2 of the riders who went down last week came to class last night  just to say hello, and let everyone know they are alright.   Both riders were in pretty good condition.  They drove themselves  to the track, and are already talking about getting back on their bikes.   Rob T has had some facial surgery, and actually looks pretty good.  He'll be as handsome as ever once the swelling goes down    Nick suffered some broken ribs, and still has a little pain when he  takes in a deep breath, but should be fully recovered fairly soon.  Derrek didn't make it out but he's doing fine.  He might need surgery on his shoulder, but  my experience is that with shoulder separations, most people choose to forgo the surgery.

That crash was pretty ugly, and going away in an ambulance is never good, but these guys are well on their way to recovery.  Iam actually really glad the guys came out, I think it  did a lot to allay the fears of some of the beginner riders that have never seen a crash like that before!

I got this from Rachelle B: 

"As of Friday, Alex said that Rob would be getting released shortly, so I assume by now he is out of the hospital.
Alex also told me that one of the 4 broken ribs that Nick had punctured one of his lungs, but I dont think it was too bad. They were thinking that it would heal itself, but also were gonna have to wait and see. I forget when or if Alex said he was going to get released."

If anyone is wondering, I just got this from Alex M:

"I've been checking up on Rob and Nick.  They're both still at Scripps Mercy in Hillcrest.  Rob broke his jaw in two places and fractured his cheekbone. He had surgery this afternoon to put six plates in his jaw and cheek.  It seems to have gone pretty well, and he didn't need to have his mouth wired shut.  Nick broke four of his ribs and one of them punctured his lung.  Right now he's on oxygen and doing breathing exercises to see if it heals but they might need to put a tube in his chest.  They'll both probably be in icu until they improve a little, but that could be as soon as friday."

 I've been riding bikes for over 15 years now, and racing them since 1997.  In  that amount of time, you see your share of crashes.  Crashing is just  part of bike riding, and even more a part of racing.    Even with the most experienced riders...crashes still happen.  You accept that fact, but those crashes still suck...especially when riders have to go away in an ambulance.   We had a pretty ugly crash during the  adult track  class last night... and three riders got an " unplanned chauffer" to the hospital.      It looks like we have several riders that are going to  be in pain for a while, but everyone is going to be OK.  I'll be posting updates here a I recieve them.

What I have so far:

Big Rob T  has broken   multiple bones in his face, is wearing a neck brace  and is scheduled  to have surgery today.   Full recovery expected.  I believe he is at Mercy Hospital at the moment, but me be moved to a Kasier hospital for the surgery.   ( information directly from his mother)

Derek  had a separated shoulder and was released from the hospital last night. ( information secondhand)

Nick apparently broke some ribs, has some back pain, and was reportedly in the ICU as of thursday morning ( information seconhand)

I'll be posting any future information here.  Feel free to email me if you have any insight.   email me at: myfirstname@cyclingscience.org

Sean

PS

Just got this from Rachelle B:

 "Derek will be going to an orthopedic to determine whether he will need surgery or not on his shoulder....  Rob seemed a lot better in the hospital last night when we saw him up in ICU.  He was even cracking jokes which we were really glad to see, considering how bad off he was at the crash.  Nick seemed ok last night...maybe the worst off out of the 3.  We talked to him also, but he seemed like he couldnt really move at all and was in a lot of pain"

 

Since I  Rachelle saw  all of them last night, I assume they are all at Mercy. I am not posting last names here, but if you are in my track class and want  someone's last name so that you can call or pay a visit, feel free to email me.

So.... I teach the adult developmental classes at the San Diego Velodrome.  The classes are 6 weeks long.  I love coaching these track classes, the  riders learn how to ride and race track bikes and everyone has a great time.  The classes are tons of fun, but my favorite night is the last night of each session.  I always tell the students " We go to Lefty's Pizza the last night of class.  If you had fun, you buy one of the coaches a slice of pizza or a beer.  If you didn't have fun....we get to buy our own dinner" 

 They say a picture is worth a thousand words.....take a look a this photo of my assistant coach Jesse, and  the 5 beers in front of him will tell you  that lots of people had fun:

If you want to take track class, the next one starts June 17th.  You can find more information here:
http://cyclingscience.org/sdvelodrome.htm

I recently wrote about  coached rider Tammy Wildgoose from UC San Diego being chosen as part of an all star collegiate women's cycling team racing at the Nature Valley Grand Prix.  Velonews.com recently posted a short article about the team:

Collegiate All-Star women chosen

I friend of mine sent me this photo the other day.... this looks like a fun bike to ride...

I've been coaching Tammy W since the end of last summer. Tammy is a student at UC San Diego and she has been concentrating on collegiate cycling, with a goal of peaking at the Collegiate National Championships. Tammy has had a few good results along the way, but her best result of the year was by far her 3rd place Collegiate National Championship Criterium. As a result of her results that weekend, Tammy has been invited to race on a composite womens team at the Nature Valley Grand Prix Pro Stage race!

This is the new spot for this blog... there are a few years worth of old posts here: http://cyclingscience.blogspot.com/