80 mile lessons

yesterday was our 80 mile ride...

we started strong, made it to 2 rest stops.  mile 47ish and then one thing you never want to happen happens.  not flat tires.  accidents.  jen and i collided.  it was terrible.

i keep playing the whole thing over in my head thinking; could i have done anything different, said anything different, maybe yes, but would it have prevented it, i truly don't think so.  it happened so quickly and next thing i knew i was flying off my bike, landing on my forearm, then shoulder, then hip, and finally smacking my head on the pavement.  thank you helmet, you saved me big time.

i looked over to see where jen was and all i could see is her laying face down about 20-30 feet from me, face down legs tangled in her bike.  i called out her name, no answer.  i saw coach evelyn run to her and all i could think was please be alive please be alive and then i saw her foot move.

the rest was a whirlwind, emts, ambulance, fire truck, state troopers, locals.  jen was taken to the hospital on a back board...leaving a pool of blood on the pavement from a head wound.  it was all that was left of such a crazy scene and heart breaking agony.

our 80 miles turned in to 47ish.  we were all very shook up and i don't think any one of us looked at our bikes that had been thrown on the ground in reckless haste and thought, yep let's get back on and finish it out.   we had spent the second stop "kibitzing".  it took 7 miles to change the entire day.

major and minor lessons from today:

1.  there are still many many people in this world who have incredible concern for their fellow man.  thank you to all who stopped and helped and offered their services.  especially to the nurse who stabilized jen's head until the emts arrived.
2.  this team is unlike any other i have ever been on.  it is not a team, it is much more of a family.
3.  carry your emergency contact information with you at all times.  when people need to find it, it is very helpful to have it on you.
4.  routes should never contain poorly signed left hand turns on a downhill.
5.  lightweight sport fabrics do not provide adequate coverage from road rash, bike shorts however, provide exceptional protection.
6.  sometimes it's the little things that get you, like when the emt cut off jen's red jacket and her TNT jersey from tahoe last year.  those things represent so much of that person; when you see them removed it almost feels like they are taking off a piece of them, not a piece of clothing.
7.  always wear your helmet, it will one day save your life.  until i joined this team i had never been a 100% helmeter.  i will never ever ride without one again.