Waratah Vets Race Report 19 July 09 - DHBC Rider Down....

[geoff m]

Some of you might know John R (HoneyBurst99) from our club, introduced by me to the club from my work.

I'm posting his text race report;

Not a good day for the good guys - crashed in Waratahs this AM - knocked out cold, broken two ribs- bloody sore!

Such a nice day for riding too.

One broken lever and helmet destroyed(ouch expensive!). New wheels great though - was sitting in second on the bell lap and feeling really strong when I crashed

[mikesbytes]

Oh no, that's terrible

[weiyun]

Ouch, that hurts!

What was the circumstance?

[Beanzy]

see this thread:

http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewt ... &start=125

Post by D graders and myself.

Bad incident could have been avoided by common sense. I nearly came down a couple laps before.

[weiyun]

Thanks for the link. Looks like the "grey racers" aren't short on hormones.

[timyone]

far out thats a detailed bunch of break downs in there beanzy!

long sounding races too!
i hope the guy is ok :S

[JohnR]

Ah yes and I would be the guy in question...

Bit of a nasty spill really. Two ribs broken near my spine so that makes walking, sitting, breathing etc. lots of fun! Sore shoulder and hip, one very swollen finger and bark off in various places.

No recollection of the crash itself having been knocked out in the fall and much of the afternoon is lost too. My only recollection just prior to the crash was thinking that things were getting messy when C grade caught a lower grade and I'd need to pass carefully but that may or may not have actually been near the "event" given that I'm very patchy.

I don't recall C grade slowing down markedly - I was in the front 6 or so for most of the race and there was a bit of surging/tactical riding going on over the second half of it so that could explain a view that C grade slowed down - might have been a normal cycle after a surge. D grade catching us from behind appears to have been "the problem" but that's not to say I'm blaming anyone - they had the bell lap and a race to ride and it ended up being a tight bunch moving at speed when the grades merged and these things happen. As Geoff always reminds us "cycling is a dnagerous sport"...Under the circumstances I'm glad/lucky nobody else came down with me - it could have been a lot worse for me and others.

Cheers John

[Beanzy]

Glad to hear your on the mend John.

Just to clarify a few things:

Another rider did come down (turggranong vikings if i recall) cracked his helmet and bark off. Did a nice somersault after hitting you John. I and a few others narrowly avoided the incident.

Only E grade were on the Bell Lap. D grade were still a few laps from the bell and we were at least 8 mins plus 1 lap away from the bell.

We weren't going slow, have a look at the previously posted thread link for a lap by lap break down!!

D grade just had their weeties!! their was some indecision in the buches and some confusion about what to do. This led to just too many riders in a narrow spot and the consquences were painful. I am sorry it happened and i hope you heal soon John and see ya around again.

Cheers

[JohnR]

Hey Beanzy

Thanks for filling in thre blanks - litersally! As I said my recollections of most of Sunday are patchy. Sorry to hear others came down but glad nobody seriously hurt.

Yep - you'll see me around asap - Dr says six weeks to heal fully so while I might be lucky enough to get back on the bike before then there'll certainly be no racing for a while.

Cheers Joihn

[timyone]

good to hear your sort of ok John :S broken ribs dont sound too good :S or too ok.

How is your bike? you seem to be missing it in your damage report.

[JohnR]

Bike came out reasonably unscathed which is good...

Thought I'd need to replace the right lever - still working but lots of road rash - but then worked out that I could get it all clean by doing a Frankenstine swapping some parts from my wet weather commuter so that saves a chunky spend. I had new wheels on for thier first (race) outing and they weren't damaged thank goodness - that'd be heart breaking smashing up brand new wheels!

Helmet was written off so that looks like the only $ damage which is good...

[mikesbytes]

Hi John, Sorry to hear of accident.

I broke ribs earlier this year, if your interest in info on recovery, then PM me your email address.

[JohnR]

Hey Mike

Thanks for the msg... Just PM'd ou with my email address. Any advice on aiding/speeding recovery appreciated.

cheers John