Arlington Alert 5/6/14 8pm-ish – N. Glebe & Upland

I was on the ride, too, but got there after the accident had occurred. The accident was on Glebe Road where the route turns right onto Old Glebe Road.

One cyclist was face down and looked like he had a concussion. The other was on his side but alert. Neither were moving, and it looked like the best course of action was to not move them considering their conditions. A car had stopped behind them which helped by acting as a barrier to traffic, and many cyclists were waiting with the injured. An ambulance arrived probably about 10 minutes after I came by the accident.

Even though I do not know exactly why they collided or where to place the blame, it was a sobering reminder both that group riding does have its risks and that it is important to be alert of those around you and communicate/signal effectively. I saw people crash into each other on the Five Boro Bike Tour on Sunday mostly due to inexperience with riding in groups, so this accident further stresses the point for me.

@kcb203 84582 wrote:

I love group rides, but don’t appreciate huge groups. The 5 Boro Bike Tour was the biggest cluster**** I’ve ever seen. Tens of thousands of riders of all skill levels, with fast riders starting in back and slow riders at the front. I only did it once but saw two crashes that probably required serious medical attention. And I’m done with the Freshbikes ride after dealing with wahoos who don’t know how to ride in a pack. I occasionally go to Hains Point for the lunchtime ride, and 98% of those people know what they’re doing even though they’re going 30+. But I’ve heard about crashes there as well.

The Freshbikes ride was a topic of discussion last sunday on my weekend ride – I fear it’s days are numbered as it’s currently run, imho. They’re either going to have to limit rider #’s or start splitting groups and run multiple routes. I’ve only been on it once and that was enough asshattery for me. The same goes for a LOT of people i ride with – very few of my riding friends think it’s a safe ride at all.

this is more of an aside (and i can’t find the original research cause i’m lazy…), but some naturalistic driving studies showed the ratio of close calls to accidents per trip was something like 25 to 1. of course, i’m halfway pulling this shit out of my ass, but during a ride like the 5 Boro or Freshbikes, I’d expect similar numbers – then multiply out for 300 riders and you’re looking at a bumped shoulders or crossing wheels with somebody for most of the ride. That’s not fun – that’s more like a Cat 5 race, but nobody podiums.

Yeah, I don’t have a problem with the FB ride. One has to be mindful/careful, but it strings out pretty quickly once it hits Glebe. I am always clawing to hang on to one of the toward-the-front groups, so they may behave a little better than mid pack, I don’t know. I like the ride; it is very humbling and a killer workout.