Deer on Ride the Hurricane

Deer on Ride the Hurricane

Hello! 

Some time ago, I emailed you my very brief account of my crash on the 2022 Ride the Hurricane. Someone replied asking pertinent questions, but I lost the email. 

Here it is again, in a little more detail. 

About 11:50, riding back down from Hurricane Ridge, pretty much alone on this stretch of the road as my buddy K-Love was already down the hill. I saw a deer about 50 feet ahead of me, coming from the left crossing the road. She was a beautiful full-sized doe. She was walking at a decent pace. I intuited she would cross the road just before me. I pressed the brakes with medium force. She must have heard the whir of my bike tires for, as deer do when they hear sound, she stopped. Unfortunately for me, she stopped directly in my lane, about 5 to 10 feet in front of me. I squeezed the brakes hard, stopping the bike but not the rider. I flipped over the handlebars, bike still clipped on. The bike went up wheels to the sky and came crashing down on the pavement, flattening half the rear tire and ejecting it from the bike. I, the rider, scraped my helmet and my upper back, but really slammed hard on my lower back. I turned sideways and rolled to a stop. Body felt okay, except for my lower back which felt like it was on the wrong side of a baseball bat (or hard pavement) 

About 1 minute later, a fellow rider came down the hill. He immediately called 911. As I started to try to get up, I asked him to call them off not wanting to pay the cost of the ambulance. (in retrospect, I should not have moved AT ALL. Anything that could involve the spinal cord warrants immobilization.) He then called his fellow cycling friend who came with his truck to ferry me back to my hotel. I missed the taco lunch after the ride, but wasn't hungry anyway. 

I ended up with bad scrapes and bruises, and after the scans, a sacrum fractured in 4 places. I was back on the bike withing a month, albeit very slowly.  

I am exceedingly grateful to the guy who stopped and his friend with the truck. In my dazed state, I neglected to get their contact info. I hope they are riding this year, and that I recognize them to thank them (profusely).

This year, I'm Riding the Hurricane again. It's fitting that the symbol of the phoenix graces the jersey. I realize it's for the return from the lodge fire, but perhaps I can borrow the poetic symbolism for my own journey. 

Thank you for continuing to host such an excellent race. If I see any deer, I'll give them a wide, wide berth. 

All the best,

Jim Nau

440-363-1119