Bicycles Unlimited - A Midwinter's Nightmare for Dieter

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A Midwinter's Nightmare for Dieter

Written by Bob Perry

Thursday, 23 February 2012

Tuesday was a cool but sunny day and I planned a ride on the Montague Plains for 6:20. With the warm temps and not much snow I opted to go stud-less tonight and said as much to the group. We hung around the shop till about 6:10 to wait for Dieter and after he got his girdle straightened out we were ready to roll. I had Christian and Curt in the van while Dieter and David followed me over to Montague Center. When we arrived at the common we quickly got our bikes and gear in order and soon we headed out for the Telephone Pole Trail. I set the pace for the group that included Jack, Ed, John, Neil, Mitch, Dieter, Curt, Dave and Christian as we pedaled down the hardtop to the trailhead.

I made the turn onto the trail and found that it was mostly clear with only small patches of ice here and there. I rode to the top of the hill and waited at the fire pit for everyone to arrive. As I shone my light onto the trail ahead I could see that there was a pretty big swath of ice that seemed to extend for quite a ways, so I opted to head down to the Toilet Bowl Trail via the Banked Trails. Curt was the lead and I hung in the back to keep an eye on Dieter, David and Jack because there might be some ice on the trails. When we got to the Banked Trails we encountered a bit of ice at the beginning, which we were able avoid, but there was much more at the turn and some people slid and fell. After the turn we were on ice free trails and we headed over to the Toilet Bowl Trail. After re-grouping at the turn we headed deeper into the woods. There was some ice but I thought that it was easily avoidable. We rode through the trails that were recently cleared by Marc Courtemanche and what a nice job he did. I was following Jack and Dieter as we neared the end of the trail and just as I thought all was going well, Dieter took a dive on the ice. He hit pretty hard but was able to get up and ride over to where the rest of the group was waiting for us. I noticed that Curt was fooling with his rear wheel and when I got there I noticed that he had a broken spoke. I made quick work of getting the spoke stowed away and soon Curt headed the group down Brushy Way, I stayed at the back of the group and we made our way to Plains Road where everyone else was waiting for us. When I got to the group Curt was sitting on the ground eating an energy bar and he said that he was feeling sick. We waited for a few minutes and Curt seemed to be doing better so we headed off to the power lines. With Curt not feeling well I took the lead and headed the group over to the Ice Flow Trail. I was third wheel as we got to the trailhead and I told John, Dieter and Ed to head down the trail to the four way intersection and wait for me. I arrived at the intersection and saw the trio ahead sailing through and heading in the wrong direction. I yelled and they returned and began the climb up the hill. The group rode up the hill to the Pine Tree Trail and then we continued up to the top of Willis Hill. After a brief stop at the power lines we headed down the hill and rode across the frozen pond at the bottom. Ed and Christian were ahead of me as I started across the ice and I soon overtook Christian. As I passed him I heard a loud thud. It was Christian hitting the deck pretty hard. I rode over to the other side of the ice and pretty soon everyone joined us. Most of the riders walked around the ice after seeing Christian fall. When everyone was across the ice we then headed down the other side of the hill. As we rode down the hill, snow began to fall and we had to watch out for the ice more carefully as the snow was accumulating on the ground. We all made it safely over to Plains Road where we found ourselves confronted with large icy puddles. We were all able to ride around them and soon we were out at the barriers. I looked down the road straight ahead and saw quite a bit of ice so since Christian had already turned right I decided to give that route a try. I rode along the side of the trail when there was ice and was able to make it over to Red Rock Trail with no problem. I was a ways ahead of the rest if the guys so I stopped to wait. Well I waited and waited but there were a couple of guys that were way behind. It turns out that good ole Dieter took a dive on the ice and really got hurt. I did not realize the extent of his injuries until he managed to get back on his bike and ride over to the group. At that point I decided to go into “extraction mode”! With Dieter hurt and the snow/rain falling at a pretty good clip I thought the best scenario would be to split the group. I asked Christian and Ed to lead the boys back to the common on the trails whilst I took Dieter, Dave and Jack back via the hardtop roadway. Dieter was pretty sore and had trouble holding onto the handlebars but he was able to keep a good pace as we rode down the highway. When we got back to the common Curt was waiting in the van and we told him what happened. I thought that it would be best if Dieter didn’t drive so Curt volunteered to drive Dieter’s car back to the shop and then drive him home. After they left I waited a few minutes for the rest of the group to get back and when they didn’t arrive I went looking for them on the plains. I made a quick loop out to Lake Pleasant and returned to the common just as the boys arrived. With all the riders accounted for Christian and I then headed back to the shop. Quite an adventure for all but still it was an overall good ride for this time of year.

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