# America's most beautiful bike ride accident



## saccycling (Sep 30, 2004)

I was at Ambbr today and I heard there was a bad accident and someone had to get life flighted and the highway was closed. I missed it because I took off early and the accident happened behind me. Just wondering if anyone has anymore info. Thanx.


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## ratfacejt (May 15, 2006)

saccycling said:


> I was at Ambbr today and I heard there was a bad accident and someone had to get life flighted and the highway was closed. I missed it because I took off early and the accident happened behind me. Just wondering if anyone has anymore info. Thanx.


I didn't see the accident (I must have been 5 minutes behind it), but a first responder said the cyclist went down and then was hit by a vehicle. No idea if it's accurate. There weren't any other vehicles at the site, but they may have gotten everything cleared quickly the get the helicopter in. CHP was there, which could indicate a vehicle being involved.

Amazingly there were four fairly serious injuries within a few minutes -- first happened right before the scene of the evac -- significant blood loss from a major abrasion wound. Then the evac, and then right after the evac a rider slid out on gravel and took another rider out with her -- one required evacuation and the other gal had bad abrasions on her face. Also saw a rider being taken out by vehicle on the bike path -- didn't look too bad, but significant bleeding from her mouth. I also know of another rider (who I had met the night before) going over her handlebars and ending up in the hospital with possible head trauma.

I will say, despite the number accidents, this was a great ride. Perfect day, great vibe, fun course. TnT riders were inspirational and fun, as always.


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## CFBlue (Jun 28, 1999)

First time I rode AMBBR, about 5 years ago, I saw a frightening crash apparently caused by the sand on the road left from the winter snows. The rider ahead of me and I were going as fast as we could down the back side of Emerald Bay. All the sudden, w/o any warning, he is over the bars, cartwheeling with his bike into a traffic control sign. As best I could tell he hit the sign post with the small of his back. It took me quite a while to stop, and I turned and started to go back up, but riders that we had passed had all ready stopped, so I went on down the hill and got help moving in his direction. A little further on was another busy ambulance.

i never did find out what happend to the guy, but 4 injuries there this year, a death at Sierra, I am really rethinking any future participation in the popular rides.


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## Folsom_Blues (Apr 10, 2004)

*I hate to say this...*

But I am re-thinking mass rides myself. I guess the solution is to leave first and avoid the slower riders. Climbing and descending with cyclists of varying abilities can be very dangerous. Some people just don't have any road sense and they put themselves and others in grave danger. At least on rides with my friends, we all know each other and ride accordingly.


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## ratfacejt (May 15, 2006)

I understand the sentiment. I think a critical thing is to remember these are rides and not races ... assume people will do unpredictable things, so stay clear of groups when you can, descend MUCH slower than you normally would and be very vocal when passing (less experienced riders will appreciate it!). Considering there were 3000+ riders at the AMBBR ride, most of which probably never have done a century and many of which had probably never ridden hills like Emerald and Spooner, it wasn't half as bad as other rides I've done.

If you want to do it like a race, be in the first group out of the blocks (better to do this than respect your assigned starting time and you're not likely to take any heat for it). Within 30 minutes you'll leave the pack behind and can ride your own ride. If you start an hour after the first group is out, or linger in SAG stops, you just can't safely do these events as an aggresive ride.


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## parity (Feb 28, 2006)

This was my first century, I was riding with the silicon valley TNT team. My ride group left at 5:45am to avoid the other riders. Coming back from Truckee is where we encountered the mass of other riders. Riding on the narrow bike trail and having riders coming from the opposite direction was not fun. One rider went down on the trail and she was bleeding from her face when we went by. Besides that it was a great ride.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

*I live 20 minutes from Tahoe*

I've never done the AMBR. Living so close to Tahoe we rode on Saturday to avoid the majority of the climbs. I didn't realize they make the large groups ride on the bike path. I avoid the thing like the plague due to all the winter damage, dirt, debris, and other junk that gets onto it. Not to mention tourists, strollers, and the occasional bears. It's too bad that the accidents happened, but it sounds like the majority of them were caused by solo rider incidents and not caused by other riders (I could be wrong). I wouldn't let solo accidents discourage anyone from riding the organized events. I get irritated with the ruder people who attend but otherwise the overall experiences are usually worth it.

Also, Tahoe gets it's fair share of crashes. Probably no more than other locations but with the sand and stuff along with some freeze thaw winter damage to the pavement it can be a little tricky at times. I fear the evil RV's more than anything else though.


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