I met up with a few fellow Cannondale Riders this weekend and the weekend could not have been worse.
First, I turned on a new Cdaler to one of my good friends who has a GNCC style Dale in Ocala. They met up to ride in the area. I left from Miami (5 hours one way) to meet up with them and I was picking up a fellow Daler on the way. I left early to be able to have some time with my friends. By the time me and my buddy got there we found out the guy with the GNCC quad had a fuek leak while riding and had a complete melt down to the ground! I have heard of this before, but never seen one up close. I was completly shocked to say the least. I built the motor in the quad, but he had a fuel line come loose and the result was a pile of molten aluminum. Absolutely nothing was salvagable. The only reason I saw it was because the guy was smart enough to have ATV insurance on it, so he brought the pile of mess back with him to the house.
To make matters worse, the guy I picked up on the way, (who is a well known member of the site) had broke his arm severely and this was the first time I had seen him since the incident. He had two plates and 21 screws put on the 2 bones in his arm. The accident was on a Cdale was just 7 weeks ago. Him and another rider hit head on in the trails with the handlebars of the other guy hitting him squarely on the forearm at speed. OUCH.
Lastly, I just heard that one of our most beloved CannondaleRiders is currently suffering through the agony of watching his fairly young mother go thru the final stages of cancer and is in pretty bad shape emotionally himself.
I needed a timeout real bad after the last one. Please keep all of our fellow riders in your prayers as you never know what is going to happen when.....
Happy trails everyone, please make it a safe one.