thomson

Today was not a good day for one fine rider at the back of the pack. We were doing our normal cruising through Simi and just before Erringer I hear clang and clutter and sure enough someone went down. A few of us circled back, two got to the rider before me so I pulled out my phone and called 911. Simi Police. Ventura County Fire/Paramedic, and the ambulance were there in just minutes. The rider's name was Ken and the last name started with an 'M'. he was transported to Simi Hospital on Sycamore.

Somebody got Ken's cell phone from his bag and looked through the contacts to find a 'Home' or equivalent entry. He got hold of Ken's sister and told her what happened.

Nobody seemed to see what happened. Both legs of his fork sheered at about the halfway point. The front wheel had just collapsed due to several broken spokes. It is hard to determine if this was the cause or result of the accident. I suspect the cause as it didn't look like he hit anything. Maybe he ran over something that just ripped the fork, I really don't know.

Here's wishing Ken a speedy recovery!!

The Simi ride will extend to Hidden Valley starting next week.

Tiffanie

Ouch. Wishing him a speedy recovery...

VanceMac

That's a drag. For the first few miles, I don't like that group at all... I stay on the outside all the way down LA Ave. Even if I lose a little draft advantage, it's just not worth riding in the middle of that chaos.

Most people there know what they are doing, but you also have a) always a few total newcomers to pack riding, b) people who know what they are doing, but are being very aggressive like it's a pro peloton, and c) people chatting in the middle of it like it's social hour and not a fast training ride. Everything is just dandy once it hits Madera.

ovoleg

Id go but dropping the poseurs would make them cry. Maybe next year after they train up this season

thomson

Your consideration for our feelings is commendable. I have gotten used to being dropped though so I think I am over the trauma. You are welcome anytime.

roadfix

Hope Ken recovers quickly. Regardless of the type of ride or situation, it is always disheartening to hear riders going down.

thomson

I agree George. I tried calling the hospital yesterday but it against the policy to give out information. I guess that makes sense with today's privacy laws. Maybe there will be more information at next weeks ride.

merider1

Jim, is he still in the hospital? Wow, he must have been hurt badly. So sad to hear. And I agree with George too...I never like hearing about riders going down.

thomson

Well,I called yesterday to see if he was treated and released or checked in. I have no idea.

VanceMac

Ken comes on the Mon and Wed rides fairly frequently. I tried asking around, but no one has any contact information for him. He's had a run of bad luck, recently... I hope this wasn't too serious.

thomson

He is definitely not a heavy guy. He was on a Scattante bike. The frame itself looked fine. I don't know the fork manufacturer but if I recall correctly, It had a single letter on it. I can't recall the letter, maybe it was an 'A'

Some of the other guys speculated that maybe he ran over something that sliced the forks. It was a clean slice through both legs but I don't know if running over something could cause that. I did look all around the area and didn't see anything that looked like something he ran over.

What was odd was the clean break through both legs at the same spot. If there was a defect in the carbon and it broke cleanly through, would the opposite leg break in the same spot and just as clean? I just don't know.

There were no ruts or large objects near the accident.

No one seems to think he ran into another rider but it seemed all of us that stopped were ahead of him when it happened. One guy said he thought he went down on his face but didn't really see what caused the accident. Ken's face was not scraped, maybe the helmet absorbed it.

pv0463

If the fork legs broke at the same relative place and the broken edges look similar, it could be a fatigue-like fracture. A weak point on a fork due to manufacturing processes or an inherent flaw / weakness at that location could end up failing catastrophically like that.
A few years ago, an Airbus A300 aircraft went down right after takeoff from New York on its way to Puerto Rico, I believe...the pictures of the separation between the vertical stabilizer (tail) and the fuselage of the aircraft suggested right away a fatigue crack that propagated quickly and caused a catastrophic failure.

thomson

I see what you are saying, that point in the leg may have been weak (by design or manufacturing process). Once one leg failed, the increased stress on the other caused it to fail at its weakest point. Makes sense.

VanceMac

Keith, Steve, and I just got back from the hospital to see Ken. He's in good spirits, all things considered. He has several injuries, but the worst is broken vertebrae in his neck (C3-C4, I think?) -- after 4.5 hour surgery, he now has 6 pins (permanently) keeping them together. The doctor repeated several times that fractures like this usually result in either instant death or paralysis, so Ken is quite fortunate.

He is very appreciative of those who stayed with him and helped get him an ambulance, including Thomson.

jpconrad

Ouch! Did he say what happened? Doe he even remember what happened?

merider1

Oh, my. That had to be a horrible crash to cause that damage. He is lucky and I hope it was one of those freak accidents that doesn't occur but once in...never again. Scary to think your fork could just break like that.

VanceMac

He doesn't remember anything. Those who were around him (those who stayed, anyway) said they saw nothing unusual (like pot hole or debris). The nature of the fork break, as noted above, is fairly unusual... maybe a stress fracture that finally gave out, or a couple broken spokes that snagged just right.

I hate hospitals.

jpconrad

+10000000000000

Happytime

Glad you guys went to visit him, that was nice of you. Hope he recovers soon!


P.S. As bad as hospitals are, they are miuch easier to visit than the morgue.

thomson

That is good news that he is on the mend.
He is one tough hombre, Yeah Ken!!

thomson

I just left Ken's house. He has had a rod and screws inserted in his neck where some cervical vertebra broke. He also had some thoracic vertebra and ribs break. He is wearing a neck brace and chest brace to limit his movement as he heals.

I have to say, his spirits are great. Obviously he is in pain and mobility is not too easy but he just received clearance to start using a cane instead of the walker. He will be back riding with us soon!!

..jim

KenMerc

This is Ken. This string of messages was very interesting to me and I thank again Jim for stopping to help me that day, and all of you who have commented on various aspects of what might have gone wrong. I had a good visit with Jim a little while ago. I'm actually doing quite well, and am so thankful that it didn't all come out any worse than it did. It's a miracle I don't have any apparent neuro damage. The big lingering question is what happened to make that fork break. An expert is coming tomorrow afternoon to look at it and if he has any interesting theories, I'll post them here.

Ken

thomson

Welcome aboard Ken!!

merider1

Welcome, Ken. Glad your on the mend! Yes, please do let us know what the guy says.

stevesbike

a post above mentioned it was a Scattante. There have been claims of similar sounding fork failures on Scattantes (I believe it was a thread or two on roadbikereview). Sounded similar: riding along and catastrophic fork failure-both arms sheering off.