Originally Posted by
bakerjw
Kind of like when you are on a group ride where people are maintaining 2 abreast and someone decides to pass and crosses the yellow line and into potential oncoming traffic.
The race route was on US23 for about 5 miles heading North out of Delaware State Park. It is a 4 lane divided highway with a frontage road for a stretch. The shoulder looks decent. I wonder if they marked off one lane or planned for everyone to ride on the shoulder.
20/20 hindsight but that is a darned busy looking road.
It did sound like they blocked off the right lane for the event. Perhaps Ms. Oswald was passing another group and was over-focused on that. Being "in the zone" usually results in the exclusion of all other "distractions", sometimes at one's peril. I imagine that there was some sort of competitor's briefing before the race to go over the route and how it was controlled. I also imagine that folks are thinking about the race and only half listen. Still, a semi makes a lot of noise so it's surprising that Ms. Oswald would not be warned. Race rules prohibited any electronic devices, so her ears were not impaired.
Man, I hate to hear about this sort of thing. Condolences to her family.