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Joanne Turner

Age: 44

Bike: Cannondale Synapse HI-MOD2 SRAM Red

Time on this bike: Less than six months

Favourite ride: Outside Vancouver, along Marine Drive to Horseshoe Bay combined with a climb up Cypress. And, the road to Anderson Lake from Pemberton.

Quote: ‘‘I feel blessed to have a slightly different outlook on any challenge.’’

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If one rider wears a helmet because of this story, Joanne Turner will feel a sense of accomplishment.

The Kits Energy and Gastown Cycling team rider was two kilometres from the finish line of the Granfondo Axel Merckx in Penticton, a 92-kilometre ride over 1,000 metres elevation gain in the desert of the South Okanagan, when she crashed and broke her collarbone on July 13.

‘‘All I remember is flying over the handle bars, hearing my helmet hit the pavement hard and thinking,  thank God for that helmet,’’ she said.

Turner, adrenaline coursing through her, finished the race. Now sidelined for eight weeks following surgery and not likely cycling until the 2015 season, she thanked her Kits Energy teammates for doing all they could to get her, along with her road bike and car, back to Vancouver. 

Q: How did the accident happen?

I was drafting off a couple of people coming into the finish at the Granfondo in Penticton. Unfortunately, the guy in front slowed down very quickly and unexpectedly so my front wheel just nudged the girl’s back wheel in front of me.

My helmet hit the pavement hard. My left shoulder was next along with knees and left elbow. Thankfully I did not slide too much so the scrapes were not nearly as bad as they could have been. The other good news was that no one was right behind me so no one else went down or rode over me.

This is a great opportunity to reinforce the importance of helmets. If one more person reading this article, puts one on, that would make me happy. 

Q: What was the pain like?

At first, I was in shock and thankfully a few people further behind me stopped to help me up. I was pretty shaken up. For me, it is also all about what I call ‘‘the real theory of relativity.’’ After surviving leukemia and its treatment almost 18 years ago, I feel blessed to have a slightly different outlook on any challenge, including pain, than I certainly had before.

Q: How were you able to finish the race?

I had seen Mark Cavendish do the same thing in the Tour de France a week earlier and I was amazed when he rode to the finish. So in my crazy state, I figured I could do the same given that it was only about two kilometres. I literally took two big yoga breaths, clipped back in, balanced everything on my right arm and focused.

To be honest, I really did not think about it and in hindsight, it was likely not the smartest move of my life. However, it was my best race ever, despite the 40 degree heat, and I was pretty happy to cross that finish line.

Coming into the finish line, I was looking at the spectators and trying to look half normal. Not sure I achieved that! I was 100 per cent focused on getting off my bike without falling and then finding the medical tent. Sadly, none of the volunteers knew where the medical tent was, so we spent a lot of agonizing time walking all over the grounds looking for it. The good news was that once we got there, the medical staff were amazing.

Q: What is your recovery plan and when will you be on your bike again?

I pretty much have eight weeks off doing anything that involves my left arm, including driving. Mentally, that is not that easy especially because it is summer. However, it is all relative and have two good legs so I will put them to good use.

This article was corrected July 29; Joanne Turner rode the 92-kilometre distance, not the longer 160-km ride as first reported.

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