Well, the Conquer the Coast ride is now history. Congratulations to Peter Staneland for the win! Over 800 riders participated in the event and congratulations to everyone for finishing. The race featured riders from over 6 different states and Mexico. The oldest rider in the 65 mile race was 77.
I, personally, had prepared for this race over the past month. Unfortunately, I was one of the few riders to crash during the race and I wanted to share that experience and update everyone on my condition.
Here is what happened:
I participated in the Friday night Criterium and was happy to finish my first criterium. I had some trouble negotiating turns, but concentrated mainly on not over-doing the ride to stay fresh for the Saturday morning ride around the bay. I also had fears of crashing in the criterium, only to find myself crashing the next day in what I considered, the important ride for the weekend.
We started the race only to ride around the parking lot once before we got on the Harbor Bridge. This was an exciting part of the ride as we rode strong to crest the bridge. We then divided our groups into a lead group and another second group that was not far behind. The lead group included myself, Peter Staneland, John Bratton, and 4 or 5 others who I cant recall the names.
We rode very comfortably to the ferry and reached the ferry in 1:15-1:20 minutes. This was my first year riding, and I was told how nice it was that they had the rest stop stocked with juices, bananas and oranges before the ferry. As we headed to the ferry, we didn’t have to wait long to catch the ferry this year. The second group of riders also rode across the ferry with us as we began to head out of Port A to the dreaded 18 mile stretch. However, the winds and condition were very favorable for a fast 18 miler, so I entered the time trial as part of the 65 mile race.
As the main group left Port A, I took the lead as the time trial began. All time trialist had red numbers this year to identify them from the non-time trial riders. Another time trialist, ( I didn’t recognize him) sped away going over 30 MPH to gain a lead on the main pack. I guess a little adrenalin kicked in so I pushed my pace up to about 29 MPH to catch a time trial bike that was going away from our main pack. I noticed that he slowed, so I closed the gap. This is about the time the crash happened. My garmin read-out shows I crashed going about 27.6 mph about 1:40 into the race. I heard later that Peter Staneland was behind me and said I tumbled a few times during my crash. As you could imagine, I was really disappointed not to be able to finish.
The crash was surreal. I had just caught the time trialist when we went from a very smooth road transition to a chip-seal part of the road. There was a little jockeying for position and I think he made a move left and clipped my front wheel with his back wheel. I tried to compensate, but then he slowed and I hit his wheel again and got my front wheel caught into his left wheel crank set. I then tumbled. He didn’t go down, but his crank set dislodged from his bike and was clipped into his shoe. Luckily, as I tumbled, I didn’t hear or feel any cracks or pops to suggest I broke something. I lay down on the road stunned and shocked there for a little while and then slowly got up. My injuries included a laceration across my right eyebrow, a small road rash on my forehead, both elbows and knees were swollen with road rash and my back looks like I was drug across the pavement for about 10 yards. My worst injury was the left thigh injury. I came smack-down on my left thigh when I hit the pavement. It appears all of my body weight and force was transmitted through my left thigh when I hit the ground. I didn’t realize how bad this injury was because my forehead was bleeding so much I couldn’t see very well out of my right eye. However, I began to develop a large hematoma to the left thigh.
My bicycles front wheel suspension fork was completely shattered. I waited for about 30-40 minutes and luckily a very nice person in a Nissan Xterra helped me bandage and clean my road rash. I went to the ER and was admitted for observation. I went through the usual xrays and luckily there were no broken bones. I got released today and am back home resting. I am using crutches because I have a very tight compression dressing on my left thigh. I may also still have to go to surgery if the hematoma does not improve in the next 7 – 10 days. So , it looks like I”ll be out of commission for about 2-4 weeks, just depends on how things heal.
Well, as you may imagine, I am sorely disappointed I couldn’t finish the ride. I want to let everyone know that as bad as this accident was, I am very thankful it was not worse. My helmet was pretty banged up and certainly saved my life. Also, everything that is broken on my bike can be replaced, so again, I am thankful that my crash was not more serious. I want to also thank all the well wishers (you know who you are) and
I’m thankful again for such wonderful friends and support.
Best regards and hope to see you on the roads soon!
My Garmin Readout of the Crash site
The Series
Part 1 – Anatomy of a Bicycle Crash
Part 2 – Morel-Lavallee’ Lesion or Traumatic Hematoma after a Bicyle Accident
Part 3 – Morel-Lavalle’ Lesion – The Aftermath
Part 4 – Morel-Lavalle’ Lesion – The Surgery
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