Life can change in an instant!

I had a real wake-up call today. I was about 23 miles into a 25 mile ride, cruising along, heading for home in San Rafael. I was feeling good today...the sun was out, the rain had stopped, it was getting warmer, and I had "good legs".

A big double-long truck, hauling rocks from the quarry in San Rafael, went around me. I did my best to keep up with him, and I able to tuck into his slipstream for a while.

We were coming around an easy right-and turn, just east of San Rafael High, and all of a sudden I could hear the sound of rocks and gravel hitting the inside wheelwells of a car. I looked over to my left, and saw that a silver car was trying to come around me and the big truck.

The driver of car moved too far to the left, into the "marbles" along the side of the road. He started to swerve, and the back end of his car stepped-out and banged into the guard rail that separates the east and westbound lanes. That sent him violently to the right...he was spinning directly in front of me, and headed toward the truck.

Somehow, the driver managed to crank the wheel to the left, which caused the whole car to do a 180 right in the middle of the road. The force of that move was so violent that it snapped off the front left wheel of the car. The car ended up gong backwards over the median, flinging body and suspension parts along the way, until it came to a rest teetering on the median.

The car was creamed, but thankfully, the driver appeared to be ok. Probably head and neck injuries, but other wise OK.

It's now been a couple of hours since this happened, and the gravity of the situatuion is starting to sink in. Holy crap...I could have been killed. It was just like everyone says...the whole scene moved in slow motion, and I felt like I was watching from a distance, instead of being right in the middle of it all.

Had the car turned a bit more to the right, or spun-out at a different angle, I would not be here writing this. My God, how quickly things can change.