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Based in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati, we three are longtime single cycle riders. After early retirement, Karen and David bought a jumbo-sized Cannondale tandem. It's white (very), trimmed in red. We call it the Pillsbury Doughboy. We were joined by Bill, an old friend, on his 14-year old single Cannondale and made the call that started this adventure. He's supposedly retired but continues to find real work when he chooses.We planned to pedal self-supported across the U.S. in Spring 2011 from San Diego CA to St. Augustine FL. In beginning this adventure we agreed philosophically with Jean-Jacques Rousseau: "The person who has lived the most is not the one with the most years but the one with the richest experiences."

Friday, April 15, 2011

And Then There Were Two





Original 1950's mining road to bypass a dangerous tunnel with no shoulder.
Still climbing, 2 to 3 hrs that day in granny gear


Today we must bid good bye to Bill. Yesterday he was clipped by an irate driver on our last downhill into Globe AZ.
First, he is miraculously pretty okay. Damage to his right upper arm, an impressive display of road rash on his running sculpted right leg, a deep gash in his elbow, and assorted other booboos. Also a lot of pain.
The truck assault caused Bill to lose control of his bike. The bike skidded , he went over and landed in the middle of the roadway. He managed to scramble over to the side before getting hit.
Many road angels appeared: The driver of a Qwest van who saw the assault from the opposite side of the road and turned around, called 911 and stayed with him until emergency crew arrived; the policeman who was monitoring for speedsters right before the site, and the copper mine employee who saw the injured cyclist and took time to come down to where we were waiting, inform of of what had happened and transported us back and forth until everything was settled.
Bill's brother is in CO and will take "custody" of him soon.
Now that he's taken care of, we aren't sure how to proceed. We had commented early yesterday that the ACA routing frankly sucked and would be figuring out some alternatives. Unfortunately, too late to avoid this incident.
Now it's time to decide what is best. Sorry all that this is a "down" post. By the way, the available roadway out here doesn't offer any options. Unless we buy a mule.  In our opinion the southern tier should not be promoted unless an alternate route can be found for this one day.  
Karen
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2 comments:

  1. UnknownApril 15, 2011 at 4:16 PM

    Your description is a little confusing. If I am reading it correctly, he was hit to begin with, lost control, fell, and then managed to get off the roadway without any further incident.

    I guess you have to look at the positive side of it, no life threatening injuries! It would really tick me off to have my trip (a major adventure no less) ended like that though.

    Hopefully they'll catch the guy, and he won't be driving for a good long time. They should stick him with the medical bills, and a settlement for pain and suffering too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Karen, David & BillApril 17, 2011 at 4:21 PM

    They will never find the driver.

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