# I was the retard crashed on the side of the road at ERock



## jkaber (May 22, 2002)

Yep that was me. The guy with the brand new Gios w/ full campy that slid accross a bunch of gravel and did some serious damage to my ego, body and bike. There was the one intersection right before roller coaster road that had some serios gravel. At about two miles an hour, the bike slid out from under me as I was making a slow right hand turn. I ended up with some pretty substantial road rash on my arm, leg, knee, and thigh. The bike also ended up with some pretty good damage. Bent der hanger, busted rear der, broken shifter, shredded saddle, bent pedal, torn sidis, shreded new pair of bibbs. I think my tab for this Erock is well over $1,000. While I was waited for my wife to pick me up from BFE, I witnessed 100+ riders almost eat it in the same spot and another 6 or so slide across the pavement as well. Anyone else get hurt or am I the only retard?


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## SSChameleon (Jun 29, 2005)

*Didn't Crash*

I didn't crash, but a nasty sinus infection kept me from the long routes. My wife rode her longest ride ever! It was her first 32 mile ride and she rocked! The weather was perfect, ride support was great, it was a good day.

We heard someone went down pretty hard on the I-25 access road, but I don't know any details.


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## Pwnt (Aug 24, 2006)

Totally knocked it outta the park yesterday (well for me away). Did the century in 8 1/2 hours (7 hrs actual rolling time) and felt strong the whole day. Had some minor cramping issues but for the most part I was a animal. Strong into every aid station compared to last year where I could bearly limp in. I am tickled pink with myself.
Mad props to all the folks at e-rock. They put together a great event. I don't have a single complaint. Aid stations we fully stocked. Any hazards seemed to be clearly marked. Traffic was never an issue. The whole thing seemed to go off without a hitch. 
I'm sorry that happened to you Kaber. That is never fun. I'm glad to hear you came out ok. (minus the scraps) The bike can be fixed, you can't!

See ya next year.


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## remy (Sep 21, 2005)

Good ride yesterday. Wind was non-stop...

I know the turn you're talking about. As I came around, I saw a rider (you?) standing to the side all bandagded up, and as I was rolling away I heard another slide out behind. Nasty corner! Sorry to hear about the damage to you and your ride. Heal well and quickly.


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## John Nelson (Mar 10, 2006)

Didn't they have a guy standing there with a sign warning you about the gravel? Couldn't he have swept the gravel away in less time than it took to make the sign?

My one complaint about ERock is that they do absolutely zero course preparation.

I saw at least two other accidents other than the ones mentioned here. One was at the 40-mile point of the century on a clear, straight, flat road. I have no idea what happened there. The other was on that gravel section leading up to Palmer Lake. It's easy to guess what happened there.

I also saw at least 30 people fixing flat tires. That seemed like a lot to me, but maybe it's inevitable with 7000 cyclists out there.

Man, that's a lot of damage for 2 MPH!!


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## dadat40 (Mar 27, 2007)

saw someone being stuff into ambulance on the dirt section just as I pulled up. I had the best Eslock ever dropped 2 friends that alway outclimb me on the rollercoaster road. the tail wind from palmer back was superfun nothing like 30 to 40 mph to finish of the day. 
ended the day in 5:43 ride time and 6:21 total time.


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## Grizzattack (Jul 31, 2006)

Yup, I know exactly which corner. As I pulled up to it I though damn, I could eat it here, and then I saw you on the side being tended too. Sucks. Sorry bro. Back in the day when Ride the Rockies came through Rocky Mtn NP, several park staff and volunteers took the time to sweep some corners. It didn't take us but a few minutes of the day to take care of it.


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## Woolbury (Oct 12, 2005)

Yea, I know the corner also. I remember thinking earlier in the route that they did a good job sweeping the corners, but it may have just been lucky co-incidence. Like John says, I agree with lack of course prep. Some really nasty potholes that would have been painted on most rides. Nothing they can do about the Palmer Lake section, and props to them for the special heads up email before the event. I, like most, rolled through it with no difficulty. Again had a great ERock, just under 6 hrs, up 15 min from last year. The head wind, lack of rest Sat, and my reluctance to ride the pacelines this year slowed me down a bit. But I felt great throughout the event(first ride with Hammer Perpetuom), and yea, 35-40mph on Perry was so fun. I felt invincible. Good ride, saw lots of friends, I'll be back.


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## SkiRacer55 (Apr 29, 2005)

*Sorry you got dinged...*

...it was decent, overall. I did the 32 mile, because I don't have very many miles at all this year. I forgot about E Rock...even the "wimp" 32 mile event is all up and down. The descents on this course are pretty spooky, IMHO. I'm surprised more people don't go into the weeds. If I were the promoters, I'd look for routes that have the distance, but a little less climbing/descending. With 7000 riders, there's just too much chance of things going wrong on the descents...


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## danrhiggins (Jun 2, 2008)

*Glad you are not hurt worse!*

This was my first ERock and my first "long" ride of the season. (Long being relative as I am not the frequent rider most of you are with my big ride of the season being the Courage Classic. So for me the 50 was a "long ride".) The only crash I saw was the one referenced earlier on the access road along I-25 just a few miles from the end. When I went past they had him immobilized. Ambulance was on the way. Lots of blood on his head. Didn't look good. But no idea what happened. It was a straight, downwind section.

I will say that it gets a bit crazy. To many riders to try and break speed records. Especially on the 50. There were a number of "unintentional", temporary "pelatons" with some fairly shaky riders. Especially going uphill or in that wind we fought for the first 20 or so miles. So much for rider etiquette and single file unless passing. This is just the wrong ride situation for people to push the speed. At least for the 50 and lower distances. Such a wide variety of experience and capabilities and so many riders. Add in the wind, hills and occasional cars and I'm surprised more accidents did not happen.


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