Some sound advice for driving also applies to biking on the Razorback Greenway -- if you get run off the road.
Drivers learn that if their car runs off the highway, slow down before steering back on to the road. Resist that initial reaction to immediately turn back toward the pavement. Accidents happen when a driver over-corrects.
It's the same on a bike. An accident on the Razorback Greenway proved it in a painful way.
Two riders from our little Tour de Madison County biking group were heading south along the greenway two weeks ago. The husband and wife were pedaling through Fayetteville, near Walker Park.
Two other riders were headed toward them when a groundhog crossed the trail. The woodchuck distracted the oncoming riders and one veered into the couple's lane.
The avoid a head-on bike collision, our female friend steered off the trail and into the grass. Danger passed and our gal immediately steered at an angle back toward the trail while still rolling along.
Trouble happened when the lip of concrete on the edge of the trail caught her front tire. Over she went sideways like a ton of bricks, crash landing on the concrete.
She's one tough and lucky gal. Fortunately no bones were broken. When we got together for our next group ride, our friend showed us her battle scars. She's pretty much a walking bruise, black and blue from left shoulder to her forearm. There's a big knot on her elbow. Her left leg is one massive bruise from hip to knee, so colorful it looks like a purple tie-dyed T-shirt.
Then there's her head. Seat belts are life savers in cars, and helmets are life-savers for bike riders. The left side of our gal's noggin smacked the concrete like a sledge hitting home. Her helmet saved the day.
The lesson learned here is to slow down, even stop, if your bike runs off the trail and into the grass. Most of the greenway is concrete, with an edge that may be less than an inch off the ground. But that's high enough to catch a bike tire and throw a rider like a mean rodeo bull.
If you don't stop completely, roll back on track with your bike at a 90-degree angle to the trail.
Our Tour de Madison County bunch saw this same thing happen about a year ago on the greenway. On that day, a rider came up from behind. "On our left," he said, then went around us.
For whatever reason he ran off into the grass and turned back to the trail while still speeding along. Down he went in a heap, hitting the concrete with a thud, spokes 'a flying.
We stopped to lend him a hand. He stood up, unscathed, and worried most that his bike was all right.
Another moral to the story: If a woodchuck crosses your path, stay in your lane.
Flip Putthoff can be reached at fputthoff@nwadg.com
Sports on 08/21/2018