Accidents have been on my mind lately.
Last week I read about triathlete Kristy Gough, a 2004 AG winner at Kona. She was hit by a car near San Francisco driven by a sheriff's deputy who fell asleep at the wheel. A fellow cyclist Matt Peterson was also hit. Neither survived. A third rider was struck and is still in the hospital.
This week, I read about a promising triathlete who, on a training ride in San Diego, accidentally collided with another athlete after encountering a swarm of gnats at the end of a long descent. They weren't going fast, they were being supremely careful, it was a truly freak accident. But she broke her pelvis and had to have surgery yesterday.
I haven't wanted to blog about these unfortunate occurrences because I love cycling and I don't want to provide fodder to the folks who think riding a bike is dangerous and we shouldn't do it. Or to the people who think cyclists should be banned from the road.
The thing is, that even though I don't know any of these people personally, I haven't been able to stop thinking about them; how everything changed in an instant. But accidents ARE a reality in cycling. I have friends and acquaintances who have gotten seriously hurt while doing the thing they loved most. I'm talking broken collarbones, broken necks and ribs, fractured skulls, literally getting run over by a truck. I'm not holding back here because I want to make a point: I know that cycling can be dangerous. Even when you're being smart about it. I once crashed on my road bike going 3 MPH during a "granny-gear sprint" (OK, maybe not that smart, but I was going slow). I busted my helmet and walked away with a concussion.
Freak accidents happen. And there's little we can do to prevent them. Even the smartest, nimblest, most seasoned rider can't stop the idiot cop from falling asleep at the wheel. But we can ride defensively and smartly and give cyclists a good name. For instance:
1) No one needs to be told to wear a helmet. Nonetheless, I know someone who didn't wear one on his daily commute to and from work. One day he had an accident and hurt his head. Really bad.
2) Ride more. The more you ride your bike, the better you get at steering it and reacting to sudden changes on the road (like a car, or a pothole, or rain). And the better your bike handling skills, the less likely you'll get hurt.
3) Log some hours off the road. Nothing hones handling skills better than pedaling along a 10-inch wide path dodging rocks and logs.
4) Except maybe riding with groups on the road. As triathletes, we often train alone. But riding with a group develops your sense of space on a bicycle by allowing you to ride close to people without actually touching them. And if you're paying attention, it also hones your ability to foresee obstacles.
5) Ride outside. As much as you can. Very few obstacles come your way in the basement while your bike is not actually going anywhere!
6) Be a better driver. Because no matter how careful a cyclist you are, something unexpected can happen.
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There’s a woman at my office that had to make a tough choice recently. Well, it wasn’t so much of a choice as it was an abrupt lifestyle change. Her car blew up and she has no other option to get to work than on a bike. We live in one of those towns with no other alternatives from the car. Its late fall and going into winter. Its a time when visions of plump juicy birds form in your head and when you start to think about what to buy family members. Its also the time to being indoor training. I woke up, this morning, ready to put my Ironman game plan to the test. With my swim workout scheduled to begin at six o'clock, I was up at 3 a.m. to have breakfast consisting of a bagel and sports drink. Then, I went back to bed to get a bit more sleep before my alarm went off at 5:15. |
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