A grim reminder why ride a recumbent.

Hopefully this somber message will get our minds off that silly and
out of control "What's up with BiGHa" thread.

Today my club the Florida Freewheelers hosted a membership drive on
one of our local multi use trails, the Seminole Wekaiva Trail.
Several miles up the trail, several members were setting up a tent,
tables, etc. with soft drinks, water, Gatorade, brochures to hand out
to the riders in the local area.

It was a perfect morning and the trail is absolutely beautiful. There
were a total of three bents; a Vision V50, a RANS Screamer and yours
truly on his humble Scooterbike amongst 60-70 or more uprights. We
had a mass start and over the miles we thinned out into smaller
groups. As my group approached the north end of the trail in Lake
Mary, one of our members who was riding his carbon Trek road bike had
a mishap. We passed in the opposite direction two gentlemen riding
their upright road bikes. They were riding two abreast but close
togather and as far right as practicable so they were OK.

It seems that my fellow club member who was probably 30-40 feet behind
me was not watching the bike traffic coming in the opposite direction.
He was hunched over his drop bars and had momentarily concentrated
his attention on his cyclometer when he collided head on with one of
the two gentlemen we passed a couple of seconds earlier. I heard a
sickening crunch sound and as I looked in my rear view mirror, they
were still falling to the ground. I yelled out to my fellow riders
that we had an accident. There were several more club members behind
us and stopped to help our friend. It didn't look good for our guy.
The other man was shaken up and upset more than anything else. He was
not injured but our friend was in very bad shape. He couldn't move or
feel his lower extremities. He also had a bad gash over one of his
eyebrows. Someone in the group called 911 to have an ambulance
dispatched. They got there in under 10 minutes and proceeded to
secure him to put him in the ambulance. I pray that he will be
alright and recover soon.

Now I know it's not proper at this time to preach the advantage of
being able to see better on a recumbent than hunched over a handlebar
on an upright but darn if this alone is one of the best reasons why I
ride a recumbent. We have had several accidents in the club from
people who've collided with others just because they were not holding
their heads up enough to avoid causing the accident. Last year, a
young racer met his death in South Florida when he collided with the
back end of a truck during a training ride. It is speculated he was
not looking ahead far enough to avoid the collision. Combine that
with fast speeds those guys were going and you have the makings of bad
things that can go wrong instantly.

Next time someone asks you questions about your bent and why you ride
one, be sure to highlight the safety advantages of a recumbent. You
could be doing someone and yourself a great service.

Be careful out there.

Edward Wong
Orlando, FL

I agree with your post Edward and would add, that pace lines REALLY aren't
very COOL or SAFE, when doing them (At least at HAMMER Speed) on public
roadways. You HOPE you know the tendencies of the rider in front of you and
how they will react to a given situation. Amazingly the Banzi group I use to
pester, gets newbie's all the time and lets these UNKNOWNS or Unfamiliar
riders get into various positions of their VERY FAST Pace line) However lets
just throw in an missed city meter hole or wet white street line and... Well
HOPE FOR THE BEST! I've seen a couple of mass accordion type of crashes,
based on just these 2 road hazards. But there are PLENTY More.

So to my fellow Df and recumbo So. Fla. riders don't look for me and my Aero
(Now just arrived at my LBS, but still in boxes) to be frolicking with you
in any pace lines, anytime soon.

EZ Biker :-) Pompano Beach, Fl. (GRR Ti and SOON, Bacchetta Aero Pilot)




"Edward Wong" wrote in message
om...
Hopefully this somber message will get our minds off that silly and
out of control "What's up with BiGHa" thread.

I agree with your post Edward and would add, that pace lines REALLY aren't
very COOL or SAFE, when doing them (At least at HAMMER Speed) on public
roadways. You HOPE you know the tendencies of the rider in front of you and
how they will react to a given situation. Amazingly the Banzi group I use to
pester, gets newbie's all the time and lets these UNKNOWNS or Unfamiliar
riders get into various positions of their VERY FAST Pace line) However lets
just throw in an missed city meter hole or wet white street line and... Well
HOPE FOR THE BEST! I've seen a couple of mass accordion type of crashes,
based on just these 2 road hazards. But there are PLENTY More.

So to my fellow Df and recumbo So. Fla. riders don't look for me and my Aero
(Now just arrived at my LBS, but still in boxes) to be frolicking with you
in any pace lines, anytime soon.

EZ Biker :-) Pompano Beach, Fl. (GRR Ti and SOON, Bacchetta Aero Pilot)




"Edward Wong" wrote in message
om...
Hopefully this somber message will get our minds off that silly and
out of control "What's up with BiGHa" thread.

Hey Ed & Ken,

Obviously, I agree w/ you guys. The more I ride, the LESS I like pacelines. Our
recumbo group rides are A LOT more fun and a whole lot SAFER than the upright
club rides!.

If anyone here is in the South Florida Area, you might check out the South
Florida Recumbent Group. We have ALL KINDS of fun rides!. (For more info, go to
my personal site @ http://www.getbent.org)

Jose
Jose A. Hernandez
Recumbent Cycling Means NEVER Having to Say Your'e Sore!
http://www.BentRiderOnline.com
http://www.GetBent.Org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SouthF...ecumbentRiders

Hey Ed & Ken,

Obviously, I agree w/ you guys. The more I ride, the LESS I like pacelines. Our
recumbo group rides are A LOT more fun and a whole lot SAFER than the upright
club rides!.

If anyone here is in the South Florida Area, you might check out the South
Florida Recumbent Group. We have ALL KINDS of fun rides!. (For more info, go to
my personal site @ http://www.getbent.org)

Jose
Jose A. Hernandez
Recumbent Cycling Means NEVER Having to Say Your'e Sore!
http://www.BentRiderOnline.com
http://www.GetBent.Org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SouthF...ecumbentRiders

Edward Wong must be edykated coz e writed:

our friend was in very bad shape. He couldn't move or
feel his lower extremities. He also had a bad gash over one of his
eyebrows. Someone in the group called 911 to have an ambulance
dispatched. They got there in under 10 minutes and proceeded to
secure him to put him in the ambulance. I pray that he will be
alright and recover soon.

Lets all hope it is not as bad as it sounds, keep us updated to his progress
Edward.

Ian

Edward Wong must be edykated coz e writed:

our friend was in very bad shape. He couldn't move or
feel his lower extremities. He also had a bad gash over one of his
eyebrows. Someone in the group called 911 to have an ambulance
dispatched. They got there in under 10 minutes and proceeded to
secure him to put him in the ambulance. I pray that he will be
alright and recover soon.

Lets all hope it is not as bad as it sounds, keep us updated to his progress
Edward.

Ian

This sounds to me like a variation on the "I was talking on a cell phone"
scenario.

We get more and more gadgets to divert our attention from the primary
responsibility of operating ANY vehicle.

Hope your friend recovers completely.

Like Jose, I shun pace lines. They require total concentration and trust of
your co-pacers. I like to "smell the roses."

However, I am schitzophrenic about it. I also like performance. However, I
am not strong enough to leave the world in my dust. The old dream of
'cutoffs, sneakers, and a rat-bike' rider who dusted the spiffy looking
wanna-be's never quite materialized.

Oh well! Onward and upward. As soon as the sun comes up, it's time to ride
the new (as yet unpainted) High Racer Clone. It doesn't have a speedometer
yet, I'm enjoying the lack.

Tom
"eyes on the road"
Blum

This sounds to me like a variation on the "I was talking on a cell phone"
scenario.

We get more and more gadgets to divert our attention from the primary
responsibility of operating ANY vehicle.

Hope your friend recovers completely.

Like Jose, I shun pace lines. They require total concentration and trust of
your co-pacers. I like to "smell the roses."

However, I am schitzophrenic about it. I also like performance. However, I
am not strong enough to leave the world in my dust. The old dream of
'cutoffs, sneakers, and a rat-bike' rider who dusted the spiffy looking
wanna-be's never quite materialized.

Oh well! Onward and upward. As soon as the sun comes up, it's time to ride
the new (as yet unpainted) High Racer Clone. It doesn't have a speedometer
yet, I'm enjoying the lack.

Tom
"eyes on the road"
Blum

Tom Blum wrote:

Like Jose, I shun pace lines. They require total concentration and trust of
your co-pacers. I like to "smell the roses."


All-recumbent pacelines can be fun, though. They're especially handy on
a winter day, with 20+ MPH winds in your face. Been there, done that.

However, I am schitzophrenic about it. I also like performance. However, I
am not strong enough to leave the world in my dust. The old dream of
'cutoffs, sneakers, and a rat-bike' rider who dusted the spiffy looking
wanna-be's never quite materialized.

Heh... I tend to ride faster than the folks out on MTBs and "comfort"
bikes, but slower than the serious roadies. I won't break any speed
records, but long distances are doable, in any case.
--
Russ --kill the wabbit to despam
"The best thing about that show was the number of cars that exploded
into huge fireballs. If only 'twere so...." -Chalo Colina, "CHiPs"