
Natascha Badmann, 6 time winner of Ironman Hawaii, seen here exiting T1 minutes before a bike crash on the Queen "K" that would not only take her out of the race but give her training and racing problems for the next year and more."
Recently, there's been a three part article in the local paper about Matt Miller, former swimmer on the UVA team who gave it up for triathlon. While training on the Blue Ridge Parkway in November, he lost control of his bike and slammed into the front of an MG. By a stroke of incredible luck, the car behind the MG was driven by another doc from my hospital, an anesthesiolgist as chance would have it. Matt had broken his jaw in two places, along with every bone in his face, and was drowning in his own blood, until quick action by the doctor opened his airway allowing him to breathe. When taken to the trauma center, his family was told he wouldn't survive. But survive he did with multiple operations, titanium plates on his broken facial bones, a breathing tube in his neck, etc. Surprisingly, he suffered no other major injuries.
His old college coach got him back in the pool recently where he was able to crank out a "pedestrian" 59 second 100! And although he still looks forward to several more operations to put his face back together, he managed a top ten finish in a Philadelphia time trial. Go Matt!!
We take from this that it can happen to anyone...including you and me. So, when you leave home on that solo ride, tell someone where you're going and approximately what time you'll be back. If you have a cell phone, take it with you and turn it on. (I'm quite guilty of having my cell phone with me but always off.
Consider getting a Road ID. This inexpensive ankle strap yields basic identification, emergency contact phone numbers, etc. and mine has my allergy status, medications and my blood type (a good thing for the ER doc if you plant your face into the grill of a classic car. And lastly, anytime there's a close call with a car, try to figure out how you can avoid that next time. The car usually wins! Safe biking to you all and pass this along.