Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Slippery When Wet and Reader Poll



When I woke up this morning I thought I had the flu.

Or maybe I had been in a prize fight and had been pummeled so convincingly that I had no memory of the event.

I had noticed a little stiffness in my neck when I lay down last night, but upon waking, it was seriously one of those "WTF?" moments.

(For those readers of a more refined and gentle nature, "whiskey tango foxtrot" or "wow, the flubber")

I didn't have any of that awful disc pain referring to arms and legs etc. from when she who shall not be named sabotaged our SOMA bet by goading me into over training and rupturing my widdow neck disckies. But all the stability muscles that hold up my gigantic brain-filled dome, along with the lower back, were in painful seizure and rebellion. It was half-way through my swim this morning before I even figured out why. The puniest, most inconsequential little bike topple had given me a mild case of the whiplash.

Yesterday morning, doing an easy spin around the park, I forgot to keep the rubber side down. Actually, there was a very thin sheen of water on the road, enough to bring the oil to the surface, so that the smoothest parts of the pavement had the friction coefficient of black ice. Combine that with some fairly slick, high mileage tires and an effort to slow prudently at a stop sign, and there was nothing to be done.

I was slowing and probably moving at less than 10 mph when the back tire came around, cut in line, and decided it would like to proceed first down the road--sideways. The bike, Jessi S. Cannondale, and I slid down in a delicate heap. I landed on my bum and side, pretty well kept my chin tucked, and skidded along the slick roadway for a bit. No cars were behind me (thankfully) and if my head hit the pavement at all, I don't remember feeling the blow through my helmet. In fact, it was so inconsequential, I just picked myself up, remounted, finished the ride, and thought nothing more of it.

Until this morning, halfway through the swim when I finally went, "DUH. Neck hurts. Bike wreck. Nobel prize for medecine."

But I finished my swim.

And I hit my splits.

Because Coach Kris wrote it down in the plan; let it be written, let it be done.

Because that's the Ironman way.

Or at least it's the highly anal, lawyer-guy way.

To be completely safe (and to keep doing my bit for the economy) I should probably replace my skid lid, just in case it did whack the pavement as my head snapped back. So, again, if you ride a bike, it's time to weigh in:

What's the awesomest, iron-worthy, most legendary, bitchin' bike helmet on the planet? High viz is a plus because many of my rides during the week are before dawn.

11 comments:

:) said...

I like the looks of the Bell Sweep Road.

http://cgi.ebay.com/BELL-SWEEP-R-ROAD-BIKE-CYCLING-HELMET-LARGE-BK-RED-NEW_W0QQitemZ200306036503QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCycling_Helmets_Protection

Danielle in Iowa in Ireland said...

I would say this one http://tinyurl.com/52za77

Kim said...

my last helmet was one from like target and had scorpions on it. doh! be careful grey - i worry!

Captain Cactus said...

I got a Catlike helmet last year and love it. The venting is the best I've ever ridden with for keeping your head cool even on the really hot days. I bought the Kompact Pro, but only because I wasn't willing to spend on the Whisper Plus. Check them out at:
http://www.catlike.es/english/index.html

Afternoon Tea With Oranges said...

Well dadgum Greyhound. Keep that rubber side on the road!

My favorite helmet is the Louis Garneau Ozzy.

Carrie said...

RudyProject Actyum. I may be partial because it was free...but my dad liked mine so much I got one for him for Father's Day last year...'cause I love him so much. The yellow/black is definitely visible. I got him the sivler one and there seems to be quite a bit of chrome reflection going on. It's light, comfortable, and I love the bug guard on the inside of the helmet.

:) said...

Bug guard??? Now you are taking all the fun out of riding! ;)

Supalinds said...

Ouch, bike crash - no fun!

The best part of having a coach is once its written (by someone else no less) it must be done!!

CoachLiz said...

I have a Giro Pnemo (or however the hell you spell it.) I have it in the white/silver color combo. Before that I had a Linmar and I liked the way it looked on my head better. I did not look like I had a mushroom cap on my noggin.

Garry said...

My vote is for the CATLIKE as well. Lightweight, good venting and comes in some cool color combos. Also how can you go wrong with a name like CATLIKE, unless of course you are talking about swim wear, cause we all know how cat's swim!

StylishMaleCyclist said...

I recently found your blog and have been enjoying it. In regards to your question about helmets, I have used numerous from Bell and Giro, but the best helmet I have ever used the the Lazer Genesis. It is by far the most comfortable and best venting, much better than even the Giro Ionos. Also, your head doesn't look like a mushroom when you wear it.
For what it's worth, Catlike haven't passed the CPSC testing, so you can't buy them in the US.
Thanks!