Rick makes a number of valid points. I wasn't there, either, but I'm not sure it serves the best interests of the Gyros Nation to place 100% of the blame on the motorist, even though he was clearly not driving safely. When mistakes happen, in my experience, the blame is shared in greater or lesser degrees by all involved. I'm *NOT* saying those who were injured were at fault. What I am saying is that there may be small things that those riders might have done differently that would have made a big difference in the outcome. We, as riders, need to look at everything we do when on the road, make a constant & vigilant effort to always be paying full attention to what the vehicles around us are doing, and being absolutely certain our actions are as safe as possible. We've all let our attention lapse at times or made less than ideal decisions when riding. We need to focus on improving our roadie skills, it's the only protection we have from idiot drivers, like the one Sunday last. Failing to do so increases our risk. Even if you're not "at fault", you do yourself a disservice by not examining your actions and seeing if you could have acted differently to reduce or eliminate the consequences. my .02 Berry
-----Original Message----- >From: [email protected] >Sent: Dec 7, 2010 9:53 AM >To: [email protected] >Cc: Katie <[email protected]> >Subject: [Gyros: 17023] Re: Gyros: do not waste time responding to this! > > >Gyro Nation, > >After reading this response from "Katie", I have to ask that we all do not >take the time to respond to something so completely out of line. > >For someone to offer support to a driver who initiated this action, and is >100% responsible for the results, is so far beyond anything that I can >comprehend that it really does not merit a response. > >What makes this reponse all the more troubling is that it comes from someone >who was not on the ride, and, had no first hand account of what actually >happened. How could you possibly know that the riders on the wheel of the pull >were overlapping wheels? I am not sure how CAT 2 riders would have responded, >but, when the front rider is taken out by a vehicle there are going to be >riders that hit the deck. > >And, where did it state in our exchanges that this was a social ride? It is a >Sunday recovery ride, and, we usually hit that stretch on Carpentar Pd. at a >pretty good clip. Anyway, whether it is our Race Team, our A riders, or, >Mike's touring group, the speed of the peloton has no bearing on the abilities >of riders to know how to "crash" when a careless motorist decides to place >their 2 ton vehicle in our path. > >Hasn't "Katie" ever read the horror stories from Lance, Levi, Chris Horner, >and many of the other top pros on similar situations? Lance mentions numerous >instances when vehicles have taken him down, and, serious injuries have >occured. And, everyone in his group were fellow pros and the best bike >handlers in the world. > >When "drivers go bad' cyclists are always going to take the worst of it. > >I am asking all Gyros not to validate this email by responding. > >Rick > > > >---- Katie <[email protected]> wrote: >> The driver may have been an "idiot" as you say, but from reading the >> first hand accounts of what actually happened, it's obvious that the >> motor vehicle in question did not contact any of the bike riders. If >> the second bike rider in the pace line had not over lapped the rear >> wheel of the first bike rider in the pace line with her front wheel, >> this probably could have all been avoided. >> >> I rode race paced training rides with Cat 2/3 Men in California for a >> number of years and it's far safer to ride with a fast race group than >> a slow social group because the racer crowd knows how to ride fast but >> safe, even with traffic buzzing all around. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you subscribed to the Gyro email group. >> To post to this group, send an email to [email protected] >> To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected] > >-- >You received this message because you subscribed to the Gyro email group. >To post to this group, send an email to [email protected] >To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected] Build 'em & Ride 'em On a 29r 313 W Juniper Ave Wake Forest, NC 27587 -- You received this message because you subscribed to the Gyro email group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected]
