Here in the Bay Area, there are lots of cyclists. In an area like this, tragedies will sometimes happen - and such a tragedy did hit on 3/8/2008.
A Deputy Sheriff crossed the centerline on a popular cycling road and struck 3 cyclists, killing 2 of them. I did not know anyone involved personally, but these kinds of tragedies really hit home. The cyclists were on a team ride, and were very accomplished - one had just won an amateur race, while the other was considering going to the Olympic trials after a career as a professional triathlete. My friend Pete posted the following to an internet board after attending the memorial ride: Pete's message.
That was an eventful month from another perspective - one of our riders took a nasty spill on a ride with a group of teammates. We had just climbed a challenging set of hills, and come off a very fast descent. She had stayed back to snap a few photos, so we were waiting at the stop sign. After cresting a few rolling hills, she took her hands off the bars and a nasty wind gust hit her. She went down before she could do anything about it. We all raced back to her - she wasn't moving, but was breathing. All we could do was try and keep her warm while calling 911. The response was really fast - we were in a remote location, and the first police car got there in under 5 minutes, with ambulance right behind. In the meantime, our teammate came around and started talking a bit. Thank god for her helmet! She's ok - bruised and beat up, and she has a broken thumb, but otherwise is fine.
That was an eventful month from another perspective - one of our riders took a nasty spill on a ride with a group of teammates. We had just climbed a challenging set of hills, and come off a very fast descent. She had stayed back to snap a few photos, so we were waiting at the stop sign. After cresting a few rolling hills, she took her hands off the bars and a nasty wind gust hit her. She went down before she could do anything about it. We all raced back to her - she wasn't moving, but was breathing. All we could do was try and keep her warm while calling 911. The response was really fast - we were in a remote location, and the first police car got there in under 5 minutes, with ambulance right behind. In the meantime, our teammate came around and started talking a bit. Thank god for her helmet! She's ok - bruised and beat up, and she has a broken thumb, but otherwise is fine.
This was on top of an earlier team ride, where our community captain took a low speed spill while navigating a section of road he'd been over probably a thousand times. He was also scraped up pretty good, but otherwise he was fine (his bike needed some attention, though).
So hopefully we're through this rough patch, everyone will keep their hands on their handlebars and the rest of the season will be safe!
The riding in the meantime has been rewarding, but tough. Lots of wind and some rain has created pretty challenging conditions. We've been riding in some pretty wide open areas, too - Livermore and out at Pt. Reyes, on the ocean in Marin County. That last ride to Pt. Reyes in particular was just much tougher than it might have been - we woke up to weather forecasts of 20mph winds with 30 mph gusts and a 70% chance of rain. Our fearless leader, Kim-osabe, decided the weather was fine, so we all showed up in Nicasio (a one horse town in a pretty isolated part of Marin) to clearing skies but strong winds. No rain all day long, but boy that wind off the ocean sure made for some tough riding. Beautiful part of the country, though - and a great ride! The picture is of a teammate and me climbing one of the many short but steep sections on the way to the lighthouse. Note all those trees to block the wind!
For those of you who want to make me suffer by riding more miles, well, you've got some work to do! So far you all have donated just under $1,400 - good, but not good enough. I've already ridden over 1,000 miles this season - to keep me riding more than scheduled, you guys are just going to have to pony up! For anyone who missed it, I've pledged to ride a mile for every $ donated through my website. Go ahead - make me ride!
JB
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