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Cyclist makes impact on pace car
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BIKE RACE - The leaders draft down the straight away downtown Youngstown Sunday afternoon. - Special to The Vindicator/Nick Mays
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Jason Sweder from Boardman takes in The Tour of the Valley bicycling criterium in downtown Youngstown on Sunday afternoon. He was oneof many spectators who visited the downtown area to take in the annual cycling- stage event. The tour, which began Friday, was part of The Biggest Weekend of Summer celebration.
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BIKE RACE - Racers taking a turn at 30 mph downtown Youngstown Sunday afternoon. - Special to The Vindicator/Nick Mays
By John Bassetti
YOUNGSTOWN
A Cat 4-5 Men’s rider in the Tour of the Valley needed medical attention after he struck the back of a pace car and shattered its rear window.
Stephen Drake of Stark Velo smacked into the Buick Regal, which apparently, was in the street following the end of one of several criterium races on Sunday morning.
Drake’s Stark Velo teammate, Cary Ferguson Jr., said that he and Drake and another teammate, Jason Indorf, were just cooling down and talking about the Cat 4-5 race’s conclusion when the accident occurred.
“The conversation was kind of involved because it was an exciting race,” Ferguson said. “We were cruising about 20 mph, then the car was in the middle of the road — we really didn’t expect that — then we heard a really bad sound.”
It happened one lap after the finish.
“Everybody was just cooling down, getting the lactic acid out, catching their breath,” Ferguson said.
“He [Drake] just ran right into it. There were three of us and he was in the middle and we were yelling ‘watch out, watch out!’ He didn’t see it. I saw it just in time.”
After tumbling over the trunk and bashing into the rear windshield, Drake’s injuries included cuts on his chin and an arm.
“I think he got some glass in his arm and a little bit on his lip,” Ferguson said. “He seemed OK. Hopefully, he’s fine.”
The 25-year-old Ferguson finished third in the criterium race and runnerup overall in the Cat 4-5 Men.
“The pace car shouldn’t have been in the middle of the road,” said James Thompson of Handlebars Cycling of New York, who was also riding his cooling-down lap after the finish.
Thompson was the Cat 4-5 overall winner.