Many cyclists on Oahu know Frank Smith. This morning on the weekly IT&B tantalus ride he had a bad crash on the way down.

We were doing about 25 mph and right at the 7 marker just before one of the hairpin turns he hits his brakes to slow down. Unfortunately one of his tires locked up and the bike jumped sideways from under him. After a long slide/tumble he came to a stop in the middle of one of the lanes on his back. Besides a lot of road rash all over he couldn't sit up due to the pain in his hip and he couldn't remember any of our names. I immediately called an ambulance and then called his wife at his request to come get his bike and let her know he was going to the hospital.

His helmet was cracked and banged up pretty good. While waiting for the ambulance he asked us to call his wife several times although we already had - he couldn't remember us having called her already so I was really fearing a concussion.

About 20 minutes later an ambulance, firetruck and police car all show up. The paramedics loaded him onto a stretcher chair thingy and put him into the ambulance along with his bike. I waited for his wife who showed up about 5 minutes later and let her know what happened and the hospital they took him to.

His wife called me a short while ago and said mild concussion but brain is ok. However, he did break his hip and he is probably in surgery as I type this.

Send him good thoughts and if you are the praying type do that too. I know from having an elderly relative who broke his hip that Frank is in for many months of recovery.

Ouch, that's terrible news. By the description is sounds a lot like Beloki's crash in the '03 Tour. Broken hips are just bad news all around. Sending good thoughts Frank's way for a speedy recovery and hoping he gets back out on a ride before too long.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr89ku-K2WU

Wow, that's awful - Frank has done so much for cycling on Oahu, really nice guy. He must have done the Tantalus ride several hundred times at least. Can't be too careful out there!

Get well soon Frank! Sorry to hear this news.

I saw him last Sunday. He is up and about on crutches now and back home - he's improved much faster than I expected. Being in as good physical shape as he was in seems to have really sped up the healing process.

Saw Frank hanging out at IT&B just a couple days ago.. He is getting around pretty good with just a cane. He even said he has been doing some light riding!

He is one tough buggah!

Frank showed up and rode tantalus this morning! Awesome recovery.

Yeah, that's a toughie to return to the scene of a bad crash and push through. 'Glad to hear he's recovering well.