We were on our normal group ride this Saturday. I was on the front riding tempo with a friend. The terrain was a slight incline to a very short descent into a left turn.
After I crested the turn, I looked back over my left shoulder. The coast was clear. I did not see any cars and motioned left and yelled the same so everyone knew what was coming. Right as I started to turn left I heard a car accelerating rapidly. As I started the turn, people started to yell. I looked back again and a car was passing on the left, as I was turning left. I was too deep into the turn, and had to continue. I had no option. The guy to my right was able to stop and swerved to the right. I ran off the road into the ditch.
The car literally accelerated over a blind hill, across a double yellow line to pass us on the left as we were turning left. The car was a few feet from “T” boning me and taking out my riding mate. It was terrifying.
Here are the lesson learning for me:
(1) I think some drivers would honestly have no problem hitting a cyclist. So we should just assume every car could hit us. Listen for them. Fear them. Never get comfortable around them. Assume they will drive too close to us. Plan for it.
(2) I thinking I looked over my shoulder beyond the crest of the hill and did not see anything. I should have looked twice before turning. Especially on a blind hill like that. If you live by (1) above, you would not be surprised by a car passing cyclists over a blind hill over double yellow. It will force you to look more before turning. Always.
(3) When riding in a large group, the person at the front and back of the bus are responsible for the safety of the group. The people in the back should have looked sooner, should have motioned sooner, and should have yelled sooner. By no means am I blaming them here. This driver was on a mission to kill someone. But if I had heard something sooner I might have gone straight, avoiding the “T” bone situation.
(4) Slow down, way down before turns like this. Turning left, over a blind hill with lots of people in a residential area. Why go fast? There is no need. I was going too fast. SLOW DOWN.
Thank god everyone else went straight, avoided the crash, and kept multiple people out of the hospital and morgue. @Coach_Theia was behind me and watched the entire thing. She almost saw me die. It was pretty terrifying. We have it all on video too. I’m going to post later.
I flinch when I hear cars coming! At least in trails if I go over it’s not because some kind of vehicle driver can’t wait for 2 seconds before passing safely! I love the idea of road bike trips but not the reality 
be safe out there ladies 
