Thanks to Richard Munro for this update on Tuesday night’s crash…
As some of you are aware, Andy Poole and I were involved in a crash at the TLI race at Lower Withington last week. Andy and I took part in the under 50s race which, on a wet and dark evening, was cut down by the organisers from 5 to 4 laps, much to the relief of the riders at the start. It was so cold and wet that nobody had the chance to warm up before hand – it would have achieved the opposite. The race was fairly fast, with an average speed of 24.5 mph recorded on my computer and it was soon all over with Andy taking 3rd place in the A category and winning £5. After finishing the race we saw other WVCC members Jed Taylor and Dave Astles watching near the finish and we decided to stay and watch the finish of the over 50s. We took a position on the grass verge at the side of the road to the right and about 20m before the finish line. Fairly shortly, the main bunch including Graham and Kevan came through and we turned our heads towards the line to see who got the places. All of a sudden there was an almighty clatter from the left hand side of us and Andy and I went to the floor landing on top of our bikes. Immediately, Andy was shouting about the pain in his back and he remained on the ground. I managed to get on my feet and realised that we had been hit by a rider leaving the road as he sprinted towards the finish, probably contesting around 20th place. The ambulance had been following the race and arrived on the scene straight away, giving attention to both Andy and the rider who had crashed. I didn’t need any treatment from them, although I knew that I had several cuts and bruises and my ribs were sore. Andy took the full impact of the crash at 32mph, according to the rider’s computer, and came out of it the worst. I am not sure if I was hit by Andy or the rider coming through. Andy’s injuries are the most serious. He went to Leighton after the crash where they diagnosed a fractured rib. He was then in severe pain and went to his doctor on Friday who insisted on an x-ray and blood tests. The x-ray showed 2 cracked ribs and he has been given stronger pain killers. It is likely to take several weeks before it heels and will set his racing season back this year, which is sad as he has put in a lot of training over the winter and had been riding well as shown with his 3rd place. My injuries turned out to be a bit worse that I initially thought as well. I had decided to do more races and time trials this season in an effort to try and get a bit closer to the stronger riders in the club. As part of that I had my legs sugared for the first time a couple of weeks ago and, although new and shiny, they are now sporting a bold imprint of a chainring together with some very dark blue bruises. My worst injury, however, is not visible as my chest is now inflamed and I am in a fair bit of pain when I breath in too deeply. I have managed to ride a bit, but not very fast and my racing programme has been suspended, which is a bit frustrating but I am also thinking that I was very lucky when I see what happened to Andy. Full marks to the TLI organisers who have contacted me and were very concerned about it and thanks to all those who have been in touch from WVCC.