Yuck!

went on the spoke ride saturday. met a teammate jeff at the ride. nice guy. he's a father too and spent most of the winter skiing with his daughter. everything was as expected with my lack of fitness. was in touch with the group until the climb, that's when i started going backwards. hooked up with them on the descent. it was fast going into the reservoir with a nutty headwind making our non-echeloning group guttered like always. the second and third groups caught us and that's when all the sprinters started surging towards the "finish" line (an imaginary line that's near one of the entrances). i was in the lead group motorpacing, not contesting the sprint and our group parted like the red sea. in the middle was this guy in the fetal position (apparently he touched wheels in the sprint). we all went back to him and he was bleeding from one side of his head (thank god he was wearing a helmet!), and his shoulder was separated. his eyes were closed and he was doing this guttural, breathing/moaning in intervals probably in and out of consciousness. his stomach was heaving in and out with his guttural moaning. luckily there was a nurse in the lead group and he was assessing his status and relaying it to another cyclist who had already dialed 9-1-1. police were on the scene immediately and an ambulance on its way. jeff and i went back to the start of the ride where we had two more teammates-chris and jayson-waiting for us to do a second, longer hillclimbing session (i didn't join them for their remaining ride). i couldn't get that image of that poor fella out of my mind. whenever there was a lull in our conversations (ranging from): coffee, roasting coffee, burr grinders, espresso drinks, espresso makers, tamping, digital thermometers, wheelsets, carbon fiber, the discovery team, television, treks (the waterloo bike company)...etc. i would think about the dude in the fetal position and i would become a smidge reticent.
it's monday morning-the day after easter-and i'm still thinking about it. on a happier note, i'm a teacher and this is my spring break. i'm going to my barn and getting the girls' bikes ready for a bike ride out in morrison later with my son on the bike trailer. we all have helmets and we ain't gonna sprint for nothing! if anything, that crash illuminates perspective. we spent easter with melissa's folks playing soccer with the kids while i walked the poochies around the park. later, just melissa and i went for a walk at dusk with wee mason. it was a pleasant day kids...