Longitudinal Cracks

Longitudinal cracks (pavement cracks that run parallel to the road) are one of the more dangerous road hazards around. I had a run-in with one on today's ride that could have been fatal.

I was riding out to Lake Keystone on SH 51, when I tried to avoid a rough patch of shoulder by moving out into the lane. My back tire caught a crack between the shoulder and the lane, and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground, squarely in the middle of the lane, looking back the way I came. If a car had been passing me, it would have knocked me into the next county.

I ended up without a scratch, or even a bruise, but the bike took a good, hard lick. The crash ground a chunk of metal off of my rear quick release lever. The Look logo on my left pedal is mostly gone. The ratchet buckle on my left shoe was badly scuffed. The left brifter was knocked out of line, and I'm going to need some new bar tape on the left side.

I hauled the bike onto the shoulder and checked it out. Had to put the chain back on the chain rings. Gave the wheels a once over, got back on the bike and finished the ride.

The route I took can be seen here. The crash happened at about the 15 mile point on the map. The full ride, including about 4.4 miles round trip to the start point on the map, was 37.9 miles. Time for the ride was 2:14:30. Avg speed was 16.9 mph. Avg. HR was 139 (74% of max.).