Ed in GA

Did my first group ride on Sunday. A 25 miler that turned out to be a 27 miler.

Ride was going great up until about a mile from the end then near disaster.

I got clipped by another rider in the group who was wearing earbuds and never heard me say "On Your Left", I went down pretty hard. I have bad bruises on my side, on my arm, hand and my chest along with a strawberry on my knee and road rash on my right leg. Fortunately, no broken bones.

I can almost positively say that if I had not been wearing a helmet, I would either have a fractured skull or some other type of serious head injury. Made a believer out of me, big time.

I did go ahead, get back on the bike and finish the ride. There was no damage to my bike, fortunately.

I'll take about 10 days off, recuperate and get ready for my next ride.

BLIZZ

Sorry to hear about your spill. Glad it wasn't worse than it was.
Gotta give riders that aren't paying attention a wide berth.
You didn't mention the other rider going down, so I assume he hit your front wheel or handlebars with the back of his bike. Another thing to remember in a group ride. Always protect your front wheel and bars. Any where else you get bumped won't affect you as much.

TromboneAl

Will you buy a new helmet (most are supposed to be no good after an impact)?

Ed in GA

I will either buy a new one or return it to Trek for a crash exchange. I do have a spare helmet.

He didn't go down, He swerved to the left to pass another bike and hit my front wheel with his rear wheel.

He stopped about 15 feet away while others checked to see if I was OK. They told me that he had the earbuds in. He rode off quite a bit before I got moving again.

I didn't pursue him. Things might have gotten worse than they already were.

Red Rider

Ouch! Sorry you got hurt, glad the bike's okay.

Our group rides (casual club as well as race team) prohibit MP3 players and earbuds in, for this very reason. Might you make a similar suggestion to the ride leader?

Heal soon.

SSP

+1 - anybody who wears headphones on a group ride is an idiot and deserves to be yelled at and/or shunned. Thankfully, most ride directors for centuries and tours have outlawed them.

TromboneAl

I saw an older guy riding on the freeway (Geezers On Bikes T-Shirt). When I came up to him, I started talking "Nice tailwind today, huh?" No Response. Then I saw the ear buds.

Yen

Wow, glad you weren't more badly injured, and I hope you'll recover very quickly. You demonstrated a lot of grace toward the other rider.

Louis

Agreed. The fact that he rode away indicates he is also a jerk.

Glad you're going to be okay.