Hello everyone. Todays Sunday ride we had over 70 riders with guests from the Value Act Capital women's professional cycling team and members of the Time Pro Cycling team and the rest of our normal cast of characters. Aside from a normal days ride we had a crash today near the final sprint at Solimar.

With a final sprint field of around 30 riders we were around 500 meters from the final sprint area when a touch of wheels between Nick Ianetta and Randy Perkins caused both riders to hit the deck at around 30-35 miles an hour.

Nick seems to have taken the brunt of the crash with Randy hitting the 40 grit pavement tearing some holes in his shorts, jersey and elbow. Nicks injury seems to be centered around his collar bone and shoulder area. I hope that he and Randy will be ok, but I am sure that Nick made a trip to the hospital. I will post more on this story when we hear how Nick is doing.

For those who do not know Nick he is the owner of Stone West, a Ride Ventura sponsor, and one of the largest speciality stone suppliers in the area. He has been riding with the group for almost a year now and has really become part of the rides.

There were many of us that were very close to the action that avoided being part of this crash. Some of us ran into the bikes in front of us and with some stroke of luck we were able to avoid the pavement.

It has been a long time since we have had a crash during the sprint. As a matter a fact the last one I can remember was nearly 5 years ago when myself and Antonio, a Sunday rider, locked handlebars during the Polo Fields sprint and hit the pavement at 35 mph. I walked away with a softball size hole in my shorts and a cracked elbow. Antonio cracked his helmet and lost some skin. Both of us were lucky as Nick and Randy were today.

I want to wish then a speedy recovery and just say this one point to all that are reading. Lets ride within ourselves and remember that this is just a hobby and that we all have lives outside of the bike that are much more important.

Take Care everyone.

Cheers from Ride Ventura.

BD