By Timothy Carlson- Slowtwitch.com
Just last weekend, Australian triathlon superstar Greg Bennett was smiling and getting a trophy, applause and an $8,000 check for winning his fourth straight Nautica New York Triathlon. But six days later, returning home after an exhilarating 55-mile training ride Saturday on the St. Vrain Loop, Bennett got hit by a car while cruising home in north Boulder.
"I was riding a mile from home on North Broadway across the street from Amante coffee shop," said Bennett Sunday while nursing a severely sore shoulder, swollen knees, and a suspected broken nose. "We were both going south on a slight downhill, fairly fast. I was in the bike lane and he was just in front of me when he suddenly put on the brakes to turn into a driveway on the right and there was nothing I could do. He hit me and my head hit the curb and my front wheel buckled and all that type of stuff. I think maybe most of the force came from hitting the curb. Then I was laying out on the pavement in shock."
Bennett said he has a hard time remembering the moment of impact, but he was not knocked out. "Blood was everywhere," he said. "My nose was smashed and bleeding seriously. All the blood was in my eye. When they asked me where it hurts I said 'My shoulder, my elbow and a bit of whiplash in my neck.' It seemed like all the blood had gone to my right eye and I could not see with it."
Look at this picture of Bennett in Boulder Community Hospital and it doesn't look like the handsome devil-may-care triathlete who could have modeled for the poster of the movie Gallipoli about brave Aussie soldiers. More likely, this fellow could have modeled for the chewed up soldiers in a field medical tent. Instead of looking like triathlon's version of the young untouchable Muhammad Ali, he looks more like that classic boxing photograph of Jersey Joe Walcott's face getting flattened by a punch from Rocky Marciano.
Just after the moment of impact, when he had a moment to collect his wits, Bennett thought this might be a serious career interruption. "I thought 'Oh shit! Just as I was getting my season together and won New York, now the year is over," said Bennett, 36.
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Filed under: Cycling, biking, News, Triathlon
Tags: Bike Crash, Greg Bennett, Slowtwitch.com, Timothy Carlson
David Wallach
4 days, 9 hours ago