Saturday, September 30, 2023

Post Race Recovery Process

After the Silver State 508 race last week I took two days to drive back home.  About six hours each day.  Which is quite unusual for me.  I typically do numbing 12+ hour pulls.  The usual consequence of driving that long is one or two days of literal recovery from the numbing effect.

Part of the recovery process after bicycling races is unpacking, cleaning and stowing of cycling gear from the event.  I don't `hurry' that process simply because I've usually neglected other priorities in preparation for the race.  They take precedence.

Two nights after arriving home I was awakened in the middle of the night with something that never happened before.  The average resting respiratory rate for a well conditioned male is about 15 - 18 per minute.  I woke up with a respiratory rate of 35 per minute.  My heart rate was in the high 70's (compared to the high 40's - low 50's).  I had a temperature of 101F.  And my blood pressure was 170/75 (compared to the usual 120/65).  

I took some Tylenol and spent the next two days sleeping.  The respiration, HR, temperature and blood pressure returned to normal fairly quickly.  However I now experience an occasional mild cough.  It feels like my lungs hurt a bit.

So ... to what do I attribute this?  I have a typical cycling heart rate just above 100 BPM.  At intense efforts (climbing) my HR can get up to 145+BPM.  This intensity often quite short and is usually in temperatures never below 45F.  

The Nevada mountain desert got down to the mid 20Fs during the race.  I was pushing really hard up the mountain inclines at those temperatures.  Breathing very hard for what was, for me, a long time. I wasn't wearing a HR monitor but I was clearly breathing very, very heavily and deep.  I speculate that my HR was in the 140 BPM range. 

I'm guessing that the intense effort in the cold weather put a real strain on my lungs.  I was trying to climb at too intense an effort for the full time of my pulls, i.e., 30 - 45 minutes.  

In retrospect it was good to call it quits at around 2:00 AM and 27F.  

My body is teaching me.  




Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Race Report - Silver State 508 - 2023

In November of 2022, when Kellie Moylan (a very highly regarded athletic performance coach) vaguely brought up the idea that Bill Spaeth and I may want to do the 2023 Silver State 508 ultra race as a relay team … I was nothing less than gob smacked. I’m at the back end of my eighth decade in life. 

A year and a half earlier I asked Kellie to `hold me accountable’ as I recovered from rotator cuff surgery and had been told by my doctor to stay off the road if I wanted to bicycle. I was restricted to my indoor `shed’ to do training. Kellie delivered exceptional results, and then some. 

I gave nervous consideration to this idea and, a few weeks later, I contacted Bill. He, as well, waited a few weeks before agreeing to do so. He told me that his wife, Sandy Earl, would be our crew chief. That turned out to be a big mistake, as she is no stranger to not finishing (DNF) races. We needed two other crew members. Bill got one and I got the other. We registered with the 508 folks under the name `Raven Lunatics’ in January. 

 With one grave exception our crew was fantastic, of good cheer, exceptionally competent and focused.

• Bill Spaeth and I were the racers. 
• Bill recruited Robert Bertolf to be a crew member. 
• I recruited Joe Pixley, a 2015 recumbent finisher of the 508, to be a crew member. 

The Silver State 508 is a Race Across America event. Our team attended the required pre-race meeting. Fred Boethling, President of Race Across America, made a solid presentation of the rules of the 508, the expected sportsmanlike behavior of racers and crew, a very touching memoriam to Robert Baldino (an entrant who unexpectedly died just before the race), and an introduction of all the racers. 

I’ve spent close to twenty years participating in RAAM sponsored events in roles as racer, race official, crewmember, crew chief and all-around groupie. I’ve learned more about myself from these experiences than from all the bachelor, master’s, and doctoral degrees I’ve accumulated over the years. It has not always been pleasant … neither for me nor for others. Which makes it real, genuine, and profoundly important and meaningful. 

Bill and I agreed to do 45 – 75-minute pulls on our bikes in the race. The 508 course is frighteningly challenging. (https://ridewithgps.com/routes/22042364) Two hundred and fifty-four miles east from Reno and two hundred and fifty-four miles back. More than 22,000 feet of climbing into several mountain summits. The road quality is mostly excellent with a few ten or fifteen miles of gnarly chip seal (I thought my bike frame was going to crack). The vehicular traffic, even through the few populated towns on the course, was courteous and, frankly, very encouraging. 

Bill rode his Schlitter FreeStyle two wheeled recumbent (700 wheels). I rode my Bacchetta CA3 two wheeled recumbent (650 wheels, triple crank up front with eleven speed 11/42 cassette in back). Our crew follow vehicle was Bill’s Ford Transit van. Three crew. Two racers. 

Daytime temperatures were in the high 60’s – low 70’s (Fahrenheit). It was sunny. When we didn’t have a pleasant tailwind, we had minimal crosswind. At night it got down to the mid-20’s (Fahrenheit). We couldn’t really have asked for better weather. 

The RAAM race officials rolled past us a few times and there was a mid-course time and aid station along the route. In my experience this was the most professional and well managed ultra event I have ever experienced. Friendly, attentive, and supportive staff. Clear instructions. Vigilant monitoring. And almost immediate responses when questions arose. 

I did not finish the race. I stopped at approximately 193 miles, climbing miles of 5 – 6% grade, around 2:00 AM, 27F. With Bill’s superior performance on some of the mountainous pulls, and my surprising (and slow) climbing after 150 miles, I could not do more. With miles and miles of 6% grades I just didn’t have it. 

Bill got out of the van and, with nothing but talent, grit and immense courage, continued on alone for another 69 (or so) miles. I have honestly never witnessed such an athletic and heroic performance. And he didn’t once complain. THAT, in my opinion, is real integrity and sportsmanship.

At that point (after the turnaround from Eureka, NV) it was about 6:00 AM. And the sun was coming up behind us. We all rested for a while before heading back. Coincidentally, the crew stopped in the town of Fallon, Nevada, for breakfast. 

We arrived back to Reno around 11:00 AM on Saturday. 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The only negative experience occurred when I notified the crew chief that I simply could not continue climbing. After getting back in the van she made very angry comments and took some dangerous actions that, at the very least, were unsportsmanlike.  The last time I saw behavior like that was when I was the Clinical Director of a secure, locked, inpatient psychiatric hospital in Chicago.

Saturday, May 13, 2023

Otto Trucking - Dangerous Driver - May 2023

 

Otto Trucking 

Safety Officer

4220 E. McDowell Rd. Ste 108
Mesa, AZ 85215

 

Sir / Madam:

The purpose of this correspondence is to file a formal complaint and to report the dangerous and potentially fatal operation of an Otto Trucking, Inc, truck.  I recorded this event and uploaded it as a publicly shared YouTube video: 

 REAR FACING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or9B0wmL4vU

FRONT FACING:  https://youtu.be/-45YA5nxptg   

                 

On May 12, 2023, at 2:15 PM, while riding a bicycle westbound on AZ 15 (Bagdad-Kirkland) road, west of mile post 22, the driver of belly dump truck # 7295, AZ license XAA OHE, USDOT 488160, VNGD322432, crowded, swerved, and almost pushed me off the road while passing.  After passing the driver leaned on the horn and swerved to the right, over the white fog line to force me off the road. 

 It was a bright sunny afternoon with no weather-related problems.  Line of sight distance was no less than one mile. 

I was wearing bright, Hi-Viz, iridescent white and yellow cycling clothes.  I wore bright white socks as my legs went up and down on the pedals.  The bicycle had four (4) bright, flashing white and red strobe lights rear-facing, and one bright white front-facing strobe light. 

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/R72tmVY9dCc

I was traveling at approximately eight (8) miles per hour, to the right of the white / fog line. 

The driver of the Otto Trucking, Inc., truck veered toward me even though I was on the shoulder, right of the white / fog line.  It is a certainty that if I had been hit, I would have been killed. 

I am requesting that you investigate this incident.  It is my conclusion that the driver of this vehicle is responsible for an unlawful and potentially fatal act.  I will fully comply with any requests you make of me in this investigation.

These are links to recent local unsafe operation of commercial trucks:

https://psychling1.blogspot.com/2022/09/tri-city-towing-prescott-az-tow-truck.html

https://psychling1.blogspot.com/2021/02/dangerous-dsv-road-transport-truck.html

Sincerely,

 Daniel Fallon

psychling@gmail.com

DrFallonAZ@gmail.com

 

CC:

 

David Rhodes, Sheriff                                 

Yavapai County Sheriff's Office

255 E. Gurley Street

Prescott, Arizona 86301

 

Paul Penzone, Sheriff

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office

550 West Jackson

Phoenix, Arizona 85003

 

U.S. Department of Transportation

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Director, Office of Enforcement and Compliance

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE

Washington, DC 20590

Sunday, September 11, 2022

Tri City Towing (Prescott, AZ) - Tow Truck Driver Almost Kills Me - Successful Outcome

September 12, 2022


Sheriff R.
Yavapai County Sheriff's Office
255 E. Gurley Street
Prescott, Arizona 86301

Sheriff R:

The purpose of this correspondence is to file a formal complaint and report the dangerous and potentially fatal operation of a Tri City Towing, Inc., tow truck.  I recorded this event and am enclosing a USB flash drive of the recording and relevant frame frieze jpg photos.  

I have uploaded a shortened video of this incident and it is available as a YouTube video: 

 

 

I was almost killed on Wednesday, September 7th, 2022, at 2:15 PM, while riding a bicycle eastbound on the AZ 15 (Bagdad-Kirkland) road. 

It was a bright sunny afternoon with no weather-related problems.  There was no traffic coming from either direction.  Line of sight distance was no less than one mile, east and west.  The driver’s speed was approximately fifty-five (55) miles per hour.  

I was wearing bright, Hi-Viz, iridescent white and yellow cycling clothes.  I wore bright white and yellow socks as my legs went up and down on the pedals.  

The bicycle had three (3) bright, flashing white and red strobe lights rear-facing, and one bright white front-facing strobe light.  

I was traveling at approximately ten (10) miles per hour, to the right of the white / fog line.  

The driver of the Tri City Towing, Inc., truck veered toward me (even though I was on the shoulder, right of the white / fog line) and at the last second straightened out.  The driver of the truck passed me at approximately fifty-five (55) miles per hour within barely two (2) or three (3) inches of hitting me.  It is a certainty that if I had been hit, I would have been killed.  

This is the recumbent bicycle I was riding (I am the rider of the bicycle in the picture): 

 




Below are two (2) freeze-frame jpg pictures of the incident:

 


 

I am requesting that you investigate this incident.  It is my conclusion that the driver of this vehicle is responsible for an unlawful and potentially fatal act.  I will fully comply with any requests you make of me in this investigation.

 Sincerely,

 

Daniel Fallon

psychling@gmail.com

DrFallonAZ@gmail.com

  =========================================

The video and jpeg pics of the incident were provided to the County Sheriff's Office. They contacted the management of the tow truck company.

Quote from the Sheriff's Sergeant reporting back to me the status:
"He told me that his driver was identified and he received a written reprimand for the incident. He wanted me to pass on his apologies for the incident. I explained to him how serious this is and how much worse it could have been. He was very apologetic and admitted that his driver was at fault.

Based on the video that I watched, it is clear that driver is on his cell phone either texting. My question for you is are do you want me to continue forward with a citation or are you satisfied with his supervisor disciplining him?"

I informed the Sergeant that it was critically important that the driver receive a citation (ticket).  The heaviest weight in this matter has to do with how my  death would have affected my wife, children, grandchildren, relatives, friends and patients.

I take no pleasure in causing the driver the possibility of losing his job.  But a `written reprimand' and an `apology' are insignificant compared to the gravity of this issue.