Seven of us met at the Village Market parking lot at 17:30. This route crosses a few ridges between the valleys that run North to South around here. Over all a pleasant route that is often ridden in the evening with slight variations.
Relatively non-eventful ride until we were Northbound on Stewart. A group of three riders had passed us on Smith Chapel as we slowed to answer the call of nature. Stewart is mostly straight and rolling. The prospect of chasing down the riders was too much to resist hammering for awhile, and we took the bait. We were moving along at a good clip 25+ and easily caught and passed our target!
Shortly after passing them one rider in our group touched the rear wheel of another rider with his front wheel and that's when the excitement began. Said rider was down, HARD, in the blink of an eye. The pavement really did a number on his legs, arms, and hands. It's really difficult seeing a fellow rider, and friend, in such pain.
We were able to contact his wife. While one of our group waited with the downed rider for the arrival of his wife the rest of us left in order to beat nightfall arriving after sunset.
Best wishes to our friend for a speedy recovery!
Route:
http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=4794
Profile:
Cue Sheet:http://veloroutes.org/cuesheets/4794.html
Ride Details:
Distance: 26.7, Climb: 1411, Time: 1:35:51, Average: 17.3
Weather:
Temp: 74, Wind: Calm, Clouds: Clear, Humidity: 20%
2 comments:
i've been lucky so far - but i can see how easy it would be to knick another's wheel..
hope your friend can ride again soon!
Yes, It was a nice evening until the crash. A harsh reminder of how mistakes can quickly become painful quickly.
I don't think I'll be as quick to develop a ride into a chase (for a little while anyway).
I think He'll be back up and riding soon, I hope so.
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