Hello everyone,

We’d just ridden almost the entire way to the hotel and had stopped at a bike shop in Champaign Illinois just a few miles from the hotel. We had all talked about stopping there and then stopping for a coffee. I’d arrived at the store with Howard, Mary Claire and Barb first and a few other cyclists began trickling in Most of our day had been a five some with Richard riding with our group as well. In the last few miles he fell back a bit and we lost contact with him. In the bike shop I was browsing fro a few items hat I needed when I heard Tracy say the words “N0, you can’t ride your bike to the hotel..”. I looked over and saw Richard on the floor with Tracy and Mary Claire (a nurse by profession ) hovering over him. Tracy asked for Jim (who is a physician). When I looked at Richard, he was pale as a ghost and I saw blood – my heart sank……

The day had started off on the cool side after a fairly warn ride to Springfield. Most of us said that we’d take it easy given the upcoming rest day and the 100 plus mile ride the day before. Spirits were high even though we had a slight headwind, everyone was getting stronger and riding with confidence. In the beginning, our group kept picking up riders and at one point we had 13 riders in a group which Mac told us was a record. The terrain was rolling to flat and we traveled through quite a bit offer country but on country roads. There were a lot of big trucks that whizzed past and caused the cyclists to work on their control due to the powerful vortex of air created in their wake. Other than that is was pretty uneventful as we pulled into SAG 1 at mile 33. It was still coolish and the music at the Sag was invigorating. Tracy et al have quite a few tunes of a lively beat and it adds to the festivities there.

The group that I rode in with, Barb, Mary Claire, Richard, Howard and I rolled into SAG 2 as a group. The wind seemed to be shifting to more beneficial than not and we were making good time despite saying we would “take our time”. I generally rode off the pack 2 or more bike links back but the others engaged in a pace  line from time to time and I had to work harder to keep up. At the SAG, as we ate, most of the other riders rolled in as well. All was good.

The group that I rode in with left the second SAG for the final leg of the journey. As we got closer to Champaign, the traffic got heavier. Richard started to fall back and since I was behind him, I urged him to catch up with the others. We did that several times and then he just fell off the pace. Richard has done quite a few Iron Men Triathlons and is an extremely strong rider but sometimes he just likes to “ride his ride” so it was not a big deal that he hung back.

Coming into Champaign there are 2 sets of nasty railroad tracks that are at very sharp angles. Since you need to hit the tracks at a 90 degree angle, you must either mover far to the right or left at approach (depending on on the angle to the road) and then cross the tracks at a 90 degree angle. Failure to do so can cause your tire to get caught by the tracks and cause a nasty spill. The 4 of us crossed successfully but there was quite a bit of traffic and the road was 4 lanes at that point with no shoulder. The bike shop wa about a half mile away.

It seems that when Richard crossed the tracks, a car hit him with its side mirror and hat caused him to catch his tire in the tracks and fall unprotected. The initial prognosis provided by both Jim, Tracy and Mary Claire was that Richard had broken his collar bone and that proved correct. he also required 7 sticks to his elbow. Most of the cyclist remained at the Bike Shop for quite some time until Tracy took Richard to the errancy room. It also appears to be a hit and run and not a single car stopped to help or saw what happened.

Throughout the whole ordeal, Richard, a Welshman, remained calm and happy and seemingly annoyed that he was causing angst. The bike shop filed a police report as well but I have not heard what if anything came from that. Some of the group, myself included stopped for a coffee and snack. When we got to the hotel, we were met by Champ, who rode cross country with Mac into 2009 and wrote a book about his experience and Mike who rode in 2001. Some of us sat in the lobby enjoying a few adult beverages and raising a toast to Richard.

Later on that evening, Howard, Paul, Mary Claire, Barb and I walked 1 mile and a half to dinner and had perhaps the best dinner of the tour at a place called Distihl in downtown Champaign. On the way there we saw Tracy returning with Richard who seemed in excellent spirits and a plan for potentially returning to ride a few miles before the finish. Another rider, Ron a friend of Jim also joins us here and most of us met him in the lobby.. He started giving me grief right off the start and I told him that he’s fir right in with the group. I then inquired if he was ware of the time-honored tradition for new riders joining the ride of buying a couple of adult beverages for the other riders….

For those who remember the ride in 2012, John was hurt very badly in the last week in a fall breaking shoulder and hip bones. This morning coincidentally, I read were  cyclists were killed and others injured when a motorist ran into a group. We have ridden over 2000 miles and the vast majority of drivers are very respectful and careful when around cyclists. It certainly behooves cyclist as well to obey the rules of the road and be courteous to the drivers.

Thanks for reading

~Chuck