40 miler and a nasty crash

I did a 40 mile group ride today. Cold at the start but it warmed up to about 50 by the end. Unfortunately, the ride was ultimately plagued by a nasty crash by one of the guy's on the ride. We were on a windy downhill with quick ups and he was out in front behind the leader. I was in the third position about a curve behind him and when I came around the curve all I saw was a bike on the ground and guy on his back, not moving.

A squirrel had run out into the road just as he was passing and got caught up in his spokes, bringing him down. Because his bike was a good 10-20 feet from his body it looked like he was going @ a pretty good clip when the squirrel collided with his wheel bringing him down while he seperated from this bike. He must have stopped while the bike continued to slide across the road.

When I approached, I got quickly off my bike and went to see how he was doing. The guy who was out in front was already there attending to him. Unfortunately he was having a hard time breathing and was complaining that he could not feel much.

When I came up to his bike the squirrel's stomach had come completely out of its body and was laying about 5-10 feet from its body which was wrapped up in the spokes and was clearly dead. I thought the head had been decapitated by the angle I was looking at it but that was just the hole in its chest from where the stomach had popped out. Quite a biology lesson.

The cops and ambulance eventually arrived and took him to the hospital. Poor guy. He was 61 and was the strongest rider in the group. I hope he has a speedy recovery.

As for the ride itself I felt strong most of the way. I felt my legs a lot towards the end of the ride which ended on some ok sized hills. I still have to remind myself that I have never been out this early in the season riding this much and that for the amount of riding that I have been doing outdoors that I am feeling pretty dang strong. As long as the weather cooperates, I am hoping for a strong start to the season. I just need to keep my motivation up.