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Ridge Runner Ramble Crash & Report

7/26/2012

14 Comments

 
Picture
First, as a map aficionado, the map for Ridge Runner Ramble was the best yet, supplanting the Rocky Ride map.  Mainly because the road names on the RRR map were easily readable while Rocky's was not.  OK, the RRR route highlights were a little subtle and some of us both young and old had a hard time discerning which roads were "route roads" but still, an expansive 11" x 17" with both sides used???? wow!  

Driving out old 161, I was struck by how many groups of cyclists were out on the road.  Then I was struck by how stupid I was, forgetting several items I had washed the night before, causing me to turn around.  Rats, that made me miss the 7:30 start but I sped into the parking lot ready for the 8:00am group.  Except the 8:00am group left at 7:55, apparently intending to "stick it to me" for the many times I've referred to this group as slugs, schleps, duffers, misfits, has-beens, dubs, hackers, dorky, dingy, slow, slovenly....well, you get the picture.  Someone told me it was Flabby Tuna's idea, egged on by others.  I guess I had it coming to me.  

Unfortunately, the early start left some others in the parking lot looking around wondering what happened to the 8:00am group but we were in luck, there was a group of "Roll" cyclists so Brian, SuperDave and I slotted in with Larry P, Mike Rea, Amy, Meredith, Rich Lewis and several others. Here we are at a happier moment, prior to the ride.  
Picture
Here we are at an unhappy time. Mike Rea, signaling to the emergency vehicles where to stop.  Our group was riding on Jug Street, just after crossing Mink Road.  I'm not sure exactly what happened but there was a largish rock in the middle of the lane.  Brian, riding in front of me indicated with his arm, as did I but after that, I heard the sound of a flat, some yelling and upon looking back, saw cyclists down. Rich Lewis, Amy and Meredith all hit the pavement with the latter two's injuries appearing to be serious.  See comment section for updates.  

Once the emergency vehicles arrived, I hooked up with David Smith, Corvair and Brian aka Michelin Man riding into Utica, there catching up with 7:55 group. We did a touch and go in Utica and continued on to Martinsburg and then Bladensburg, stopping there.  I audited my situation and decided, if I was going to do 100 miles, I needed to conserve my dwindling resources, dropping to the back of the pack.  Even that didn't work much and so when the group decided to avoid Newark and move north toward St Louisville, I decided that seemed like adding too many miles and stayed on the route.  An extended stop at Subway recharged the energy levels enough to get back to New Albany, after passing through a very cool street scene in Granville with dozens of Porsches displayed along a closed Broadway.  Finished with 99.1 miles, 5300' of climbing and 0 interest in looping around the parking lot to watch 100 appear on the Garmin. 
14 Comments
Mark
7/28/2012 11:23:15 am

Poobah called me to let me know he had talked to Mike Rea and Amy is ok. As those at the scene know, she lost a tooth but also had a cut above an eye that I think required a couple of stitches to close.

Reply
David C.
7/29/2012 12:45:45 am

Sad to hear about the crash. Rich let me know that a highway patrol officer showed up at the hospital and issued a citation for following to close. Is there a cycling advocacy group that can help fight this?

Reply
David C.
7/29/2012 05:19:56 am

Mark,
Per your email, no it is not a joke. It really happened. As I understand the Ohio code allows for bicycles to pace line. He will have to go to court and it will get thrown out. Still a waste of a day of his life for a boot jack thug.

Reply
Cindy
7/29/2012 01:18:44 am

What! How absurd; possibly the League of American Bicyclists would fight that. They take on ridiculous cases such as this.

Reply
Corvair
7/29/2012 05:30:43 am

You might want to go to the Bike Lawyer. Have seen his ads in the COP newsletter. Also, Meredith has a broken Ulna near hear elbow. This is the smaller arm bone. other than that she is okay. She was issued a citation.

Reply
Marty
7/29/2012 09:32:34 am

I think the problem is more of a Highway Patrol administrative problem. From my understanding this is not the case of a patrol officer misunderstanding or misinterpreting the law and handing out a citation. There must have been a directive from the Highway Patrol office on Outville Rd to cite the cyclists. We should find out if handing out citations to cyclists who have done nothing wrong except run over an obstacle that is the same color as the road surface and crash is district policy or was the policy limited to the Outville Rd outpost. I suspect that it was limited to the Outville Rd post. And if that is the case then maybe someone at the Outville Rd post needs to be transferred to a post where there are no cyclists on the road.

Reply
Marty
7/29/2012 10:54:08 am

If it turns out that hitting a rock in the road and crashing is a punishable offense. Then think about the message that it sends to the area cyclists.

If someone hits a pot hole, rock or an oil slick and crashes. The last thing you want to do is call and get some help. If you call for help the authorities will find out and you will be given a citation before you even have time to leave the hospital. Better to not call for professional help. It is better to flag down a local in a pickup and lift them into the bed. Don’t worry too much about any neck injuries; just get them out of sight before the Highway Patrol finds out. I was mistakenly thinking that the Highway Patrol was being paid with our tax dollars to serve and protect us.

Reply
Corvair
7/29/2012 11:42:24 pm

You have a very valid point here Marty. I am still astounded by the fact that the officer went to the hospital and issued the citations. This is my backyard and yeah, makes me want to not call the police...our tax dollars at work indeed.

Reply
Mike
7/30/2012 10:29:49 am

To clarify, no citations will be issued to anyone involved in Saturday's accident at RRR. The rumor mill was dead wrong on this one. I hate to see the negative comments about the Highway Patrol when they came to the scene to help those involved.

Reply
Marty
7/30/2012 12:28:31 pm

The rumor mill was not about the Highway Patrol responding to the scene and helping people out. What started a rumor mill was Rich Lewis and Meredith getting a visit by a trooper in the hospital, Rich was in the waiting room and the Meredith was in her hospital room and “paperwork” was filled out and handed to them. At the time it was understood by them that it was a citation and that they would be visiting a court room sometime in the future.

Long story short, it was all a big misunderstanding. The exact details of the paperwork are no longer an issue, I am not even sure if there is any paperwork anymore. There will be no lawyers and there will not be any court appearances.

The Highway Patrol wants everyone to know that they are there to serve and protect cyclists. There will not be any more paperwork misunderstandings and presumably if there are any more visits to the hospital they will be there to deliver flowers. Most importantly they want you to call for help if you need help. I think everyone is happy.

Reply
Rodney King
7/31/2012 12:42:03 am

I love it when We CAN all get along!

Reply
Corvair
7/30/2012 11:25:10 pm

Sorry I was mistaken about the "citations". Amy Rees told me last night that "No one was issued citations. There was a total misunderstanding, to the point I was wondering if the officer that came to talk to me was the same one as others referred to as a cyclist hater. He was so polite, he knew Heidi (cyclist on Roll: team who is a member of the HP) asked us if we were doing Pelotonia, and was so apologetic that he even had to file the report, said he didn't agree with filing a traffic incident and he would try to have it entered as a crash investigation instead, which is exactly what was done." I am sorry for any misinformation.

Reply
BS
7/31/2012 11:01:10 pm

Funny how once the Dispatch was contacted for a story that the tickets just went away.....

Reply
Arnold Jackson
7/31/2012 11:53:04 pm

What you talkin' bout Willis? Wasn't it aleady confirmed in this string that there were never any tickets issued in the first place and that the whole situation was a misunderstanding?




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    Mark is a long-time cyclist, hiker, golfer and plays some table tennis...ok, it's ping pong.

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