Medical Update (Bell Tower RR)
At 08:56 AM 7/23/2007, Jeff Ingham wrote:
Any news on Dan’s medical condition. I didn’t see him again after he
went for stitches. I’m hoping he’s ok.
From: Dan Wheeler
Date: Jul 23, 2007 9:59 AM
What Jeff is referring to is my final few hundred metres of the Bell
Tower RR. Here is a coarse outline of how the events went down…
1. Weird registration happening – Announced Master’s 30+ 4/5 category is full
This is very strange since this has never happened in the 3 long
years of my racing. I thankfully can race as a Category 4/5 for the
road race.
2. 80+ guys at start – uffda.
OK so I thought the idea of capping a category’s registration was due
to “safety” concerns. Then they combine the already full Master’s 4/5
field with the 4/5 field. Course has one hill and it is not big/long
enough to break up the peloton.
3. Medical condition update
This is a first for me, save cyclocross where minor injuries are
anticipated (and celebrated). The last few hundred metres the pace of
the 60+ guys picks up a bit and David Schueller and myself are moving
into position when 2 riders in front of David collide and both go down
taking David along. I see bodies and bikes every which way and decide
to also join in the fun! I somersault over riders and land on my
shoulder (badly bruised, x-rays show no dislocations or breaks),
tucked my chin all the way to my handlebars (9 stitches) and closed my
eyes. When I opened up my eyes I was still in 1 piece. Fellow
rodents tended to each other and Official/rodent Merwin handed me the
biggest wad of paper towels I’ve ever seen for soaking up blood -
thanks! As the x-ray technician told me, “I think you’ll live to ride
another day!!!”
dw