with their demo bike over the riders' own bike. They told me that at about 1:30 and said I could stick around until 2:30 for the awards ceremony to get the prize, a new messenger bag but as my whole team and crew were long gone I figured I'd rather just get my tired ass home.
So, while maybe this is telling me I shouldn't be riding a rigid single speed at this point in my development as a mountain biker, I'm choosing to take it as I shouldn't be riding that kind of a race on one. While I am now dreaming of buying that bike, it is financially out of reach at this point and quite frankly I don't do enough of that kind of serious and technical mountain biking at the moment to justify a full suspension, much less a new mountain bike. For places like Patapsco and Wakefield and Rosaryville I think I've got just the bike I need. A front fork will likely be my next bike part purchase but otherwise I'm happy where I am.
Now, if I were to ever consider that race solo? There is no way in hell I'd even consider riding anything less then a fully suspended 29'er. I think I'll stick to my riding to camp mentality.
Results
My Team: Proteus/Racin Union
My Personal "Scores"
Oh and as you can see from the team page, we "ghost-lapped" the times when Zach should have been riding. None of us had the energy or desire to make up for his laps so we just skipped them. I figure if we had a full team we'd have had a solid 2 more laps (maybe three due to the longer "sleep in" ghost lap time overnight). Good for anywhere from 9th to 18th place as opposed to our 23rd.
I rode the Jamis Exile 29'er, still rigid single speed and basically had my ass handed to me; at least on the first lap. It's funny how I use my upcoming blog posts to distract myself when riding through the pain and suffering of a race. This course (and my first lap more specifically) was the hardest mountain biking I have ever done. The key tipping point for this? My tires were pumped to 50 PSI... a number a rigid 29'er in my eyes should NEVER see. Wes came out and played mechanic though and really hooked us up with some much needed bike tuneups before and between laps. The one thing we didn't so much get right though was that tire pressure.
During my first lap I should have been able to figure something like that out, but my mind simply was not there and I just took the beating of a lifetime; unable to sit for the majority of the lap due to the rough terrain. The rocky steep downhill sections were terrifying especially when I realized my brakes were set too low after a handlebar adjustment as well. Anyway, despite all this bitching and moaning I did survive my first lap with a reasonable (for me) time of 1 hour 47 minutes and got some rest and adjustments on the bike.
My second lap started off great with my lights on as it was about 10:30 or so. With the tire pressure back down to 30 I was feeling 100 % better and my comfort on the bike was back. For the first three miles things were golden until on a steep climb where I just couldn't quite make it I pulled the right brake lever to keep from rolling back while i dismounted. The brake didn't engage and I was rolling back anyway. When I managed to get off I looked at the brake line and there was a liquid running down it. My brake line had popped off the compression fitting; goodbye rear brake.
This of course was before the horrifyingly steep and rocky downhill section so I kept going, riding the front brake through the majority of downhills to prevent any necessary hard stopping though still endo-ing a couple of times. On the steepest downhill section I managed about halfway but on my 5th or 6th front wheelie I decided to call it quits and walk the rest of the way. Considering there were guys on fully suspended rigs doing the same thing around me in the dark I didn't feel too bad about it, though I really didn't want to be doing it that way.
When I finally made it back in I checked with the mechanics on hand; no dice, the bike, or at least the brake was out of commission for the day. On that note I decided to actually follow through on my desire to ride one of the Ellsworth's being demo'd at the race and managed to score the full squishy 29'er, the Evolve. I've never ridden a full suspension bike before so I didn't have too much to compare it to but WOW! This bike was incredible. From the moment I hit the trail on it I just felt amazing. I could fly over the toughest of sections with ease and comfort and could keep the lines I'd struggled with so much previously. Having gears was pretty cool too, with some pretty serious climbing at the end of the course they certainly came in handy. The downhill sections were a breeze; nothing like before.
In the end I came out with my fastest lap being my last lap; by far. I cut somewhere around 10 minutes from my previous best lap time, and actually I won the contest being put on by Ellsworth. Biggest time improvement by a rider with their demo bike over the riders' own bike. They told me that at about 1:30 and said I could stick around until 2:30 for the awards ceremony to get the prize, a new messenger bag but as my whole team and crew were long gone I figured I'd rather just get my tired ass home.
So, while maybe this is telling me I shouldn't be riding a rigid single speed at this point in my development as a mountain biker, I'm choosing to take it as I shouldn't be riding that kind of a race on one. While I am now dreaming of buying that bike, it is financially out of reach at this point and quite frankly I don't do enough of that kind of serious and technical mountain biking at the moment to justify a full suspension, much less a new mountain bike. For places like Patapsco and Wakefield and Rosaryville I think I've got just the bike I need. A front fork will likely be my next bike part purchase but otherwise I'm happy where I am.
Now, if I were to ever consider that race solo? There is no way in hell I'd even consider riding anything less then a fully suspended 29'er. I think I'll stick to my riding to camp mentality.
Results
My Team: Proteus/Racin Union
My Personal "Scores"
Oh and as you can see from the team page, we "ghost-lapped" the times when Zach should have been riding. None of us had the energy or desire to make up for his laps so we just skipped them. I figure if we had a full team we'd have had a solid 2 more laps (maybe three due to the longer "sleep in" ghost lap time overnight). Good for anywhere from 9th to 18th place as opposed to our 23rd.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Cliff Wines
This is pretty cool! I wonder what the chances are we'll be able to find these on the East Coast anytime soon?
Belgium Knee Warmers has the scoop.
Belgium Knee Warmers has the scoop.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Lazy weekend, restless body.
After a nice lazy weekend of no racing for the first time in about 4 weeks I've found myself itching for some work. Monday I went for a nice solid 4.5 mile run that turned into a 6 miler after deciding last minute to jump across the arlington memorial bridge. Nice run with a decent pace most of the way.
Today after a brutally cold and wet short commute in wearing just shorts and a jersey (bad choice) my hopes for a lunch workout were thrwarted by a bit of an unnecessary meeting. So instead after work I got out for a spin at haines on the fixed gear. I really need to start doing that more often and start upping the bike milage. While I'm not sure I really want to do more large group rides at haines right now, I could definitely use some solid solo efforts with some lactate threshold rides thrown in for good measure. Today at hains I did some 5 minute hard intervals into the wind though pushing in a big gear is probably not what I need to be doing right now. I also worked in some 30 second sprint efforts into the wind also that were decent. They would have been better of course with some gears but for now I take what I can get.
Tomorrow unfortunately I won't be able to get out to Greenbelt so it was ok to drill the legs a little bit today. Maybe instead I'll try and get out for a long fixed gear spin out one of the commuter trails and back before I need to be somewhere around 7. Today spinning around on my bike was all I could possibly want.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
The Greenbelt Testorone Crit, er Training Race
Finally made it out to Greenbelt Park last night for the training race. I wasn't really sure what to expect of my own performance and quite frankly I didn't think I was going to be able to hang with the pack and finish the race. Maybe the race just picks up a lot towards the end of the season but at the end of the season last year I was having a much harder time hanging in there. I was also spending my time towards the front of the pack and attempting things while last night I spent the majority of my time in the middle-back and only once was on the very front of the pack.
Anyway, I feel like I handled the accelerations and and herky jerky of pack riding pretty well considering all of the riding I have done lately has been solo time trial stuff. The fitness level I have from everything, biking, running and swimming obviously helped tremendously since the amount of riding I've done lately is pretty minuscule. Glad to see I can get out and at least hang in there.
Overall I was satisfied with the ride, I'll start trying to do more as the weeks go by; beginning with putting myself in a better position towards the front of the pack and working to stay there. Going into the finishing sprint I was in the back and had no shot of moving my way up so I just sat up to watch Chris who was riding at about 3rd wheel. If he could sprint as strong as he can drill he would be unstoppable, especially this year. I think yesterday he ended up around 5th or 6th but they missed him in the results...
I felt pretty fresh at the end and definitely would have liked to have a better opportunity to mix it up in the sprint. But, there is always next week, and with my season pass for the B race I see myself having plenty of opportunities to roll the dice.
There was definitely some testosterone sulking in the pack last night as I suppose is the norm. Some bumping and shouting, maybe a little shove here or there. Folks need to remember it is a training race, there are no real prizes... oh and we're amateurs racing a B training race. Have fun and try not kill anyone.
Anyway, I feel like I handled the accelerations and and herky jerky of pack riding pretty well considering all of the riding I have done lately has been solo time trial stuff. The fitness level I have from everything, biking, running and swimming obviously helped tremendously since the amount of riding I've done lately is pretty minuscule. Glad to see I can get out and at least hang in there.
Overall I was satisfied with the ride, I'll start trying to do more as the weeks go by; beginning with putting myself in a better position towards the front of the pack and working to stay there. Going into the finishing sprint I was in the back and had no shot of moving my way up so I just sat up to watch Chris who was riding at about 3rd wheel. If he could sprint as strong as he can drill he would be unstoppable, especially this year. I think yesterday he ended up around 5th or 6th but they missed him in the results...
I felt pretty fresh at the end and definitely would have liked to have a better opportunity to mix it up in the sprint. But, there is always next week, and with my season pass for the B race I see myself having plenty of opportunities to roll the dice.
There was definitely some testosterone sulking in the pack last night as I suppose is the norm. Some bumping and shouting, maybe a little shove here or there. Folks need to remember it is a training race, there are no real prizes... oh and we're amateurs racing a B training race. Have fun and try not kill anyone.
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