Crash of the Week

Most of last week, at least Monday through Friday, can best be described as "difficult."  Tuesday's ride went OK, and I made it out to the WeMoRi on Wednesday a bit early, but then on Thursday everyone bailed on the 6 am ride thanks to the gusty 15 mph wind that I battled alone for thirty-odd miles on the levee. Farther upriver Steve took the opportunity to nab a Strava KOM on a conveniently oriented segment that day. Friday was another solo ride with the temperature in the mid-50s and a still significant wind around 8 mph. So by Saturday, even though it was still pretty chilly, I was happy to see that the wind had died down a bit as I rode out to meet the Giro. 

The offending chunk of concrete
(the one on the left!)

Although the Giro route quite intentionally uses mostly 4-lane roads with mostly good road surfaces, the definition of "mostly good road surface" around here by no means means "free of wheel-eating cracks and holes." Nevertheless, most everyone knows where the problem spots are and takes them into account, since they have all been clearly identified previously by blown-out tires and/or crashes. Saturday's Giro was, for the most part, a perfectly normal Saturday Giro. The wind was light, as was the aggressiveness at the front, which kept most riders in the fold on the way out despite the occasional brief surges into the low 30s. A light easterly tailwind added a couple of mph to much of the return trip as the temperature warmed into the mid-60, so it was generally pretty smooth going all the way down the long string of riders. As expected, the pace picked up once we got back onto Hayne Blvd. where the tailwind kept the long line of riders going at 28-31 mph. We successfully negotiated the sharp-edged potholes in the concrete near Read and Crowder, leaving just a short stretch from there to the base of the Casino overpass. That stretch doesn't have any holes or cracks or anything, and I usually feel like I can relax my concentration a bit by that point and start thinking about the overpass climb and super-fast stretch between there and the sprint to the top of the Seabrook bridge. That's right about when it happened.

Suddenly, five or six riders ahead of me, near the back part of a long thin line of riders going 30 mph, there was an explosion of bikes and bodies. I escaped to the left, narrowly avoiding the riders on the ground and the other riders doing the same as I. Though concentrating on safely finding the exit door, I remember seeing one rider launching over the fallen rider ahead of him. About half of the group never knew what had happened since the paceline was so long and it had all transpired near the rear. Turning back, I saw Perryl hunched over on his knees, and Geoff still on the ground with riders already assisting. I could hear Perryl's Garmin incident detection app beeping from his phone lying on the road a few yards behind him. Across the street one of the residents was already calling 911 by the time I got to them, and an oncoming car had circled around to block the right lane for us. Although Perryl had a cracked helmet, and possibly a mild concussion, both riders seemed to be at least as mentally intact as they had been, so that was a relief. It was also a minor miracle that only two hit the tarmac, considering the speed. As I approached I said, "What the hell happened?" and someone pointed to a big chunk of concrete in the middle of the right lane. Although most of the group had avoided it, inevitably someone near the back didn't. Geoff wasn't feeling like he couldn't put any weight on his hip (the artificial one that he re-broke about a year and a half ago). Perryl was favoring his left shoulder, the side where he'd broken the collarbone probably less than a year ago. He said he could feel the crunching and figured it was broken again. The fire department arrived and checked them out, but both were able to call family for extraction, so a few of us waited around until everyone was safely on the way home, or to the ER as the case may be. Perryl did indeed break the collarbone along with at least one rib. Geoff still can't put weight on his leg and is trying to get in to see his orthopedist this morning (Monday). I rode back home with a few others feeling pretty lucky and reminded of my own crash into an unexpected chunk of concrete a few years back. It had been quite a long time since we'd had a crash on the Giro Ride.  Update 4/8/21: Geoff has a fractured wrist and a fractured pelvis.

It was still chilly Sunday morning went I went out for Giro #2, but was looking like it would warm up pretty quickly. Perhaps I was still a bit on edge following Saturday's incident, but there was one rider who was really making me nervous as I cruised along in the ample draft of the group. I eventually made an effort to get ahead of him just for my own peace of mind. Otherwise, it was a routine Giro Ride, though, probably one in which I should have been more active I guess.