Quote Originally Posted by Crankin View Post
So, last Thursday we had a weather alert for high winds, up to 65 mph. A man got killed when a tree fell on his moving car, about 30 miles from here. Several clients told me they could barely keep their cars on the road while driving to see me.
So, yesterday I got an email from the invite-only group of cyclists I rode with once. I stay on the list because occasionally I learn some news I wouldn't elsewhere. Most of these people ride with my Wednesday group and I occasionally see one on an AMC ride. A bunch of them also ride with another group, based right in my area, which has a similar, slightly slower type of group like my Wednesday group on Thursdays. Six people came for a ride in those windy conditions. Three ditched it quite quickly. The other 3 went on, when one of the men apparently ran over a twig that got caught in his spoke, which was just part of all the debris in the road from the wind. He did an endo on the road. He needed a spinal fusion in 2 vertebra and a few other cervical things. He fractured a couple of ribs. While he is recovering nicely, he still has not regained all feeling in one of his legs (he had none in the beginning). I know this man in a casual way; he is very friendly and a good ride leader. All I can think of was what was the ride leader thinking when he didn't cancel this ride? There were serious weather alerts being issued. This is why I lead for AMC, where risk assessment is emphasized in the training. It comes from the hiking part of the club, but I am very happy for this. Yes, there's been a couple of times I cancelled and could have gone, but overall, I feel responsible for safety. I know the leader of the ride; he's a strange dude who often rides alongside of me and then gets mad when I drop him on a hill. He seems to ride all of the time, so he's now a little better rider than me, but I've spent a lot of time talking to him.
I just feel really badly for the guy who got hurt, all because of wind.
This is a big thing for me. We have folks in our club who talks about safety a lot but always in the context of motor vehicle collisions. I strongly believe that there are some weather conditions that are not safe for club rides, because by leading the ride you are implying that you consider the conditions to be safe. It's okay if you personally are willing to take the risk, but in that case you should cancel the group ride and ride on your own, rather than leading others who may not fully understand the risk or how to mitigate it. When it's very windy, very hot, there's a risk of thunderstorms, the roads are wet, etc., a ride leader has an obligation to say no, not today.

I hope the injured man recovers well.

North woods, one of my friends once encountered a bear on a road ride in the mountains in SW Virginia. But she was far enough away that she could stop and watch it go back into the woods without incident.