u/Responsible_Pool9923

I'm planning to ride an LRM brevet (1200km) next week, and parts of the route go through places with known blocked GPS signal. My mates with Garmin devices recommend using a speed sensor to make sure the distance readings are correct even if the track line is distorted.

So I have a few questions:

- Am I correct to assume that when I have a speed sensor connected to DURA, speed and distance values come from sensor and not from GPS?

- Do I have to do anything if I encounter bad GPS signal (obvious signs of "teleportation" or track going in circles)?

- I can not manually calibrate my speed sensor with adequate precision, even 1% difference means 12 km error by the end of the distance. Can COROS DURA calibrate speed sensor automatically like Garmin Edge series?

Yesterday I had a bad crash. We were just starting a 200 km brevet, and as we were leaving the city, my front wheel got caught in a narrow gap between steel plates covering the railroad crossing. I was doing 30+ kph in the middle of a group, and all of a sudden the front for the bike shot down and backwards from under me with a loud crack. I catapulted face first on the ground. I didn't even manage to lift my hands from the bar.

Next thing I know - I am sitting on roadside trying to stop the blood flowing from my head, half-fainting, and it's not going well. Everything happened so quickly, and there I was all alone, none of the people I call friends around to help me out.

I've been there before, always on the other side of the story. Others broke collarbones, got overheated and dehydrated, and I always told the rest to move on and stayed with the person in trouble, no matter what they told me. After all, there needs to be someone sane, unhurt, and unlikely to faint to organize the evacuation. And it turns out, this time a participant got hurt, there was no unhurt me around to help.

The driver of a randomly passing ambulance saw me and pulled over. This was very fortunate, because I was struggling with my wits from the shock. They parked the totalled bike at the guardhouse for safekeeping, gave me first aid and took me to the hospital. Fortunately, there was no serious damage, all I got was stitches on my eyebrow, a swollen eye and lots of muscle pain due to the extremes my arms and back went into to try and keep the balance on the collapsing bike.

Later, I asked the guys who were behind me in the group and definitely saw the accident, and they told me I said I was OK and they should move on. Like I always do when someone gets hurt. I have no reason to doubt their word, only their judgement. When you see a fellow rider in the middle of the road with blood quickly covering half his face, and they tell you they are OK, you just don't take their word for it. They are not thinking straight.

Somewhere deep inside we, the randonneurs, bear the love of suffering, but not to the point of injury or death. I'm writing this post for you all to remember: When things get serious, the ride comes second, and safety of people around you comes first.