There I was on a beautiful late spring day, halfway round the Sunday ride, after breasting the long climb of Kidstomes at the far end of Wharfedale ithought it was time to test out the new frame on a fast descent. There is a long straightish stretch to start with on which i picked up a serious speed, I dont ride with a computer so I guess was late 40`s. Then comes a little left hander leading into an S bend, at this point the road dips a bit more and cambers flat, the road surface being `rippled` due the sun and traffic. At this point it all started to go wrong. The new frame is really fast, however it doesnt seem like breaking under duress as the backend skips and skitters, as this was happening I was running wide and not being able to get any breaking friction was getting a little concerned. Still picking up speed I applied the front which induced a speed wobble, front off back on still no breaking! What to do? On the righthand side is a drystone wall approx 60cm high and a drop down into the high pasture. I new that it was going to hurt but to avoid as much pain as I could I thought it would be a good idea to sideswipe the wall and that would slow me down enough for the brakes to work. NO! Hitting the wall at a more acute angle that hoped for the front wheel dug in and threw me and the bike left back in to the road. Landing heavily on my left back ribs and shoulder my helmeted head bounced off the road smacking in to my knees. I would say in a Foetal position. I then span round hearing my bike come down with a clatter. I ended up laying in the road looking quite leisurely, legs out and resting up on my right arm. All seemed well, a few cuts, well quite a lot, but noting un-towards. I jumped up collecting the bike as my 2 colleagues for he day skittered to halt. The headtube had come away from the down and top tubes causing a tirade of abuse from me! I was told to sit down which i did sitting on the wall, as I did I heard and felt something click. I stood up and stretched to test it when all of a sudden I couldnt breathe properly. An ambulance was called, my bike was hidden from view and i was whisked off to a local hospital. This is another part of the story, one which I will not bore you with now but ended up with me in Resuscitation having lots of medical staff running around like `ER` trying to save my life. Of which I am eternally grateful and mightily impressed. I was told the HELMET HAD SAVED MY LIFE. 2 broken ribs, one broken Clavicle and a punctured lung re inflated was the outcome of me going too fast and a bike not being able to corner at such speed.
Lessons learnt!