Those of y'all who did the CROC ride will undoubtedly remember Howard--who drove the little red pickup--and his wife Chicken--who was the head hula girl at the Kamanawana-Lei-U SAG stop, Sue who had the Tailgate Party SAG stop, and Chuck--the head CROC-er-oo who wore the big green CROC hat. Anyway they left June 6th to cycle the Northern Tier--with others. On Wed. Howard was hit by a big pickup near Minot, ND. It was obviously intentional. They were in a pace line--a slow one, as one of them had been sorta ill the night before. The truck struck Deb who was at the rear of the line and bruised her left arm. It skipped the next 2 riders and then struck Howard catapulting him over his handle bars and onto the left side of the highway. The truck then accelerated and sped off. It all happened so fast that nobody was able to get a tag number. The police are looking, but they probably won't find the criminal.

Howard has a broken ulna and a severe laceration -- from wrist to elbow -- on his left arm. He also has many bruises and road rash. He had surgery today in Minot to put a plate in his left arm. His helmet was smashed in the back. He's very lucky. It could have been catastrophic. His and Chicken's adventure is over. The rest will go on. I always question what people think when they pull a stunt like this. Do they think people on bicycles are really just papier-mache dummies?

If you want to follow their progress, here's the link. http://powc2c.wordpress.com/ It has a great picture of Howard smiling from his hospital bed. What a warrior!