WORD!

And no, Geg'n. I do not apologize to scumbags who make my life miserable and dangerously by "buzzing" around me if I am out on a structured training ride.
Abou time that those who use their weekend rides to "race in the TDF" get to know what goal oriented cyclists think of them.
When I was down in Southern California, I changed my weekend training rides to mid afternoon after the first weekend, just to not be around those public menaces.

...and I did a couple of Thursday night crits, with people who knew what they were doing and what they were getting into.

Heal up Dave! Next time ride mid afternoon.

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Ego numquam pronuncio mendacium,
sed sum homo salvaticus

I've read most of the posts on this thread and first I wish you a speedy recovery UNC_Tri_Guy.

I'm older and wiser, and I now refuse to participate in group rides. In the early 90's, and in my youth, I was on a European national triathlon team for 5 seasons. Which means that the years before and during I was averaging about 10,000 KM's on the bike every year, with many being group rides. Best shape and time of my life. Group rides in Europe in those days did not allow triathlon bikes, as only road bikes were allowed. The more experienced riders would yell at you if you ever rode dangeoursly, did not point out obstacles on the road, did not stick with the pace line, or did not take your turn up front. Even with all of that, I crashed into a brick on the road when in a group ride the guy in front failed to point it out to the rest of us while going fast down a hill at the end of a 200km ride day. Shattered some discs on my back and ended my competitive career. So even with all precautions and proper training it can happen.

Having grown up in European cycling, I am constantly blown away at the lack of etiquette on the group rides I see in the US. In fact, there is no etiquette, no paceline, no safety precautions, nothing. It's like no one has ever taken a moment to tell the riders the proper way to ride in a group. Or it's a cultural thing. It's like a hammerfest free for all chaos ride. I blame the bike clubs and triathlon clubs. I don't care how "elite" their members are, they all ride like crap in group rides, and the clubs don't institute any policies or training to make sure there is safety and etiquette. The should have things like training classes, pre ride talks, etc. Help them become better riders.

Anyway, I started racing in my early teens so I've crashed my bike plenty. If you ride enough miles, it's not if but when your'e going to crash.

Take care, and don't forget - triathlon and bike clubs have insurance to cover them for these types of events.

"Take care, and don't forget - triathlon and bike clubs have insurance to cover their asses for these types of events."

I took the liberty to fix that for you.

Other than that I couldn't agree more:
"Who are you ? The cycling police?"

Hilarious, those hicks!

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Ego numquam pronuncio mendacium,
sed sum homo salvaticus

I'm older and wiser, and I now refuse to participate in group rides.

This new Mountain Bike thing might take off... ;)

-Jot

WORD!

#6 Even though it might be your favorite climb in the morning, never descend that mountain in the late afternoon when your ass might get taken out by an idiot towing a large boat or trailer.

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**All of these words finding themselves together were greatly astonished and delighted for assuredly, they had never met before**

Hope you have a healthy recovery.

With that said, I'm assuming that everyone here is a grown adult. It seems fairly simple that you are simplying looking for help to put together the pieces and understand what may have happened, as it appears you have no recollection of exactly what triggered or caused the accident. Hopefully you can somehow get in contact with the Paramedics, Orthopedic Surgeon and 911 Transcripts as mentioned in various posts in order to put names and statements together. Do you know if any reports or statements were taken by the paramedics or other(s)?

Not sure how this thread went from a request for help to a juvenile "he said she said" thread and debate about riding, but it's clear that a few individuals got their panties in a bunch do to the reference of the tri group/club.

Perhaps Slowman or Jordan can excercise judgement to put the bashing somewhere else or just remove it and get back to topic. Rather than trying to defend a position or determine who's bike is better, why not simply help as originally requested, if help can be provided.

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"There is no charge for awesomeness or attractiveness." Po "The Dragon Warrior", Kung-Fu Panda

Looks like you had absolutely nothing to offer except to rant about the people who were ranting. Obviously you got your panties all in a bunch.

A fast ride, with riders of variable skills drafting on TT bikes is a recipe for disaster. No club should promote this type of ride. If you want to promote group rides as a club, ask the riders to please show up on their road bikes. Riding most of the time on the bull horns of your TT bike is also absurd for various reasons.

Sergio

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Note: English is not my first language. Please read this translated post considering that.

Sorry to hear about your wreck. Hope the possible surgery / healing goes well.

I've ridden this stretch a few times, but I usually hit it Sunday and after most groups are done (around 9 or 10). I guess I've always been lucky. After a few very close calls with car doors and debris, I decided to start riding North through Camp Pendleton. I've got an active duty ID so it's never been an issue getting on base. That said, I hope for a speedy recovery for the OP. Sucks to be out, but maybe you can sign up tomorrow for the Oly Tri next March.

I'm in TCSD but wasn't ever really able to make the group rides (and learn from the coaches/senior members) since they seem to be way South of me. Regarding the post I'm replying to, and others similar, is there a good guide on-line to common practices, etc, for signaling debris, etc? I've been riding sportbikes (Honda CBR 1000RR Repsol Edition is waiting on me at home right now) for over 27 years, so I know signals for motorcycles, but as I mentioned above, I'm new to road bikes. Raced BMX in school days, but doesn't apply. The rule, "Don't ride after rain," is also a good one for motorcycles too, especially in locals that get hard rain often (e.g. Colorado Springs). Intersections with large crossing markings are also very dangerous when the markings are newly applied (e.g. again Colorado Springs).

I've high-sided and low sided at decent speeds, so my thoughts are with you as you recover. Any get off is a bad get off. I guess when I get back from Afghanistan in a few months, I should learn from this thread and get some better safety gear. I've got a $600 high end Shoei for my sportbike, but my road bike helmet is a $20 import from K-mart. From my brief experiences last summer, I think I'm far more likely to go down on PCH (on my road bike), than draggin knees up Palomar Mountain on my Repsol. Just for giggles, I might wear my full leathers one day going down PCH just to make a silly point. :)

Take care.

Thanks for posting that. I am so glad that the riders did stop to help. It was hard for me to believe that any cyclist would hit someone and then just continue on riding and not assist the injured.

OMG, I am so sorry you are hurt but glad you will recover. Take care of yourself.

Rest up and heal quickly. All the best, man.

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Hans

Get well soon bro. Take it slow for a while and keep the same spirits you have had when first posting. think you will find the answers and hope that it all works it self out. I am glad we found out some people and I will USE the word PEOPLE stopped to help. My guess is they were a few types that HELP'ed non-cyclist, roadies and triathletes. Again get well and I hope a speedy recovery to you and get back to racing soon as you can.

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__________________________________________________
Official Polar Ambassador
http://www.google.com/...P7RiWyEVwpunlsc2JtQQ

Wow. Crazy wreck. If this club is such a mix of pros, champs, etc why don't they step up, activate their ambassadorship to this community, and help this dude out. People seem to have forgotten that he has ruined ALL his gear. Even if he got cleared to train tomorrow, he has nothing to ride? Its pretty obvious from all their overly defensive post that they at least cut him off while bombing a hill in their aerobars. Seriously? Public relations 101... Fix the bridge or build a wall.

While I am in no way trying to be an "ambassador" for anyone. I hope that you're not referring to the swamis group ride. My guess is that you are talking about West Coast tri club. But, if you read back through it has already been discussed in detail that it was from all accounts no one's fault. I am not sure who is supposed to step up. Crashing is terrible, and I hope nothing but the best. But I don't see how its anyones responsiblity to cover his lost gear.

But, if you read back through it has already been discussed in detail that it was from all accounts no one's fault. Crashing is terrible, and I hope nothing but the best. But I don't see how its anyones responsiblity to cover his lost gear.

_______________________________

So has the person that hit the OP given his account (Hell, has he even been id'd)? Because even the Lady's (the woman that was behind the wreck) account suggested she didnt actually see the cause of the crash, just the 2-3 secs of aftermath. She had a "theory" but that means nothing in terms of determining fault in the accident. So unless everyone involved in the accident has given their accounts, not really sure you can say this was no one's fault.

If it turns out that the OP was the cause than I'd agree with your assessment, but if someone did in fact clip in from behind, than I would assume they take some responsiblity, right? I wish it were as easy as you say because if it were, than why is the person that hit the OP not identifying themselves? Seems they would have come up by now and said, "sorry man, and good luck with your injuries".

From Julie's account:

Unfortunately, I did not see anything
happen that I can attribute to the cause of the crash so I am sorry I can't
offer you any more information on that. One our way back to the coast, talking
to one of the other two riders that went down (who also didn't see anything
happen), we discussed possibly that you hit one of those little white reflectors
along the side of the road (but, again, I really don't know and this is my
opinion).
From my vantage point, all I saw was your body flying in the air and the two
other guys in front of me tumbling over you.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

I understand your point. And I don't know what really happened there. I wasn't out there that day. I doubt we'll ever really know. I've had more then my fair share of head injuries, I've been out 3 times for over 6 minutes each time. And what I can tell you is that its basically impossible to reconstruct what happened yourself. If your out that hard, you really don't know what happened. But, i've ridden that section of road hundreds of times and what I can tell you is that it sucks that he crashed. But accidents are accidents and I tend to believe that if someone did clip him, then it wasn't intentional and they probably honestly don't know they did anything.

This may make you smile. Lavender room approved.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...t_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;

Hope you keep your positive spirits as you recover.

But accidents are accidents and I tend to believe that if someone did clip him, then it wasn't intentional and they probably honestly don't know they did anything.

____________________

Again I'm not trying to say it was intentional, I'm simply saying, if you hit someone in an accident be a man about it and atleast figure out what happened, communicate what happened. Why did it turn into a tri club wide search to figure out who hit the OP? BTW, according to the OP who talked wiht the paramedics, the guy who hit the OP did in fact know he hit him (in all crashes there is always someone at fault, thats how an accident happens, and it doenst mean they did it intentionally, just means they messed up). So that tells me something is at fault. And btw, even if they didnt do it intentional, doesnt mean they arent at fault. Even if the OP cant get anything out of it, it seems like the OP deserves to know why/how it happened.
From Page 2 of this thread:

Hi: spoke with FD/paramedic who treated me. According to him, the guy who clipped me declined treatment and bolted. He didn't leave any contact info for me or the paramedics.

I guess I'm kinda taken aback by the laissez faire "accidents happen" mindset especially in terms of all the details in this incident.

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

Dave,

I'm sorry you are having to go through all of this. Hey atleast you can watch your heels in somewhat comfort, get throttled on national tv this saturday in football (go pack!!!)! :)

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@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

I can’t take it anymore. I am 100% positive that if a fellow cyclist saw you go down that they would have stopped. Whether it be in a pace line or solo. I am also 100% sure that whatever happened out there that the other cyclist did not know that you went down.
Cycling is a dangerous sport. We all know that. So why is it that anytime someone goes down they have to blame someone? Dude, accidents happen and it is unfortunate that you experienced injuries, but this is the price of admission into a dangerous pastime. Again, there is no way that a group of riders would just keep motoring on if they know that someone crashed. Let it go…Stop whining!! Shit happens.