I was almost hit by a car yesterday while training. It was the closest I can remember in recent history. Maybe all history. It was so strange, because I’d received a call by a reporter from the Lawrence Journal World and been thinking about Cal Melick being struck and killed during the whole ride and then, right towards the end, I have a close call.

I was riding north on a road called Burlingame. I was on the top of a hill, just a little south of 61st street. The road has a dogleg in it there. So, I was approaching a left dogleg going around 20 or so. At the dogleg, there is a side road going off to the east. I was just getting to the left, when I spot a car coming from the north, pretty fast. Then, to my surprise, the guy just crosses the centerline and starts heading for the offshoot road. He sees me, just as I make eye contact. I realize I’m going to get hit, so my reaction is to swerve to the left, over into his lane. But, he does the same, while hitting the brakes and skidding. So I’m head-on again with him, but in his lane. About 10 meters from his grill I swerve to the right, trying to get back over to the other side of the road and I clear the front end of the truck, but he’s braking so hard that his rear end is swinging around and his rear bumper misses my left leg by about 6 inches. Obviously, I was pretty frightened.

I just looked back and he was stopped in the middle of the road. I decided not to go back, but now wish I would have. He and I both know how close we came.

I had been thinking about car/cyclists accidents and realizing that I know more and more people that are getting hit by cars. I guess the older I get, longer I live, it’s just logical that it is case.

I’ve been hit a couple times by cars. Nothing serious. Once in Santa Cruz, CA, I was hit and was knocked unconscious. I tore a pretty big hole in my ear, but other than that, it wasn’t bad. I’ve been fortunate.

But, getting riled about the whole thing isn’t going to solve the issue. Riding is more dangerous now than it was when I first started riding. The main reason for that is that there are just a lot more cars around. More people, more cars. Then 2nd reason, in my opinion, is cell phones. Nearly all drivers are somewhat distracted because of their phone. As a society, we haven’t figured out a way to address that yet, so that is just how it is, for now.

Even with the problem being acknowledged, I’m not one to blame anyone. There are such things as accidents. I hope in my friend Cal’s situation, it was just that, an accident. Someone doesn’t always have to be at fault. Things sometimes just happen and tragedies occur. It is just part of life.

If I would have been hit yesterday, I know the guy would have felt horrible. I could see it in his eyes as he was doing everything he could to avoid hitting me. And if he did hit me, it would have just been an accident, he just didn’t see me. He wasn’t on his phone and didn’t seem distracted, he just did not see me.

I have no desire to die right now, but these things are all assumed “risks” of living. I can’t be worrying about whether I’m going to get hit by a car every minute I’m riding a bike. I’ve that is the case, I couldn’t really ride, at least enjoy it at all. That would be so stressful. And one of the beauties of the sport is the stress relief it provides.

I try to not worry about things I don’t have control over. I do have control over how I ride a bike, most of the time. I don’t have control over how everyone around me drives a car. I understand that and accept it.

Let all try to not get too worked up about accidents. I’m sure Cal would hate it if he knew his death was going to make bike riding less enjoyable, even to one other person. He loved it so much, it would be a tragedy for that to be the outcome.

Stay safe.

Cal, far left, with Brian Koeningsdorf, Dee and Gene Wee. It was Cal’s VW bus.

I’m a little timid about going real fast downhill here in the mountains right now. I’m about 1000% better than I was even a couple weeks ago. I was a little worried that I had lost my shit, but I’m pretty sure that isn’t the case now.

That being the said, I have to say that the braking over the years has changed a ton. And it has mainly changed for the worse. Racing in big groups, with descents, the lack of braking and the fright in the field, is sometimes a little contagious. So, it’s sort of a additive scare.

I think the braking got a lot worse when Shimano went from 8 speed to 9 speed. The brake calipers themselves were slimmed down for weight purposes, making them much more flexie than before. It was hard getting a good amount of front brake, scrubbing speed quickly. It was so bad, I took off my front 9-sp caliper and used an 8-sp one for Redlands.

The 10 zip calipers were about the same, pretty squishy. Added to that is that carbon rims became common. Carbon makes the braking very unreliable. It really depends upon what brake caliper you’re using, brake pad compound, ambient temperature, precipitation, etc.

Precipitation is a big deal here. Like Tom Boonen says here, you sort of loose some braking power when it is wet. I don’t think it is 50%. I think it is initially a lot, then when you get some of the water off the rim, it tends to grab.

The link above has a bunch of Euro road pros talking about the use of disc brakes in the peleton. I think that Peter Stetina, newphew of Shimano’s Wayne Stetina, brings up the most valid concerns. He has an inside scoop on it, plus I’m sure he’s sort of an equipment geek like his uncle. I agree, it’s going to be a while before they figure out how to get disc brakes to work in professional racing. Just the wheel change problems seem monumental. The different rotors up for each and every bike will be difficult.

The new Dura Ace brake calipers are much, much better than the previous editions. I don’t know if it’s the calipers themselves or the brake pad compound. I think it is a combination of the two. But, whatever the reason, the new brakes are better, much better than they’ve had for years. No need to put on SwissStop or cork pads. They stop pretty great, on aluminum or carbon rims.

Yesterday, I rode over to Vail and back from Silverthorne. My brakes had been grabbing before, so I cleaned my rims of any chain lube that might be there. Anyway, they weren’t working good all day. When I got back to Silverthorne, I looked at my pads and they had a bunch of rim metal embedded in them. I haven’t had that problem for a while now. I’m riding Ultergra 11 sp wheels. I think the rims are Scandium, but I”m not positive about that. Whatever the deal, I don’t much like the metal in my pads. It screws up the braking and wears the rims out much quicker. Especially changing back and forth between carbon and aluminum.

We’ve all got used to worse and worse braking through the years. I’m not sure the definitive answer to the braking issues that have come up recently in the sport. I don’t think disc brakes are the answer. And if you’re going to be racing on carbon rims, then you have to expect less predpredictability​.

My pad after yesterday’s ride.

The new Dura Ace 9000 calipers are a big improvement.