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06-18-07, 07:22 AM
Was anyone at the Blueberry yesterday? I got tied up in an ugly crash in the 4/5 and was wondering if there was any news on the rider who went off in an ambulance.
On the beginning of the 3rd lap, at 30mph on a straight road (!), there was a huge pile up that started about 20 feet in front of me. I was on the right of the road and dove off it. For an instant, I thought I was clear of the mess, squeaking by to the right of the crasher in front of me, when someone else went flying over him, bike and all, right through my exit path. I pointed where I hoped a hole would open up between them but it never happened and I flipped over and crashed into the sandy soil. I was expecting a 20mph impact from behind but (thankfully) it never came.
I jumped up and was ready to roll but the guy I had just missed was making very unpleasant moaning noises and was not responsive. I couldn’t leave but I’m also not trained to do anything (and know better) so I sort of mindlessly tried to start peeling the bike away w/o moving him. He was completely tied up in the thing and all twisted. A handlebar end was in his helmet and one leg was through the main triangle. I couldn’t figure out how he got like that. Not cool. I removed the front wheel, which was also against his head and the follow car showed up. Ambulance was on its way and so was I. I never did catch up to the pack but it did hurt a lot, so that was good.
I heard later that someone had run over the guy’s neck. Ouch. Someone had a compound wrist fracture too. Not sure if it was the same rider.
As an aside, I had mentally prepared myself to bunny hop if I was ever in that situation but when the time came I had a mental image of crashing down on someone with ugly, metal parts and thought better of it.
On the beginning of the 3rd lap, at 30mph on a straight road (!), there was a huge pile up that started about 20 feet in front of me. I was on the right of the road and dove off it. For an instant, I thought I was clear of the mess, squeaking by to the right of the crasher in front of me, when someone else went flying over him, bike and all, right through my exit path. I pointed where I hoped a hole would open up between them but it never happened and I flipped over and crashed into the sandy soil. I was expecting a 20mph impact from behind but (thankfully) it never came.
I jumped up and was ready to roll but the guy I had just missed was making very unpleasant moaning noises and was not responsive. I couldn’t leave but I’m also not trained to do anything (and know better) so I sort of mindlessly tried to start peeling the bike away w/o moving him. He was completely tied up in the thing and all twisted. A handlebar end was in his helmet and one leg was through the main triangle. I couldn’t figure out how he got like that. Not cool. I removed the front wheel, which was also against his head and the follow car showed up. Ambulance was on its way and so was I. I never did catch up to the pack but it did hurt a lot, so that was good.
I heard later that someone had run over the guy’s neck. Ouch. Someone had a compound wrist fracture too. Not sure if it was the same rider.
As an aside, I had mentally prepared myself to bunny hop if I was ever in that situation but when the time came I had a mental image of crashing down on someone with ugly, metal parts and thought better of it.