Some riders in the 2011 RBC GranFondo won prize money, others got jerseys, still others got bragging rights over their buddies for the rest of the year.
But all 蜜桃视频appresident Mike McCarney got was a broken clavicle.
McCarney was moments away from finally finishing the race when he violently collided with a fellow rider, causing considerable damage.
"I got a flat about one kilometre or so from the finish," he said. "I decided that it would waste too much time to fix it so I just rode on my rim. But as I was riding slowly someone came up behind me and smashed into me."
Surprisingly, McCarney didn't panic and both he and the other rider involved in the accident dashed toward the finish line. But as he approached the line, McCarney realized just how serious the fall was.
"I was running by the barricades where the fans are and I heard someone say - 'Oh my God, that guy's got a broken collarbone,'" he said, noting the other rider suffered a separated shoulder. "I just decided to sprint out the last 100 or so metres but when I got to the finish line, I realized I had broken my collarbone."
McCarney was treated in the medical tent and then the Whistler clinic, where the injury was diagnosed as a broken clavicle. He admitted that the adrenaline from wanting to complete the race pushed him to the finish line but after reflecting on the race, McCarney said he thinks the GranFondo has some serious flaws.
"In my opinion there's too many people in the race," he said. "Last year was more manageable but I was in the main group [this year] and it was a big group and pretty sketchy. People were taking a lot of chances, they were swerving in and out of the cones and into the car lines, cutting people off and not looking behind them."
He pointed out that his group was so big that for most of the ride, they took up both lanes northbound on the Sea to Sky Highway.
"We were in the car lane all the way to the Furry Creek hill," he said. "They eventually moved us out but guys were still taking chances moving in and out of the cones."
McCarney said he thinks event organizers need to divide up the groups even more, possibly into half-hour segments as opposed to one-hour groupings.
"I'd say the two major things they need to do to make the race is better is reduce the number of riders and split us up even more from the start," he said. "They need more separation time between groups, maybe even 15 minutes. Most people in the faster group are good riders and could predict within 15 minutes what their finish time would be."
McCarney said he will not return for the 2012 GranFondo after taking part in the race's first two years.
"No way," he said. "Not with that number of people. The number of riders is too high and it's just the fact that they're trying to squeeze too many people down a small pipe of one lane."
