You meet the greatest people cycling.

I heard Carol and Dan took a tumble while leading a B Sig ride yesterday.

Yet their first priority was to acknowledge their group's excellent performance in responding to an accident - the previous week's lesson.

No poor me me me's?

Wow, makes me even more grateful to know them.

"Here are the facts as I understand them:

One of the B SIG groups (it's second ride of the season, so no paceline) went down on Grand Concourse & Fordham Road. As I warned my (B-16) group, GC at Fordham is notorious for (at least) two things:

1. ""Fancy"" crosswalks made of hexagonal bricks, many of which are missing.

2. The underpass is lit in such a way that you can't see hazards at the bottom until it's ""too late.""

Last SIG season, there was a big hole at the bottom of the underpass. I reported it to DOT (online here - http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/potholeform.html) and was surprised to actually find it repaired at the end of season.

I encourage you to report potholes online - http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/potholeform.html
(link courtesy Transportation Alternatives.)

The city is not liable for damages caused by potholes, unless they are given ""prior notice,"" an innovation of the Koch administration, so reporting is critical if we are to expect a. repairs and b. for victims to be compensated."

Our group was riding up the Grand Concourse double file but not pacelining. As we went down the hill to go under Fordham Rd. Dan's wheel caught either a rut or a pothole. He squirreled for a second and then went down to his right, sprawling across most of the lane, with his bike blocking passage to the left. (Dan was in the left line.) I had nowhere to go to get around him. I was not following too closely (probably about 4 or 5 feet by then), but there was no way to miss him so my front wheel slammed into his back & side. Anyone with a passing knowledge of physics will know that I went airborne at that point. I have no recollection of my flight or my landing, but the evidence suggests it was a face plant into the street. Amazingly, neither Dan nor I suffered any broken bones, torn cartilege or other serious injury.

I'm told everyone in the group did all the right things, such as diverting traffic, calling 911 and making sure Dan and I didn't move.

Looking at the bright side, the liquid diet I'm on for the next few days will help me lose some of the excess winter weight. My lips look like I had collogen injections...and people pay to have this done???

Thanks to all who helped us out, especially John and Audra, and thanks to all who have sent messages of concern and good wishes. I'll see you all on next week's ride.

Carol