Quote Originally Posted by Lifesgreat View Post
I bet they had us do that roundabout way to the finish so we wouldn't be making a left turn into the finish-fewer traffic conflicts. As I rode past the other turn I thought "wait, I am supposed to turn there", but we went off a different way.

I only saw one accident. It looked like a girl crashed crossing some RR tracks about six miles out from the start, before the Mendon rest stop. The police and EMTs were there and the ambulance passed me going to the scene. After leaving Mendon's rest stop, the town's volunteer fire department siren went off, summoning other EMTs. I hope all are okay.
Yep, 1 of the guys at a rest stop told me that he heard she broke her arm.
I also saw a rider take another down, as she overlapped and did more than just "touch" wheels. When I got to them, they were both getting up, picking up their bikes and the 'take-down' rider was saying, "I'm sorry, I was totally not paying attention; are you ok?" - all this as she was clipping in and rolling off again! The woman whom she caused to fall, had to re-adjust her saddle, so I stopped, held her bike and helped her do that, as she also was a bit shook up and needed some time to settle the [understandable] jitters.

I had to cancel this ride last year after being hit and injured by a car, so I was glad to be able to ride it this year. It's a beautiful route, well-supported and I was impressed and appreciative of the area drivers, as I didn't experience or observe any aggressive driving, horn honking or drivers yelling at cyclists, so it was a great 're-entry' experience for me to have, being back on the road and doing the century route. On the other hand, I did see lots and lots of 2 - 5 abreast riding and lots of blowing right through stop signs, despite constant warnings by ride organizers - too bad.
The roads were clear of debris too - only saw some glass in a couple of places...and I did have rain, even some hail on the north end of the valley/century route, plus pretty constant headwinds as the route turned south toward the lunch stop, then pretty much all the way back in...whew!
I had to rely on 'memory miles' from doing tons of previous centuries and the pure enjoyment of riding my new Seven, as I'm not as fit nor strong as I was pre-injuries, but I was determined to do this ride and did not want to have to wait another year! Post-ride ice, then jacuzzi and vitamin "I" (ibuprofen) helped my still-recovering body too!
Thanks for a great ride, Utah TE'ers!