Kat Matthews was training in Texas and was hit by a driver who swerved across the rode and hit her. Fortunately she was riding with Patrick Lange and others who were able to quickly call an ambulance and I believe stop the driver. Link: https://www.triathlete.com/culture/news/ironman-world-championship-runner-up-kat-matthews-recovering-after-severe-car-bike-collision-in-texas/?utm_campaign=&utm_content=&utm_medium=organic-social&utm_source=triathletemag-instagram
Kat Matthews was training in Texas and was hit by a driver who swerved across the rode and hit her. Fortunately she was riding with Patrick Lange and others who were able to quickly call an ambulance and I believe stop the driver. Link: https://www.triathlete.com/...athletemag-instagram
Looking at the car, she is really lucky not to have sustained worse injuries. What a terrifying experience though, and devastating to happen just before Kona. She was 100% a podium contender.
Or…is a podium contender? I recall another female British triathlete who had a crash 2 weeks before Kona, and went on to do quite well.
That sucks. Speedy recovery. Also, a Tampa female triathlete, who was going to Kona, killed by car Saturday morning on Gandy Blvd.
Kat Matthews was training in Texas and was hit by a driver who swerved across the rode and hit her. Fortunately she was riding with Patrick Lange and others who were able to quickly call an ambulance and I believe stop the driver. Link: https://www.triathlete.com/...athletemag-instagram
Looking at the car, she is really lucky not to have sustained worse injuries. What a terrifying experience though, and devastating to happen just before Kona. She was 100% a podium contender.
Or…is a podium contender? I recall another female British triathlete who had a crash 2 weeks before Kona, and went on to do quite well.
Matthews says she sustained several injuries, including fractures in her skull, vertebrae, and sternum.
Not sure you’d be really ready (or wanting) to compete so soon after that. Sucks for her big time.
Kat Matthews was training in Texas and was hit by a driver who swerved across the rode and hit her. Fortunately she was riding with Patrick Lange and others who were able to quickly call an ambulance and I believe stop the driver. Link: https://www.triathlete.com/...athletemag-instagram
Looking at the car, she is really lucky not to have sustained worse injuries. What a terrifying experience though, and devastating to happen just before Kona. She was 100% a podium contender.
Or…is a podium contender? I recall another female British triathlete who had a crash 2 weeks before Kona, and went on to do quite well.
Matthews says she sustained several injuries, including fractures in her skull, vertebrae, and sternum.
Not sure you’d be really ready (or wanting) to compete so soon after that. Sucks for her big time.
Yes, agree. As I recall, Chrissie Wellington (the triathlete I was referring to above, in case that wasn’t obvious) didn’t actually break anything in her crash.
Kat seems pretty sensible and with her physio background as well, I’m sure she’ll make whatever decision is best for her long term health.
Shit that sucks!
How did that hit occur. Something does not make sense the car is hit on right side driving opposite way of her how can that happen? Did it drove completely off the road?!
Shit that sucks!
How did that hit occur. Something does not make sense the car is hit on right side driving opposite way of her how can that happen? Did it drove completely off the road?!If the car threw a left right in front of her (collision combined speed of 50+mph) the damage to the car is in the ‘right’ (very wrong) place. “Quiet road: ridden there a dozen times already this month.” 
Stay safe everyone, and watch out for SMIDSYs.
You never ride in Texas road. View is clear, road is straight, not many cars so people speed and on the phone all the time. I know several people got killed and hurt. As a matter of fact, a friend of mine got hit last week and he’s in rehab. Houston is not a good place to train. I’m sorry to hear this. Just saw her at PTO last weekend in Dallas.
https://www.slowtwitch.com/News/Kat_Matthews_Hit_by_Driver_in_Texas_8498.html
Investigation remains open. As you can imagine, no charges filed against the driver at this time.
so many drivers completely mis-judge the speed of bikes; especially when making a left turn ahead of an oncoming cyclist.
How tragic! So many competitive players are out for Kona this year!
That sucks. Speedy recovery. Also, a Tampa female triathlete, who was going to Kona, killed by car Saturday morning on Gandy Blvd.
Oh geez. RIP.
https://www.fox13news.com/news/tampa-woman-training-for-ironman-world-championship-struck-killed-while-cycling-on-gandy-boulevard
You never ride in Texas road. View is clear, road is straight, not many cars so people speed and on the phone all the time. I know several people got killed and hurt. As a matter of fact, a friend of mine got hit last week and he’s in rehab. Houston is not a good place to train. I’m sorry to hear this. Just saw her at PTO last weekend in Dallas.How is that different than any county road anywhere in the US?
Just read back what you said. Straight road, can see forever, not much traffic, out in the “country” by Houston standards is where they were, very little population comparatively…and its your contention that it’s not a safe place to ride? Jesus H, where exactly are they supposed to go? Move a state over to Louisiana and it becomes safer? I think not. By your standards even moving to some middle of nowhere craphole to train still wouldn’t be safe. Open roads, speeding, cell phones all exist in every state.
It sounds like, on its face, that this driver saw Kat, thought she wasn’t going very fast and tried to beat her across the road to what I am guessing what their home driveway or some local business, and made a gamble that didn’t work out. Or the driver didn’t see Kat at all and just pulled across the road in front of her.
I did a training camp in the same area last August. I swam at the same pools as Kat and Patrick and likely was biking on the same roads (though I haven’t gone through their Strava pages to confirm). Most all of my biking in the six years or so prior to then was in I’ve been in this sport has been in the Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, Charlottesville, Asheville, Chattanooga, Cape Cod, and Rockland County, NY areas.
I was never so afraid of riding my bike as I was when I was riding in The Woodlands and surrounding area. There is just flat out no respect from the drivers for cyclists and the high speed of traffic is insane. Part of that is because the roads are so straight relative to other areas, so I get why the speed limit is higher and motorists go faster. In one week there I never found a route that I would recommend to a friend who wanted to ride their bike in the area, including the group ride I did with 70+ locals. You don’t have to look far back into this forum to read another article about a truck driving in the same area (maybe 20 miles from where Kat was hit) that “coal rolled” a group of cyclists, lost control, and ran into three of them, causing them to be hospitalized (my recollection may be imprecise on some of these details - see September 2021 discussion on same topic).
This is a shame because the swim training I did was amazing and the heat adaptation in the area is probably close to identical to what these athletes need to prepare for Kona, but as for outdoor cycling there—I wouldn’t do it. Not until infrastructure changes in a major way or drivers start to respect cyclists more.
Lots of pedestrian deaths here in San Diego recently. Bad time of year, kids in school and people rushing everywhere, the sun is lower blinding people
You never ride in Texas road. View is clear, road is straight, not many cars so people speed and on the phone all the time. I know several people got killed and hurt. As a matter of fact, a friend of mine got hit last week and he’s in rehab. Houston is not a good place to train. I’m sorry to hear this. Just saw her at PTO last weekend in Dallas.How is that different than any county road anywhere in the US?
Just read back what you said. Straight road, can see forever, not much traffic, out in the “country” by Houston standards is where they were, very little population comparatively…and its your contention that it’s not a safe place to ride? Jesus H, where exactly are they supposed to go? Move a state over to Louisiana and it becomes safer? I think not. By your standards even moving to some middle of nowhere craphole to train still wouldn’t be safe. Open roads, speeding, cell phones all exist in every state.
It sounds like, on its face, that this driver saw Kat, thought she wasn’t going very fast and tried to beat her across the road to what I am guessing what their home driveway or some local business, and made a gamble that didn’t work out. Or the driver didn’t see Kat at all and just pulled across the road in front of her.
pre dallas the training squad had 5 athletes i think , and that was now the 2nd athlete that was hit by a car , the first accident was a hit and run.and athlete broke his wrist. Of course both incidents could have been bad luck but i guess when it happens to 2 people in a small group you start to wonder .
Certainly am not blaming Kat and hope for a day when drivers are more cautious.
I think TT bikes down in aero is probably the most dangerous road riding. High speeds are more easily attainable and drivers are not expecting a bike to be going that fast. Same thing motorcyclist have been dealing with for decades. Drivers simply don’t put the care into their decision making.
Hopefully, law enforcement will make an example out of this guy and start to set a tone, but doubtful.
Kat Matthews was training in Texas and was hit by a driver who swerved across the rode and hit her. Fortunately she was riding with Patrick Lange and others who were able to quickly call an ambulance and I believe stop the driver. Link: https://www.triathlete.com/...athletemag-instagram
“swerved across the road”?? “and I believe stop the driver.” (Someone else mentioned the damage on the right side of the car, as if this is amazing.)
Let’s sensationalize this as much as possible.
Doesn’t matter whether it’s a country or urban road. It’s not uncommon for a driver to not see a cyclist or motorcyclist (and sometimes even a car or truck) when turning left. I’ve hit cars twice like this (but fortunately, I’m not near as fast as she is). The driver turned left into her path. They may not have seen her or may not have correctly judged how fast she was riding. This is why the car is damaged on the right side.
No where in the article does it imply that the driver was trying to flee the crash, so where do you get the idea that the others riding with her we able to “stop the driver”. They didn’t need to stop the driver. The driver seems to have stopped themselves.
It’s an unfortunate crash, no doubt and I wish her a speedy recovery. But this doesn’t seem to be a crash where the driver was trying to hit her or the others.
I was never so afraid of riding my bike as I was when I was riding in The Woodlands and surrounding area. There is just flat out no respect from the drivers for cyclists and the high speed of traffic is insane. Part of that is because the roads are so straight relative to other areas, so I get why the speed limit is higher and motorists go faster. In one week there I never found a route that I would recommend to a friend who wanted to ride their bike in the area, including the group ride I did with 70+ locals.
It’s a problem in this part of Texas, too. I live in the northern DFW suburbs and have stopped riding on the roads all together. I stick to the dirt or indoors because it’s not worth the risk. In general, I think Texas drivers are the worst (as a whole) of any state I’ve lived in (CA, CO, WA), and combined with poor bicycle infrastructure, it’s dangerous.
On the contrary, I know a lot of cyclists who enjoy riding solo and/or in groups throughout the same area I find too risky and have had very few issues. It’s just not for me.
How is that different than any county road anywhere in the US?
Just read back what you said. Straight road, can see forever, not much traffic, out in the “country” by Houston standards is where they were, very little population comparatively…and its your contention that it’s not a safe place to ride? Jesus H, where exactly are they supposed to go? Move a state over to Louisiana and it becomes safer? I think not. By your standards even moving to some middle of nowhere craphole to train still wouldn’t be safe. Open roads, speeding, cell phones all exist in every state.
Of course it is true that distracted drivers and speeding motorists exist in every state, but I don’t think all areas are the same. The two places where I do the most outdoor riding are Chicago and Tampa. Even though the weather-beaten roads suck and the weather can be terrible in Chicago, I’ll take it over Tampa any day. There is a much stronger bike culture there; cars expect to see bikes and are much more tolerant of them. The parts of Tampa where I’ve ridden it feels like too many motorists see cyclists’ mere existence as an affront. The one week I spent in Houston led me to believe that it’s a lot closer to Tampa than Chicago.
I don’t mean any of this as a criticism of Kat at all. I feel terrible for her and frustrated that there isn’t more infrastructure to protect cyclists in all our cities.