Friendly Fixie Friday (with a crash)

This Ride: 31.6 miles
Month: 107 miles
2011: 6,649.2 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 12768.9 miles

The crash? Not me.

We had a great turnout this morning for our Friendly Fixie Friday ride and warmer than usual temps for this week.  It was about 50° F, and it felt great!  At least 15 riders were out with 10 going to breakfast.  We had a spirited ride south on the trail once Jeff S. got in front, and yet for the most part, all stayed relatively close.  Over the Naval Academy Bridge, Jeff took off fast and got way ahead of us.  I pushed it a bit and had my quickest time over the bridge.  I was hoping for my fastest speed on the fixie, but I topped out 0.5 mph below my fastest.  Jeff remained out in front, extending his lead.  As Mike B and I approached the turn onto King George Street, we noticed Jeff lying in the grass along side the road.  He had taken the turn fast, hit some kind of pothole or road surface anomaly, and crashed.  He says he dragged himself off the road into the grass.

He was feeling pretty banged up: shoulder & ribs mostly.  His front wheel was out of round and while we were attending to Jeff the front tire blew, sounding like a gunshot.  We called his wife, and in the meantime, one of Mike’s friends came by with a vehicle, offered to take him home, and soon Jeff was on his way back home … and probably also off to get x-rays.  The mood was subdued the rest of the way into Annapolis.

Breakfast was good, as was the coffee.  (I wouldn’t recommend the poppy seed muffin though.)  The ride back was uneventful, but spectacular as there was a stunning red sunrise this morning.  There are a variety of rides happening this weekend, and it is possible I’ll be able to join a Saturday morning ride if Lori works.

I extended my ride just a little in order to pick up the car at the hospital again.  I had too much work to do today to complete the Airport Loop.  As it was, I got back later than I really wanted to.

I’ll be checking in on Jeff occasionally throughout the day.