Posted by Dan on 28. June 2010 18:10
Following the disappointment of my erroneous navigation, I went home and bought a Garmin 705. Mostly for France, but maybe for Smithfield too. While keeping an eye on usacycling's Twitter updates, I anxiously waited for the results of the elite men's nats where Ben King was off the front alone with a 2:00+ gap. Literally 5 seconds after I see the tweet declaring him the winner, I get a phone call from Frank. "You're calling to tell me Ben King won the road race?" "No," he says. "We got hit by a car. Come and get us." Oof.
He and Steve M. had gone for a ride and were both hit by a two guys in a late model gray/silver Jeep Cherokee. They think they first encountered him immediately after turning left off of Miller Store Rd. at the airport. The driver pulled up along side and shouted something unintelligible, then turned left on Military Hwy. and was gone. Frank and Steve continued on Robin Hood Rd. headed toward home. After crossing over Sewells Point Rd., the jeep returned and steered toward the right curb where the two were riding, hitting Steve, who was on Frank's wheel, in the rib cage with the passenger's side-view mirror and then hit Frank with the bumper of the car. Neither was able to stay up (go figure) and they went down.
A witness and her son checked to make sure they were OK, then sped after the jeep. She was able to get a partial license plate (XKT-49??) and share a few words with the driver (like "The cops have been called! You'd better go back! You hit them!" and a reply of "No, I didn't hit anyone!") before he sped away and she returned to the scene. Norfolk Police are trying to track these guys down for any number of charges. Frank's hand is broken, he's got road rash and bruises in various places and his bike looks a bit worse. Steve's in similar shape. If you have any information at all that might help the police find these guys, please let us know or call the Norfolk Police Department's Detective Division at 757-664-7036.
Let's wrap this weekend up with Part 3.