DrWJODonnell

Hello all. I am staying near central park and wish to do the Prospect park race in Brooklyn in the morning. Is there a bike friendly route I can ride to get there, or do I have to take a cab? Thanks for any advice.

Ceya

yes there is a friendly route you can take. it will depend on the time of day.

are you east side or west side?

S/F,
Ceya!

timmhaan

sorry man...i didn't see this until this afternoon. did you make the race?

DrWJODonnell

Wow. What a race! I think the cat 3/4 field filled up and so it was a big group with some strong riders. WV was represented by 4 riders including myself. After a few attacks it was obvious that nothing was going to stick, so I got the bright idea of having a leadout train for our designated sprinter, John. I like being up front or in breaks because accidents never happen there.

Well, last lap and 4 WV riders move to the front. I am doing a lot of pulling trying to keep the pace up so that we could pull off the leadout. There was an attack, but I was not going to react to it as I knew that there was not likely to be anyone there who could beat me in a TT, especially with backup, and so I let it go. Things were picking up speed and a couple guys actually moved to the frotn to share some work. As I got to the front again, something happened. I am still trying to piece it all together.

I know that someone cut across in front of me and took out my front wheel hard, not just an accidental brush. I remember falling and flipping several times. I believe it was at this point I was struck in the back by a bike but I am not sure. I knew that when I finally stopped flipping and sliding, I was still in the road with a 35mph peloton bearing down on me (ok, so they probable were breaking to slow for the crash, but I wasn't taking that chance). I jumped off of the road into the weeds and just lay there so that I could assess what had happened.

I knew I had hit my head but did not get knocked out. I was worried obviously about my neck but nothing seems to be wrong. I could not breath well and so thought likley I had broken some ribs. I also after a short assessment realized that my right collarbone was cracked. There were three WV riders above me checking on me and making sure I was ok. There were also riders from other teams. I want to thank them all for their support and concern. I owe you all!!!

Final assessment, is 3-5 broken ribs, and a cleanly broken right collarbone. I still don't know how the bike is other than a broken fork. Giro Atmos suffered four large cracks and numerous scrapes. I don't know if it saved my life, but it is certainly possible as I remember hitting my head and it was not anything I would like to do without a helmet. Jersey and bibs are trashed and I have lots of scrapes. Unfortunately, there is nothing to do for any of these, so I am walking (gingerly) around with broken bones everywhere. Hopefully the collarbone will not require surgery.

Thanks again to everyone for the support. I plan to be back on the bike if I can be in about two weeks and maybe even be ready for a september race or two, assuming no surgery. If anyone knows who cut me off, I would really appreciate knowing who it was, not for revenge, but to certainly give them a stern talking to about safety. I would appreciate any help anyone can give me about what happened who was involved and if anyone else was hurt. Thanks.

lomoid

that's crazy...as a prospect park local and new rider I just wanted to wish you a speedy recovery. I haven't done any group riding and I don't know any local riders...(I tend to keep to myself).. but I hope that kind of crap isn't typical of the scene over here.
good luck and get well.
--

R600DuraAce

What do mean "craps?" Is racing. If you don't race, fine, you won't break any bone. If you do, well, that's racing.

munckee

Perhaps this part:

I know that someone cut across in front of me and took out my front wheel hard, not just an accidental brush.

timmhaan

whoa!! sorry to hear that. our race was over (i did the 5's) and we heard of a crash. was it near the bottom of the hill on the turn?? as my GF and i were walking home an ambulence stopped at asked us how to get to the lake drive...was that for you?

the fields yesterday were HUGE. i was glad to be racing the 5's that day...ironically it may have been the safest field.