Let's Talk Cycling

smh at this whole thing:

http://road.cc/content/news/159478-video-close-passing-ultra-sweary-driver-takes-tumble-after-chasing-and-kicking

I am reeling right now. A friend of mine, and one of the most tireless advocates for cycling in Cleveland, has been spending the last two months cycling across the country from Cleveland to Seattle, where she is moving permanently. Her fiancé had moved there ahead of time and set up house to await her. Saturday night, she was hit from behind in Montana by a car going more than 60mph and has been hospitalized since then with potentially life-threatening injuries. Everyone I know is in shock. Shelli literally lived for cycling; she biked more than 30 miles a day at least, back and forth to work, and has cycled all over America.

Local Cleveland coverage: http://www.bikecleveland.org/bike-cle/news/cle-2-sea-shelli-snyder-in-our-thoughts/2016/09/

Montana new story: http://www.dailyinterlake.com/news/local_montana/bicyclist-pedestrian-hit-by-vehicles-on-u-s/article_cff19898-7eb0-11e6-b745-b31e1d12ec3d.html

Oh damn. So sorry to hear this. Sending absolute best.

So horrible Phil. I think about that and it's why I rarely ride on the road anymore.

A woman in Montana who was on the scene when Shelli was hit, and rendered what aid she could (she happens to be a veterinarian) until EMS arrived happened to post about it on FB: https://www.facebook.com/bethany.e.harris.9/posts/10104501151363548 . She then later found our FB group for keeping each other posted about Shelli's status and has been posting there.

Two of our other friends -- one of whom leads our local cycling group -- flew out with Shelli's mom. They've been keeping her in a medically-induced coma for a few days, she had surgeries on her leg, hip and arm and they want to see if the frontal lobe swelling subsides. She can breathe on her own but they're keeping her on a respirator while she's comatose. (Apparently yesterday morning she started coughing and reached for the tube, but they dosed her with additional Dialaudid and she relaxed. I guess that's good?)

yes good in the sense that a) it's SOP and b) results were what would have been anticipated.

A lot of waiting and hoping (and praying, if you're that kind of person) is about all they can do right now. So rough.

Ugh, Shelli was taken to emergency surgery this morning, as pressure in her brain increased overnight so they're going to temporarily remove a portion of her skull. She's still being kept comatose and incubated.

If/when she's stabilized and cleared by a neurosurgeon, they're going to Lifeflight her back to Cleveland, which is so bitterly ironic I can barely handle it. It's also going to eat up most of what her GoFundMe has raised so far, about $30,000.