Liz Hatch crashes hard.

From her blog: http://www.lizhatch.missingsaddle.com/

“I was participating in the “Ride the Route” fundraiser for the Women’s Tour Of California Criterium. It left from Santa Rosa and went to Calistoga and then doubled back to Santa Rosa. I arrived a bit late due to traffic and was attempting to catch the main group with few friends. On the last descent into Calistoga I was a bit off the front and enjoying a great time down the hill when I came up on a corner full of pine needles a bit too quickly (understatement) and my only choice was to try to lay the bike out or hit the guardrail… Apparently the second choice was better (???) and I went head first into it at 45k. Specialized helmets, THANK YOU! Also, ROOLY glasses!!! I am so glad I was wearing those things, they kept my eyes protected and all of the dirt and pine needles that ended up in my mouth, nose and ears, yes ears, didn’t touch my eyes! Not only that but they look like new post crash, cannot believe it.

I was knocked out for a short while and don’t remember much except that I couldn’t breath and my mouth was full of blood from biting part way through my tongue. Bob Cullinan from CycleTo was on the scene quickly (and ended up riding with me to the hospital and staying with me for 6 plus hours) as were quite a few other kind souls (Greg Durbin, thank you!) who stopped traffic so I wouldn’t get run over and called the ambulance. From there it’s a blur…”

More details and photos can be found here> Cycle To