My La Vuelta experience started with a good stop to the LBS I
use, Tienda Bike on Monday.
I get them to rebuild my bike. When I enter I see the same guy I met last
year whose name is either Javy or Javier.
He is also a serious cyclists who rides fix and road. He calls me crazy for riding my track bike again
and I leave Relampago with them to be rebuilt. When they rebuild Relampago they noticed that
my pedals were trashed so I had to get new ones, they showed me a nice set of
Look pedals, then they said they were carbon which made me say “How much”. They said $275, I said know you know I ride
single speed because I’m cheap, they then proceeded to show me the $75 Look Keo’s,
I quickly checked the weight 260 grams and said “Sold!” which elicited a brief
chuckle. They also said my chain was
worn and should be replaced but they didn’t have a replacement. They said they would order one and have it
ready by Thursday. It was great to have
my bike rebuilt the same day allowing me to do some warm up rides earlier than
expected.
Tuesday I get on my bike at around 8:30 and head to Old San
Juan. I am beat and have nothing during
the ride. I am concerned and vow to get
in as much practice as possible so that I am not dragging and dreading the
whole Vuelta. Best of all my asthma has
not kicked up my whole time in PR so far.
On Wednesday my ride is much stronger and whole running Strava
I actually place 7th on the steep hill up to the old forts, which is
good because I know that hill will be the last hill of La Vuelta PR 2013. I feel good, like I am ready to take on the
Vuelta, a huge 180 from the prior day.
That evening we go to the pasta party.
Seeing a bunch of my friends from last year’s ride is awesome. I have respect for everyone who does this
ride so it is great to see everyone who will be making their attempt at this,
and it is a special treat to see those who I have an enormous amount of respect
for like Maria De Pilar Vasquez and Alfred Bobe, William the tour director and
many others. We find out that the San
Juan Bike Tour a 40 mile ride the day before the Vuelta, was cancelled this
year due to political considerations, and William says no one should bike tomorrow
for safety reasons.
I speak with Rich and he says yeah a bunch of us are riding
tomorrow so I plan to hook up with them to make sure I stay limber before La
Vuelta. Later that evening I hear from
Rich that they are starting later in the day to avoid the traffic.
I meet up with the guys at 9:30 at the Tapia Theater in OSJ,
the ride from Ocean Park where I was staying to OSJ is uneventful. Once we all assemble we head out we are
riding a few blocks when I realized that I had paused my music and I wasn’t playing
my music. So I proceed to, while riding
take off my Camelback, pull my speaker out of it and start playing the
music. I then proceed to put the
Camelbak back on my back. As I am doing
this we are crossing an intersection. We
have the green so everything looks good.
Then out of the corner of my eye I see a car cheating the light and
looking like it is going to turn into the road we are riding on. I quickly pump my brake and my Camelbak
swings in my hand and goes straight into my front wheel. I then go headfirst over the quickly inverted
bike.
I get up dazed. My
friends ask how is the bike, I take a quick look down and notice that at least
one spoke is broken and several are bent and the wheel isn’t turning…my new
$700 wheels (my bike cost $860). I was
devastated I was limping some but I didn’t
feel like I had any significant long term damage physically. I tell the guys to continue their ride
without me sling my bike and my should and proceed to walk to the bridge to
Condado. As I am walking I am becoming
aware of a few things. First my right
leg is hurting badly. Second I reach
into my Camelback to get my phone to make some calls, when I do I notice my
phone is shattered into a million tiny pieces.
I know I have to get my bike to the bike store as soon as possible but I
also know it will take a long time to limp to Ocean Park from OSJ but I don’t really
have much of a choice.
Once I get to Condado I grab a cab from one of the hotels
and get to the spot. Once I get to the
spot I quickly get my bike, grab a backup iPhone, and get into the car and
drive to Tienda Bike. As I limp into
Tienda Bike I tell Jav(y)(ier) my sob story and he says they wont have spokes
to match the wheel but they can get the wheel functional. I am relieved, I will be able to ride now
time to focus on myself. I have a knot
developing in my right leg that is honestly as big as a fist and I really cant
walk much because of it.
As i posted on facebook about my crash Maria De Pilar
responds and tells me to grab Arnicare.
I go to the local Walgreens and grab that, some icyhot and some protein
drinks. I then head back to Tienda Bike
and pick up my bike, as an added plus they hook me up with a red bike chain as
my prior chain was getting a little to worn.
Finally i get back to the spot and ice the leg and before sleeping apply
the Arnicare. Finally I trigger my
backup iPhone to download all of my spotify music overnight.
That night I wake up at 1:30 checking the time and in a
little pain (I don’t really like to use painkillers I am of the belief if your
body is telling you it is in pain you need to listen). I try to go back to sleep but I can’t likely
a combination of nerves and pain. At
4:30 I get out of the bed and start getting ready to head out. I take a long hot shower to try and calm my
nerves. I am still in pain and cant walk
well but once I get everything together, my backup iPhone, my battery packs, my
speaker, and get on my bike I realize the pain is not as bad on the bike as it
is walking. I then proceed to bike to
Teatro Tapia.
