Rich - thanks for the well wishes and explanation of what you saw. Tommy
Mannion (CCB) was most likely the guy who took out your front wheel. He called
me and was sick with remorse about what happened. He's not at fault. Turns out
that he hit his brakes when someone in front or next to him swerved to avoid the
manhole cover. THAT action is what caused the chain reaction. That unecessary
swerving is EXACTLY what I was refering to in my posting. It should never
happen and wouldn't happen with more experience.

I'm glad you're not hurt badly and I'll see you before long.
-Gene

-----Original Message-----
From: hazelnutp@... [mailto:hazelnutp@...]
Sent: Monday, April 05, 2004 8:34 PM
To: Gene Petrella
Subject: Re: [necyclocross] Riders down at Marblehead


Gene,

I was also involved in this wreck. I am very happy to hear that Joe is going to
be OK. It was really awful to see him in such a condition. I hope that you
also will heal quickly. I, thankfully, walked away with bumps, bruises and road
rash.

On the crash, I am really confused why this happened in the first place. The
rider in front of me cut hard right when he saw something happening in front of
him. This, in turn, took out my front wheel and sent me sliding across the
ground. The thing I also didn't understand is why the pack went into this
section with so much speed. It seemed there was always an acceleration before
the downhill? I'm not sure if it was inexperience that caused this crash but,
more so, overreaction and maybe some cobwebs from not racing for months. This
was my 8th year doing Marblehead (3rd year as a Master) and I have never seen
this happen.

At any rate, again, please pass along my well wishes to Joe and I hope I see you
both out racing later this season.

Rich Perrotti
Team Rage
> Sometimes bike racing can turn into some pretty serious business.
> Yesterday, I spent the day in the emergency room alongside my
> teammate, Joe Rano, who sustained a serious head injury at Marblehead
> in the master's 35+ race. I sustained a broken collarbone in the
> same wreck but I was so panicked when I saw Joe lying in a pool of
> blood, unconscious, that I didn't feel anything.
>
> I think Joe is going to be O.K. He spent the night in the ICU,
> mostly for close observation, and will have follow-up MRI and CAT
> scans today to make sure that there is no injury-related bleeding in
> his brain. He'll race again soon. So will I.
>
> The person who caused the wreck knows who they are. I am not writing
> to berate them. Accidents are part of the sport and I've been in the
> sport for close to 25 years and accept the risks. But here's
> something to think about:
>
> We (myself included) should all consider our skill level when we
> enter races. Masters racing, in particular, allows virtually all
> skill levels to be involved (e.g., yesterday's race allowed category
> 1-4, I believe). The accident occurred on the downhill sweeper, a
> seemingly innocuous but reasonably technical turn. Someone got
> bumped or slipped a bit and over-reacted. Skills clinics can prepare
> one for these circumstances. Let's consider participating in either
> formal clinics or tapping into our more experienced racers for
> informal lessons so that a minor bump within a field doesn't turn
> into a catastrophe. People like Adam Myerson and Tom Stevens come to
> mind when I think of local skills coaches. I'm sure that there are
> others.
>
> Being relatively new to the area, this is the only newsgroup that I
> subscribe to. I would really appreciate it if any or all of you
> could circulate this message to other news groups, clubs, officials
> or anyone you see fit to particpate in a discussion, etc.
>
> Thanks and I'll see you at the races in eight weeks, if all goes well.
>
> Gene Petrella
> Gearworks/Spin Arts
>
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