Crashes

When I'm not racing or riding with Team WHAYNE, I often ride with the Bluegrass Cycling Club. It's a great club with a lot of benefits and cheap to join. They do a lot of good around here for the cycling community and we're lucky to have them in Fayette Co.

For the most part, riding with a group like this is safer - much safer than riding by yourself. There is the element of caution you have to take when riding closely with multiple people, but learning how to do this safely is a big part of cycling, and I think you're missing out if you never learn to ride in a group.

Unfortunately crashes will happen, which is what happened last Thursday, and there are several things to be aware of when they do happen. This particular ride was a perfect example of how to handle the situation, and also showed why riding in a club or group is important and safer.

So here's a few things I've been thinking about sharing since Thursday on crashes.

1. Resist the urge to stop and turn immediately to help. When you hear a crash behind you, avoid the temptation to look back, slow down suddenly, or veer off your line. Come to a stop slowly like you would at an intersection, use your hand signals and tell the people around you calmly that you are stopping (at the side of the road). It's really easy to create a chain reaction and cause another crash.

2. If it happens in front of you try and hold your line as much as possible and roll through the area to keep it clear. You don't want to block the road if there are multiple riders behind you who all need to slow down safely and stop in a safe distance.

3. Once everyone has pulled over safely, if the road can't be cleared immediately, then have two people go in either direction up the road to warn traffic about the rider on the road.

4. Find out who is trained in First Aid - sometimes the person with the biggest ego wants to take over, that's fine if they're trained, but if someone is trained in First Aid, that person should be deciding how best to care for the injured person. Sometimes letting one person take charge is better than arguing over it - put the injured person first.

5. If the person has a head, neck, or back injury, it may be necessary remove their helmet to help them breathe (or at least undo the chin strap). You must then stabilize their head by placing your hands on either side of their ears to act like a splint.

6. A severely injured person is likely to go into shock, you can help prevent this by continuously talking to them, reassuring them, and by keeping them warm - a space blanket is a great thing to pack for this reason. They fold up into a very small space and this is what they used at the club ride.

7. It's best not to move someone unless they are in immediate danger / completely blocking the road. If you have to do this maintain head stability with your hand splint, move them to the nearest edge of the road, and in the direction that their head is already pointing.

8. Don't give a person anything to drink unless they can hold the container and drink themselves.

9. Group rides have a map, so it's easy to give directions to EMS. Get the person's car keys, ID, call an emergency contact or ICE from their phone. Have someone go back to the ride parking lot to drive back and pick up their bike.

The Bluegrass Cycling Club did all of these things to help care for person who was injured on Thursday and it just reminded me of how great this club is.

The other great thing is that they have a secondary insurance provided through the League of American Bicyclists, which helped me out last year in my crash. It saved me over $2000 in medical fees and is a big reason to join and ride with a local club.

That being said, crashes are rare, the more experienced you get, the more likely you are to avoid them. Yes, they happen a lot in Pro races, but these guys are both tired and taking a lot of risks. Just like driving, you can learn to ride defensively. In my opinion, the best thing is to be relaxed and aware of what can happen.

I hope you don't have to deal with this, but hopefully this will help if you do.