Usually, the Monday or Tuesday blogulation would be full of news of how great the weekend rides were and how the peloton antics came from the usual cast of characters and of course, usually we would mention how wonderful the weather was for riding...usually. However, this past weekend was anything but, usual!
As most of you already know, we had a crash on Saturday's Twisted Hammock Ride. Our good friend and fellow cyclist, Harland "Happy" Williams was seriously injured. He sustained a broken clavicle and a collapsed lung and was hospitalized for two days. This very unfortunate accident comes one week to the day on the heels of our very own David "Lawman" Carroll's crash in which he broke his arm. David's serious injury requires surgery to repair his arm. He goes in to Andrew's Institute tomorrow.
I consider both Harland and David good friends and excellent cyclists. One accident would be sad enough, both two just one week apart requires a bit more action than just being sad!
Several of you have emailed and telephoned me with your thoughts and feelings regarding our recent events. Therefore, I think it very important that something be communicated to the group as a whole expressing those concerns as well as some constructive admonitions for all. What I believe is important to avoid is any kind of finger pointing or witch hunt. Look, let's be honest, we all have been a bit to casual in regards to safety lately. It's bound to happen to any group that hasn't had a major crash in several months...it's just human nature to think that it won't happen to me. It will, it has...
Cycling is a dangerous sport. Everyone of us has gone down. It happens and it happens too frequently. However, group riding, although safer than riding alone in some respects, has a unique set of dynamics that can make it far more dangerous than riding alone. If we all recognize the hazards and are proactive in avoiding and pointing them out for others, then the benefits of group riding far outweigh the dangers. However, if we ignore or push beyond the cautions, it is only a matter of time before someone gets hurt.
Don't get me wrong, I don't believe all accidents can be avoided, but I sure want to avoid as many as possible. Therefore, when we have two serious accidents so close together, it's prudent to review a few basics of group riding:
1. BE PREDICTABLE! Every cyclist around you is depending on YOU! Make no sudden movements of any kind. Let others know if you drift up on their right or left by simply calling out that you are, "On your right" or "On your left". If you see debris in the way, make gentle, slow movements to avoid it while pointing it out for others behind you. Do not make sharp sudden moves!
2. Hold a nice straight line and a steady speed. Swerving back and forth and/or speeding up and slowing down will cause trouble for those behind you. Remember: the small action you take is exaggerated in the movements of those behind you. You swerve one foot to the right, by the time your swerve gets 4 to 5 riders back it may be 3 to 4 feet! Same with speed; don't yoyo back and forth, stay steady. If a gap opens in front of you, close it gradually.
3. Never overlap wheels. This is a certain recipe for a crash. If you lap your front wheel one inch past the rear wheel of the rider ahead of you and he swerves, you are going down, not him, and you'll probably take a few others with you. Generally, leave yourself a foot or two of space between your front wheel and his rear wheel. Nobody will bark at you for the couple of feet gap...however, they may bark if they go down with you!
4. Always leave a bit more room in corners, construction zones, railroad crossings, etc. Slow down! You're not going to get dropped. This is a group ride, not a race.
5. Please keep your equipment in good repair and well adjusted. Everyone around you is depending on you to take care of your machine. Flats happen...and an occasional dropped chain, missed shift or broken spoke. However, parts should not be falling from your bike when you hit a bump, causing others to swerve around them. I've seen many accidents caused by someone's waterbottle flailing across the road. Inspect your ride before every ride. Take the time to assure it is safe to ride. We are all depending on you!
6. Use the good sense the Lord gave you when approaching stop signs, traffic lights, etc. We all have coasted through a red light...this needs to stop before one or several of us gets hurt. I'm not talking about right turns on red here, rather the blatant running of a red light, sometimes with traffic coming! If you are the first one to come upon the traffic light and it is red, STOP. Most everyone behind you will stop as well.
7. Generally speaking, always pass another rider on the left. If you are excelerating past him, do so on the left. If you are just finishing a pull, drop to the back on the left. Of course, there are those unusual situations where we will pass on the right, such as a stiff headwind off our right shoulder. However, this will be called out ahead of time for all to note. Please don't pass on the right.
I'm absolutely sure I have missed something that is very important to you. I am really hoping that you will post a comment and express your concerns. All I am trying to do here is get us thinking on being a safer group as we ride down the road together. Let's hear from you...especially you more experienced, savvy riders with decades of miles on your derriere.
Being safe together is the chief concern of all of us. We won't avoid all the accidents, but hopefully we can avoid most of them. I would rather just...
See you out on the road,
Bob
Bob has posted some very good thoughts. I would like to add to the list.
ReplyDelete8. Be alert and aware. When riding in a paceline a rider needs to be aware of the other riders' whereabouts and other obstacles. Being alert means being able to make those split-second decisions to make those minute changes to keep the paceline steady. Awareness is more than seeing the wheel in front of you. A rider needs to be aware of all the riders in the group, those to the side, those up front, and those on the back. Be aware of the traffic and the roads. A rider needs to slow down when a stop sign or turn is coming up. Also, as a friendly group, we need to be aware when someone is having a bad day so as to shield them and not drop them.
As an example of road awareness, on last Saturday's ride Bobby Couley cautioned some of us that the rail road tracks coming up were rather nasty. We slowed down a bit and spread out so as to go over the tracks in a safe manor. Bobby did us all a favor by speaking up about a hazordous road condition and we as riders adjusted in order to be safe.
9. Be accountable and responsible. I had a hard time labeling this, but here is the explanation. We all have to be responsible for our actions in the peloton, so we follow most of the rules and guidelines already mentioned. I'm sure we all believe that and behave that way as we are all adults. But, we need to hold each other accountable as well. That is a hard thing to do. Most of us are just really nice people and don't want to be judgemental. So when we something we don't like we keep our mouths shut as we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings; we don't want to be confrontational. I'm guilty. This kind of friendliness can lead to accidents.
For example, if we see someone who does not ride a straight line; you know, weaving back and forth, then we need to say something. I've wanted to say something, but I haven't figured out how to say it nicely. I just make a note to stay away from that rider. All I just did in making that decision was look out for myself. I didn't do the group any favors and I didn't help the squirrely rider become a better rider and make a positive influence to the group dynamic.
There are the examples of not following the rules of the road. Let's say someone blows through the red-light, others might follow blindly. What if someone then gets hit by a car. Now the whole group just had a really bad day. When one of our riders engages in unsafe riding we need to let them know that we don't appreciate it one bit.
Somehow we need to hold each other accountable in the group which means pointing these unsafe actions out to those who perform them. On the flip-side we need to accept that when someone points something we as individuals are doing wrong that it isn't personal, but is for the good of the group; we need to be able to accept constructive criticism.
10. Know your limitations. Don't ride too far above your abilities. If the longest ride you have done lately is 15 miles, don't join a 60 mile group ride. One of the beauties of riding in a group is benefitting from the strenghs of others which allows a rider to ride slightly above their abilty. But one must be conditioned and have the group riding skills to make this work.
11. Be safe, have fun. We all love riding our bikes. For most of us it is our primary form of exercise. There is nothing like having a good long ride where everything comes together and you finish knowing that you had a great workout. Most in our group are also older. When we are involved in a crash we just don't jump up like the young guys do in the Tour de France. When we fall it hurts and takes a long time to recover. One fall can erase a whole year's worth of hard work to get stronger and loose those extra pounds. So be safe; and remember to have fun too.
Prentiss,
ReplyDeleteGreat comments. I really like your observation that we are accountable to each other as we ride down the road. How true! I hadn't thought of it that way before. However, when you consider how we benefit from one another, we then should certainly be held accountable for our actions which, in fact, affect everyone in the group. We usually compliment someone for a great pull, we should communicate with them when they are doing something dangerous. I truly don't think this will lead to everybody shouting at a guy who didn't point out the pine cone in the road. Our group is made up of very experienced riders, (for the most part), and are aware of what may be a potentially dangerous situation. However, we have neglected to admonish a rider for being irresponsible. I think the time ripe.
Thanks for your sage comments.
Bob
I have been playing back in my mind what happened Saturday, to try to learn what I could do differently...it seemed almost as if a trap was sprung on the 3 of us...an errant water bottle on or in front of the railroad tracks (I'm not sure where it was when they came upon it, but I didnt see it until I almost hit it after passing them)...a very bad railroad crossing...very bad crossing at the bottom of a long hill...an unfamiliar course to a new rider...
ReplyDeleteBack in Seattle, I am so accustomed to knowing the area I was riding in that I knew all the roads and hazards before I ever started out on a ride, so I know when to take extra care. From now on, I am going to ask at the start of all my rides if anyone knows of any hazards on the route to watch out for... like railroad tracks at the bottom of a hill, stop signs or intersections at the bottom of hills or curves, narrow bridges, large potholes, nuisance dogs, etc., so feel free to help me out, okay? Unfortunately, I was alone at the end, back from the peloton, so I missed Coolio's warning about the tracks.
And if you see me misbehaving, I can take correction, let me know, okay? I dont want what happened to Harland to happen to anyone!
Anyway, I am praying and hopeful that Harland recovers quickly and gets back riding again soon!
Thanks for your warm welcome, help, grace, and patience.
Brian (new guy from Seattle)