Sherminator Demolishes the Peloton!

Squeaky Returns!

You just never know!

Belo News
Galesburg, MI
August 1, 2009

Galesburg, Mi. – In a very unusual day for the Mighty Minion Nation this past Saturday, this write up will be a little less, “tongue in cheek” and a bit more serious. The Minions experienced a situation that reminds us all how sometimes things just happen and we should all be grateful with any chance to ride a safe ride on a Saturday.

Twenty two Minions showed up with two celebrity riders in the fold. Squeaky had returned to ride, as he was in from New Jersey visiting his kids. Also, Styker Guys son, Rob, came along for the event and his first group ride. It must have been an interesting experience for young Rob.

Before the ride began, our intrepid hero, the Sharkman, welcomed the celebrity riders and then reminded the Minions that this was the day of the Sherminator Triathlon and that they needed to be careful in the stage between Rt. 89 and G Ave.

Unfortunately, the Minions did not know HOW careful they needed to be!

As the peloton moved south from Rt. 89 they quickly came upon the final chase vehicle of the Sherminator. Just in front of the chase vehicle was an older lady in last place.

The Minions passed the chase vehicle and Sharkman later mentioned that he noticed that the driver had a Sheriff’s Department patch on his shoulder and he started thinking, “we just passed a Sheriff’s Deputy in a no pass zone.”

However, there was no reaction from the Chase vehicle as the Mighty Minion Nation formed a pace line and started to pick up speed. Shortly after the pass, a second rider was spotted ahead of the fast moving pace line, which had broken into two groups. As the first group, made up of Danimal, Falcon, Un-named Rider, Boffo and Sharkman, moved up the road Falcon shouted out, “Riders on the left!” and the line moved towards the center of the road. The robust woman rider, apparently freaked by the passing riders, began to wobble on her poorly set up bike.

As the second group came up behind her, she decided to look over her left shoulder again and as she did, she drifted left and apparently over compensated and made a complete left turn towards the middle of the road, into the second group of pacers who were on the yellow line. The woman's front wheel hit Sooner’s rear wheel, which actually corrected her course, but caused Hawkeye, All Black and Bullet Bob to take evasive action that caused the three riders to go down on the left side of the road.

Hawkeye took the worst of the road rash as he skidded across the road, while All Black went over him and landed on his helmet. Bullet Bob was thrown over All Black and landed on his back on the side of the road.

The sound of crashing bikes could be heard up the road as the shout, “bikers down!” was broadcast. As the first group turned around, they were greeted by the woman rider who was saying, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know, I’m sorry!” Apparently, she wasn’t sorry enough to stop and see if she could help. It was assumed it was more important for her stay ahead of the last place rider than to stop to see if she had killed anyone.

On the side of the road, the Sherminator crew and the Minions tried to help Hawkeye, All Black and Bullet Bob get back on their feet.

Hawkeye, in addition to major road rash, had landed on his back and had smashed open his Gu packs and had Gu running down his butt and onto his road rash. All Black’s sunglasses and handle bars were bent and it looked like his helmet may have been cracked. Bullet Bob really took a hard hit, landing on his back in the ditch on the left side of the road.

Both Hawkeye and Bullet Bob had major damage to shift levers on their bikes.

The good news is that no one was seriously injured.

It is interesting to note that Hawkeye and All Black had ridden the WAM 300 the weekend before and rode 300 miles over three days, in rain, traffic and with 900 + other riders and did so without incident. On a 27 mile jaunt around Gull Lake, a very large woman, on a comfort bike that looked like it wasn’t set up for her correctly, took out the three riders in what could only be described as an unexplainable move into the middle of the road.

It is a reminder to us all of how random these things can be and three highly capable and experienced riders were taken out by an action no one could have predicted.

The remainder of the ride was anticlimactic and the discussion in the Klutch centered around how unfortunate the whole affair had been.

Subsequent check of the riders on Tuesday revealed that Hawkeye is still suffering the road rash issues and will need a new Ultegra shift lever and All Black is fine, but may need a new helmet. Both were a little stiff the next day. Bullet Bob may have cracked or broken a rib in his back and has been sleeping in a chair, as he cannot lay down in bed. He also broke an Ultegra shift lever and will need to have it replaced. Unfortunately, Bullet Bob may be out of action for a while.

All in all, as bad as the crash was, it could have been worse and it is a reminder that we all need to be careful out there! We are extremely grateful no one was seriously injured, including the Sherminator Lady who didn't seem to know how to ride a bike.

Next Saturday – 8:00 A.M. Sharp! AND BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!

Be there!