Industrialized Cyclist Notepad

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According to multiple sources — including Boulder newspaper Daily Camera, local Colorado cycling website 303Cycling, and veteran American racer Steve Tilford — Stetina, 57, sustained life-threatening injuries when he fell from his bike while trying to avoid colliding with a car in Lefthand Canyon, a well-traveled road for riding among the Boulder cycling community.

According to the Daily Camera report, troopers who responded to the scene said that a 1999 Jeep SUV was headed westbound on Lefthand Canyon when the driver, identified as an adult male, pulled across the centerline and onto a shoulder on the opposite side of the road.

The driver then attempted to pull back into the westbound lane just as a group of cyclists headed eastbound on the roadway came around a slight bend. All of the cyclists were able to avoid the vehicle, but one rider lost control in the process of maneuvering, causing him to fall from his bike, a Colorado State Patrol spokesperson told Daily Camera.

Though Stetina was wearing a helmet, Tilford posted to his website Saturday night that he’d received an email from a friend of Stetina’s, describing his injuries as “very serious.”

“Dale did not hit the car, but hit the pavement, landing face first, suffering significant facial and ocular damage, and loss of responsiveness,” the email message read. “EMTs were on the scene rapidly, he received good care. He was flown to Boulder Community Hospital in a Flight for Life helicopter. He is there now in ICU. The CatScan diagnosis revealed brain stem injuries. The neurosurgeon describes the injuries as very serious. Dale is in tough shape. The future of Dale’s recovery is not known at this time, the doctors have offered no predictions. His vital signs are stable given the trauma he encountered. We are all hopeful.”

via Former national champion Dale Stetina in critical condition after Colorado accident – VeloNews.com.

Brain stem injury — not from hitting the road but from getting his neck twisted violently.