But you'll never see the end of the road while you're travelling with me

OK, let's get it out of the way. That moment. I've had a few crashes in my time, quite a lot when I used to go mountain biking, and one on the mountain bike on an icy road.  The most recent one before today was over in Ireland when the bike slipped from under me as I went round a corner, a combination of old tyres and oil on the road.

Today's was different in that it was the first one I have had in the middle of a group. I would not claim to be an experienced group rider but I have done enough miles (hundreds? thousands?) following people's wheels, and not just people I know either.

Today was a Somersetcycling arranged ride, a great idea for getting an eclectic bunch of people, and we had 25 at the start, together for a run over the levels from Burnham to Street. People came from all over, both geographically and in cycling terms, culturally. That meant that people had different expectations, and also perhaps different rules about how to behave and most importantly, whether to give warnings and signals or not. And that's the problem with eclectic groups.

So to the chap I rear-ended, I'd say only this. I didn't hear you give a warning and I don't think you gave one, and that is what every group ride I've ever been on has led me to expect. So I am sorry if I caused you to fall off when you stopped and I ran into the back of you and I hope you are OK. Maybe we should have a two minute briefing before these kind of rides to agree the etiquette we will all follow.

After the crash I carried on with Skip for about an hour, rejoined the main group before peeling off for home. As it was I ended up doing about 53 miles, in a hideously spaghetti-shaped profile:

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/472207

I did feel quite sluggish, the conditions didn't help, neither did the fact that it's 18 days since i last sat on the bike, but it felt good to be out in the fresh air at least. I was a bit shakey when I got home, Skip reckons it was shock (see her award-winning and soon to be very widely available blog below), but it was also a combination of cold and lack of energy. Still, left-over turkey (again) and a couple of glasses of chardonnay is the perfect tonic for a wet, cold and eventful morning. All in all, it was good to be back on the bike, and I'm looking to get one more ride in before the end of December, for I am 53 miles off 5500 miles for the year. That would be nice.


http://www.thecyclingmayor.com/the-turkey-teaser