[Keith A]

Wow, what a day this has been!!! I meet a friend this morning to do our weekly interval training over the causeway in Melbourne. He is a bit of a novice cyclist and has been doing triathlons over the last couple of years.

Everything was going great and we were 5 laps into the ride, I was a little ahead of him and was going up back over on the foot/bike path that is next to the road (but separated by a concrete barrier) and he was coming down at about 30 mph and somehow just lost control of the bike. I happened to be at the exact point going up as he was coming down it was horrible watching this happen and not being able to do anything to prevent it. I can't figure out what caused the crash as there was no flat tire and or anything apparently wrong with his bike. There was also no debris in the road that would have caused this.

He ended up with a broken collarbone, a couple of stitches in his hand and road rash from his shoulder down to his shin. They took him to ER and I followed on my bike. After he was settled, I rode home, showered and returned to the hospital to help him home. Fortunately, he knew one of the EMTs and they took his bike to the firehouse -- which on the same street that my friend works.

Overall, I am so thankful that his injuries were not any worse than they were. He initially had some memory loss, but this was temporary and the CT scan and x-ray did not show any injuries to his head. I am so glad that he was wearing a helmet, because if he would not have been, I am quite sure that I would not have driven him home from the hospital today.

I know this is a almost a religious issue for some, but please wear a helmet. You never know when something is going to happen to you -- I don't even want to think what my friend's head would have looked like today without one.

This event again brought home how precious life is and in an instant we or someone we love could be gone.

Be safe out there!