Hey Pat, thanks for stopping !!!

To answer part of your question, one of our riders, Alicia Halpern, was also tangled up in the mess, a few went down in front of her and she sorta went over the top from what she tells us.

She came out of it ok, just some road rash.... apparently cleaned up by a nurse at some hospital that would have been racing that day in the 1/2s if he wasn't working...

Thankfully she was back on the bike in a couple days.... and doesn't seem to be too shaken by it either.

Thanks Andrew L. for the updates on Andrew M. !

Anyway Pat, thanks again...

- Jason
Tieni Duro

I appreciate all the kind things everyone has said regarding Berkeley, but with all due respect, I don't believe anyone else wouldn't have done the same if they happened upon the scene as Jonathan and I had. Andrew was obviously in distress and I knew that the situation could have possibly been serious. I was just doing what I was trained to do. Everyone at the scene deserves the praise just the same. My thank you to them and the effort they put forth.

There were also 2 others that were pretty badly shaken. I think a LGBRC female and another young man. Are they o.k?

Jonathan- We'll have our day again. Hunt had good things to say about you that day. I'm glad you stuck it!

KPat Mac- Glad to hear from you. I had asked your teammates how you've been.

PMg- The healing properties of chocolate is legendary, or didn't you know?

Paul- Thank you, but it's a small price to pay when you think about it.

Dan- Hope you're healing quickly. Tait too. The trainer will be your friend.

Herndo- Lippy when appropriate. Never pretty.

Lorachristine- Thank you my dear.

ALanier & the McIntire family- Thanks for getting the updates on here. I'll see you soon. Hang in there Andrew!

GF- You are too kind.

Patrick Briggs
California Giant-Specialized

Dear Fellow Cyclists,

Marcie, Liam (Andrew’s brother), and I were at the feed zone/finish line area when we got the call that Andrew had been injured in the race and was being taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Later we learned of how Patrick Briggs abandoned his race to assist Andrew. What a great example of being a Good Samaritan. Needless to say, he and the California Giant team have a few new fans.

Thank you to everyone who helped at the accident scene, helped us at the finish line, collected his gear, visited him in the hospital, and sent along kind words, prayers, and encouragement. Everything appears to be healing well, a complete recovery for the head trauma and fractured wrist are expected. We are hoping no other racers were seriously hurt.

Andrew returned to school for half days Wednesday and Thursday, and was able to do a full day Friday. No riding for some time, but he might go to the Velodrome Sunday to see the work that has been done and to say hi to friends, and we are planning to be around at the Mt. Hamilton RR and TBS Memorial Day Crit.

Good luck to everyone at the upcoming races.

Sincerely,

Clancy McIntire (Andrew’s Dad)

The host club was wise to ban a category 5 field from the race. As it was, the Junior field mentioned was quite large for a road race and many of the riders had only recently upgraded to category 4. When juniors with such a diverse range of experience race together--cat 5 to cat 3, 1st year to 6th year racing-- you're bound to see some squirelly riding and some panicking. Perhaps mentors could volunteer to ride with them, to guide and encourage those less experienced.

Patrick is not only an awesome racer, but also an extraordinary gentleman!

Patrick, i am in concert with all the others and thankful that you stopped to help (your first instincts are 99.9% correct) for Andrew really needed immediate assistance. What a completely unselfish thing to do and from the reply, a very grateful and very lucky rider that assistance came so quickly. But in all honesty Patrick, I would expect nothing less from you.

Andrew -- Godspeed!

THANK YOU to not only Patrick, but to MANY people that helped out!

Andrew McIntire was the kid that took the brunt of the crash. On the first descent there was a pile up in the rear of the junior field. With speeds at 40+ some kids got tangled up and started going down, Andrew couln't get out of the way and plowed into the riders that were going down. He went head / face first into the pavement. Lucky for him, he had 2 follow cars that were right there to help - Tieni Duro parents and Mike Tisdell and Tim Campbell. Not sure when Patrick got there, but Andrew was out for a good 5 minutes. LUCKY for ANdrew - Tim had a cell phone that actually worked. They got a hold of the EMT and Andrew's parents who were waiting at the feed zone.

Andrew was rushed off to the Childrens hospital in Oakland. Results were a broken left wrist, mild concussion, a little bleeding on the brain, and a fair amount of bruises, BUT Andrew as in good spirits, and was more worried about his bike, and wanted to know if he could race this coming weekend. The bleeding has stopped and follow up MRI will be done.

I can't tell you how many people helped in this unfortunate incident. I know Andrew & his parents are very grateful. Andrew is a very lucky junior. Thank you Patrick & everyone else from the race organizers, officals, EMT staff, follow cars and fellow cyclists!
:)

Andrew Lanier

so good to hear.

hope that kid is ok, nasty fall that.
-

when our field rolled slowly past the crash scene, we saw Pat on the ground and the first thing i thought was, "oh crap, not another leg break."

but, then i saw the he was down on the ground immobilizing a young rider's neck and i did a bit of a sigh of relief. 1) because Pat was ok; and 2) that the kid was in good hands.

respect to Briggs (even if he is a lippy pretty boy)

:wink:

The fine Mr. Briggs came to visit me in hospital. Maybe it was on his regular training route, but still. I can tell you he didn't come for the food.

I have talked to the promoter of the BHRR, Hal Danielsen, and he has offered Patrick free entry in the Albany Criterium and next years BHRR. It is so refreshing to hear of the unselfish acts of individuals and a loud shout out to Cal Giant Strawberry and all their sponsors for having someone like Patrick on the team.

Paul Chuck...who was proud to be the one that reg'd Patrick that day.

i also have experienced Pat's consideration. My second year racing Snelling, i was hurt pretty bad in a last 1k tire blow out, he was so awesome checking up on me that night and the next day, he gave me chocolate too! He is a fierce competitor but has perspective and i am so happy he is back out there tearing it up! (I know many ladies in the Nor Cal peleton that are happy to see him racing again!) Thanks for setting a great example!

I crashed hard in the sprint crit finish at Madera. I was banged up enough not to be able to pick myself up off the pavement. I just lay there and waited for help. One of the first guys on the scene was a Cal-Giant Strawberry and I'm pretty sure it was Briggs. I think he had done the race prior to ours. He stayed with me until the ambulance came and was great comfort! There were a bunch of other people who helped as well. One was a Dr. Rice I think. I can't thank Briggs and the others enough for helping me. I'm so impressed with him for pulling himself out of race mode and helping the guys at Berkeley. He displayed the better traits that we all aspire to.

Actually, I had joined Patrick to form a 2-up break, and we had a good rotation going when we came up on the accident scene.

After seeing the kid on the ground, without hesitation he simply stated "I gotta turn around", wished me good luck, and then he turned around to help.

Completely selfless act on his part. Patrick is a great bike racer and very competitive, but he also has a very healthy perspective on what is really important in life. I will always have tremendous respect for Mr Briggs.

I would hope that BBC would consider refunding Patrick his entry fees, or give him a free entry for next year.

Jonathan