5.20.2009

075: Endless Summer — Rapha Continental


Tragedy Strikes!

We had a rest day in between the Rapha Continental (keep checking the Road Journal, there's some good stuff about to drop) ride in West Virginia and the one that was about to kick off in State College Pennsylvania. Usually these days, transition days, result in a whole lot of lounging. They give us a chance to catch up on things...maybe write a blog post or two, buy a new cell phone (Dan), have an on the road business meeting (Fran), or even buy a bunch of fruit (Ben that time.)

We packed up relatively early to make the drive from wherever-we-were West Virginia to wherever-we're-headed Pennsylvania. This drive was great, the sun was shining and everyone was happy. We even met up with our hosts for the next day Whit and James. We drank some beers and talked about the "ramble" that was happening the next day.

Then it was time for our leisurely afternoon ride through campus. My grandfather went to Penn State and once I actually entertained the notion of doing the same. So, traversing the campus and stretching our legs at the same time seemed like a good idea. And it was, until upon arriving back at the hotel I received the call...




Our main man Dave Christenson, while out doing the exact same thing, riding and stretching his legs had been hit by a car. Not good at all. Steve and I rushed to the scene to find Ben standing over Dave's mangled road bike. The next few hours were pretty tense as we shuttled cars around and waited to see the prognosis.



3 Stitches. A few cuts, scrapes and definitely some bruises going on here, but that is it, three stitches. Amazing!


Needless to say but Dave has been an integral part of the Rapha Continental since he came along to shoot video of the Tour of California ride we did in January. Not only has he captured a side of the Conti that was totally unseen before, but this is just one all around great dude.

Side Note: He's the only guy who's ever called me "Bro" that I didn't want to punch in the throat. This is the kind of easy going guy that we're dealing with here.
He got some sweet new socks out of the deal though. I tried to acquire a set for myself too, as Dave and I decided that they might actually make for some nice booties for those cold days. With the extra grip on the bottom I think they could be quite a hit...


This was after Dave had been released and he and Ben could finally go over what had happened. I'm not even going to go into the actual details of the event, but lets just say that the official police reports were handed out and someone got a hefty violation of the law and it wasn't Dave.

I would say "Speedy Recovery" here, or something of that nature. But I saw Dave this morning and he was up before any of us and he spent the day hobbling around shooting video. What a fucking trooper!

Dave, you're the best.