When it ( ) Rains, It ( ) Pours (expletive deleted)

Well today I got hit hard by the rain on my bike. At least not as hard as Gary. But it (mostly) was not about commuting. I led a ride for the Western Wheelers Bike Club. It was supposed to be 50% chance of rain all day and cold. Wet and cold is a real problem on these roads, where you descend for miles, especially if you have Raynaud's Syndrome. By the way, the photos in this entry are all file photos, none from today. Unfortunately I did not have my camera and a lot happened. With my ziploc bag, I could have protected it from the rain which drenched me to the core.

So 5 minutes before the ride, no one is there. Then right at 10, Gary shows up. Kind of my worst fear because I was in demand at work for a change with a large, urgent project. I was thinking - good, no one showed. I'll just go for a 2 hour ride. But he shows, and we decide per his suggestion to go up Page Mill and down Alpine and turn around (we went into La Honda for coffee and warmth), the idea being you don't get too far away (although 20 miles) and if it rains, it is best to be climbing Alpine. So I was glad to be riding with him, after all.

The first of 2 legs went well. I can climb faster than Gary so I took it easy and stayed with him, did not get too hot or sweaty. Then we descended Alpine and my hands really froze towards the ed, being on the levers for 7 miles and having Raynaud's Syndrome (dammit). The coffee warmed them and all was temporarily well. Minutes later, Gary crashed hard turning left onto Pescadero Creek Rd. from Hwy 84 (see map for location). I was aware that he was going too fast. It was not raining but the roads were slightly damp. There was about a bike length between us. He went to the left, his bike went straight, and I was turning left so I just had to veer right (and pay close attention as it all happened). I think he must have hit the front brake as he was turning left - I don't know. He is a big guy, around 210 lbs., so it was a hard fall. I wish I could say he was alright but he never got up. And he had blood streaming from his temple, well not streaming but leaking. He never lost consciousness, at least and it seems the vital organs are all ok. UPDATE: He broke his pelvis in 3 places, hairline fractures, no surgery at least.

The people were great, the first 5 or 6 cars all stopped and offered help. One guy helped me tend to him and deal with traffic. Another woman went into town to the fire station for first aid treatment (they are not always staffed in La Honda so good thing they are on Sunday afternoons) since there is no cell phone service in that spot. (Crash location below).
View Larger Map Another guy and his girlfriend stopped and offered to take his bike and me back to Palo Alto. That was before we knew it was so serious and he needed to go to the hospital. I realized that if you are ever really in need of help for whatever reason and really need something, just put your bike in the road and pretend you fell and the world is your servant. (This thought occurred to me later when I was in severe pain, sopping wet with fingers like ice, shivering, and people driving all around me in the parking lot, coming from a church no less, but no help; they probably thought I was a perv b/c I had my hands down my pants on my warm legs, trying to revive them. But I could not bring myself to feign a crash.) But really, it was a testament to humankind's goodness when our fellow man is in dire need.

I soldiered on. Of course it soon started raining lightly as I climbed Alpine. It was only as I neared the top, 6 miles later, that it started getting really wet. I crossed Skyline for the 6 or 7 or 8 mile journey down Page Mill Road. Pretty quickly I was drenched. I wanted to get it over with ASAP, but I wanted to live to tell the tale so I had one or two frightful moments. I am pretty inexperienced in these kinds of descents, especially in the rain, and just seeing Gary, flat out on the pavement, immobilized, and carted off on a stretcher to the hospital, it was pretty intense. With my fingers glued to the metal levers (and did I mention Raynaud's), they turned to ice, although they kept working. You have to be keen on control, the descent gets steep and extremely curvaceous at times so you can easily gain too much speed to control turns, and with (sparse but some) oncoming traffic in blind turns, one overshot can be the end, or at least severe injury. Well I survived fine, thanks. No issues. It rained so much that it really wasn't first rain at that point, it was 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Once I got to the flats, I was able to generate heat, stop shivering. and feel fine even in the cold rain. Although, I had to spend a few minutes reviving my fingers from, what really seems like 40 degrees, get some heat and blood flowing there.

Then it was off to work. Good thing I have a lot of clothes there: dry shirt, shorts, socks, underwear. That's mostly because we have a gym but also my bicycle commute. So I warmed up, worked hard for 6 hours, my stuff mostly dried (with a fan on it, good thing no one was there). And then at 10pm, it started raining just as I left (Newman!), and it got harder and harder until it was just pouring. My butt got drenched and I was immediately cold. But again, I quickly warmed up with the pedaling and it soon stopped raining for the next couple of miles. But then it started up again near home. All in all, it was a tough day. A wet and dirty day. A tragic day for my ride partner. But real and fun, ultimately. And I feel really good right now. Although I did not have hot chocolate. All the photos in this entry are illustrative and did not happened this day.