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Today May 2019

Left by car early Saturday morning with five half-fast friends to participate in the 2019 Sado Longride that took place on Sunday. Three of us had registered for the full 210 km round-the-island ride, and three for the 130 km course.

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https://www.strava.com/activities/2378955723

I finished my lap with only two rest stops and an average moving speed of 30 km/h. Pleased with that.

Very sadly, one of our group was hit in the rear wheel by another rider on a corner, crashed, and fractured her collarbone. So that's ruined her spring/summer.
What a ride, @Half-Fast Mike !
And what a shame about the crash. Hope she's all right as soon as possible.
 
New bar tape.

It's a bit slow going at the moment but I'm back at the doctors on Friday so hopefully I get good news with the x-rays. This is my first broken bone and I definitely don't want to put myself through this again😫

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New bar tape.

It's a bit slow going at the moment but I'm back at the doctors on Friday so hopefully I get good news with the x-rays. This is my first broken bone and I definitely don't want to put myself through this again😫

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How long has it been now since the accident? When do you see yourself being back on the bike.
 
Very sadly, one of our group was hit in the rear wheel by another rider on a corner, crashed, and fractured her collarbone. So that's ruined her spring/summer.

Oh, no! :( I think it usually takes upwards of 4-6 weeks for the bone to grow back together.

I hope she makes a good recovery.
 
i gave my shoes a bit of a wash today with some degreaser and soapy water. They came out ok. They've done about 5000 km since I bought them and they're holding up reasonably well considering they were only 8,000 yen, which is pretty cheap for road shoes. I'm also going to replace the cleats as they were looking a bit worn. I think I'll keep these for the summer/autumn season and then look at getting something better (20,000 yen max) around Christmas. I actually quite fancy a classy lace up shoe to be honest😉
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here's my nominations for eejit of the day on the road. the last one happened this morning, wait for it

 
I'm pretty happy that my commute is on quieter roads. Also, I got these recently...
Salzmann 3M Reflective Armband/Leg Bands Set of 2 3M Scotchlite Reflective
Amazon product ASIN B077XK59L8
I swear drivers give me more space now. Wear them to keep the pants out of the chain but when I start wearing shorts, I wear them too I think. I also have my rear light blinking all the time, but that doesn't seem to have been as effective.
 
except I'm on my heavy duty commuter (14kg?)... and there's no any "M"s around at all? ;)

on a serious note, I've lost what little I've had of my youthful competitiveness. now I'm only measuring myself against the image of where I want to be (and actually I'm almost there so...)
 
Went out for my first ride on my new bike today. Just around the block a few times but it felt good. It seems the indexing is a bit off so I might take the bike back to the shop to get that checked before I go out on a real ride (whenever that is).
 
Life with the military... constant turn over. 2 riding buddies leaving in a couple weeks. A contractor coworker left last friday. I have had some close friends leave over the years, but not often 3 within a month.

I grew up a navy brat, so it has been my entire life.

This morning we had a farewell ride for one. Only took one photo and i expressed my feelings.

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here's my nominations for eejit of the day on the road. the last one happened this morning, wait for it



When I bought my first car, I kept experiencing dangerous situations all the time. I was always in a hurry or enjoying fast driving and left little margin for errors (by others or by myself), hence the numerous scary situations -- and some youthful accidents.

I am not saying that these people in the video aren't bad or reckless drivers or cyclists. But if you get the feeling every day that other people on the road are trying to kill you, something's got to change or you will end up in a bad accident, sooner or later. You can't change other people, you can only change what you do. Start from there.

Accidents are just the tip of the iceberg of things going wrong. Usually they are caused by a combination of bad decisions and other factors, any one of which if avoided would have prevented it.

For example, that truck that passed you and then decided to stop in front of you: I've experienced the same thing with taxis. Unfortunately bicycle brakes are not as powerful as car or truck brakes and drivers don't realize what that means because they never ride their mamachari as fast as you ride your road bike. So they think they can get away with that. The faster you're going at the time, the more difficult it will be to avoid crashing into the back of a vehicle when they make that mistake. Sometimes drivers don't check their mirrors before turning or a lane change or they think "bicycle = mamachari = no more than 15 km/h, I can still make that turn before it gets here". The faster you're approaching then, the less time and distance you leave yourself to deal with their mistakes.

A bicycle commute through the city should not be a challenge where every second saved is like an achievement (forget about Strava in traffic), not if you want to keep doing it day after day, week after week, year after years without ending up in hospital. One of the major reasons I have an 81 consecutive months streak of "Century a Month" is that I haven't ended up in hospital yet and I intend to keep it that way. That's why I'm never in a rush in Tokyo.

Luka, don't get me wrong, this is not meant as "blaming the victim", but you have to realize that you are the weaker party, others are not perfect (and some of them are idiots) and act accordingly. That may mean a more relaxed cycling pace in urban traffic or a less busy route to and from work.
 
Spent half the day replacing the (positively ancient) 6700-series components on my Bura with a (105) R7000 drivetrain + (Ultegra) R8000 levers. Doesn't look very different from this morning, but the 11-34T cassette I now have will be very welcome. Looking forward to a little ride up Yabitsu tomorrow...


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Pragmatically, you are right, @joewein. I am getting better and better at anticipating drivers and other cyclists endangering me, but that only goes so far. Keeping calm helps, but you can't eliminate all risks. Despite all my efforts, I have about 1-2 very close calls each year, and tons of situations similar to the one in the video.

But nevertheless, making sure that drivers behave better should be something we push for on a larger level. For example, we have one "bike path" that is, and I am not joking, interrupted by utility poles, lights, trees and the occasional bus stop. That means cyclists have to constantly weave in and out of the bike lane. (I should take a picture, I am using the word bike lane very generously here.) Once you ride in e. g. the Netherlands, where they have proper cycling infrastructure and drivers know they have the last priority and accept their fate, you see that the proper solution is a different politics. And change is very slow.
 
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