Back in Nov my wife and I did the Ft. Lauderdale Urban ride. The winds were out of the north, 20-25 mph, gusting to 30. The ride leader took a vote on the route. The smart thing to do was to ride north first in the relative "shade" of the residential area, and then return south along the open beach on A1A. It was a tie, and the ride leader cast his deciding vote for the "usual" route, and head north into the wind on A1A. The rational was that all the stop lights going north on A1A are a "T" so it's safer.

The ride was going well until we hit A1A. The wind was brutal. I rode in front of my wife, and she could only maintain 5 or 6 mph. We were about 2 mi in when we came up to Sunrise Blvd. Out of no where a huge gust of wind came out of the West and blew her into the curb. Unable to steer to balance, she went down.

It was kind of an Arty Johnson - Laugh In type of slow motion fall. She reached out to catch her balance with both hands. Her right hand hit in such a way as to rupture a blood vessel in her ring finger. It blew up like a balloon and turned blue. The next day she had to have her wedding band of 36 years cut off.

Her finger is still stiff and a little swollen. The dr says she has a small fracture and if it doesn't heal soon she will have to have an operation.