Greetings to all. I'm John, Stu's older brother. I didn't start riding seriously until just a few years ago, but do now. I live south of Atlanta. Here's a message I sent to the groups I ride with which will give a few more details on exactly what happened. I have photos of the bike I can share if I can figure out how to upload to the site. Anyway, this is what I sent to my riding buds...

Tuesday, at midday, while riding the local training ride out of Ft Collins, (very strong group, 22-24 mph) he found himself in between two packs. He and another rider had been dropped from the lead group. The other rider got a flat and stopped to fix it, and Stu continued on. He was on a stretch of wide-open road with a good bike lane, unlimited visibility, sun directly overhead. From behind, an 18-year-old came up on him from behind, never slowing down, drifted into the bike lane and hit him at what we guess was about 60mph. The bike was creamed and thrown over 140 feet. Stu hit the hood, the windshield, the roof, and was launched over the car. We think his helmet came off when his head hit where the windshield joined the roof. Two weeks earlier the 18-year-old  had totalled his own car and was driving a borrowed car. He was with his 15 year old sister. They stopped immediately and were the ones who called 911.

Stu had his contact info taped to the outside and inside of his helmet, including Dr's name and number, in four places. (he was pretty thorough) But the EMT's never saw it. Someone at the site found his cellphone and started dialing numbers until they found someone who got in touch with his wife.

The hospital was very close. He was in the ER within 30 minutes and had his first CAT scan within 1 hour of the accident.

Right now he's in intensive care, unconscious but responsive in the appropriate ways. He does have a serious brain injury. No paralysis is expected. He has numerous broken bones and road rash from head to toe. A huge laceration on his head and both shoulders were completely opened up. He's not out of the woods but doing reasonably well. He's the toughest SOB I know and has survived some pretty serious tests. But right now, at best, he'll be in therapy for a long time.

Forgive me for preaching but a couple things struck me as important...I believe there's safety in numbers. 2,3, or 10 bicyclists are more visible than 1. He was in the right place but alone. Maybe if there'd been a couple others the driver would have noticed. Second, he didn't use a mirror. I do, but will be the first to admit I'm caught by surprise by passing cars all the time. But it's something.

Here's another interesting thing. Here's a link to an article about the accident in the local paper. I'd encourage you to read the reader's comments that follow it. Ft Collins is a bicyclists dream town. The roads are wide. The bike lanes spacious and well marked. The laws bicycle-friendly. Every business seems to have a bike rack in front of it. Many top level riders live and train here. But there's a war brewing between the cyclists and the local motorists.
http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll … /907160369

Anyway, apologies for the downer. I'm in the flying business. Crashes happen and we talk them to death to see if there's anything we can learn. I just wanted to give everyone a little food for thought. Be safe out there. (and if you can figure out a way to grow eyes in the back of your head, it would help.)