On July 27, 1991, ten riders started the Mt.Hamilton Moonlight Ride. Not satisfied with just doing the front, Seana Hogan and I decided to do the back side, also. About five miles down the back, Seana hit a rock and went down hard. The time was about 1:00 AM Sunday morning.
After a few minutes, Seana came to, and was able to recognize me. She did not remember falling down. Seana could not get up, but stayed where she fell, stretched across one lane of the road.
I wanted to go for help, but Seana would not let me go. She was afraid to be left alone, and I was afraid to leave her alone. We decided to wait. A long half hour later, a car came down the road, the only car that would come for the next few hours.
The driver went back up to Lick Observatory to call for help. I waited with Seana. Another half hour later, help began to arrive. The first to come was the Sheriff from Isabel Creek. Next came the police from up the hill. Then the fire department from Patterson Junction. Then a helicopter from San Jose, and finally an ambulance from San Jose. The ambulance took Seana down the hill to Isabel Creek where the helicopter was waiting to take her to San Jose hospital. (It would cost a total of $24,000 just to get Seana to the hospital.)
The helicopter took off at 3:20 AM, over two hours after Seana's accident. I got a lift back up to Lick Observatory, but then had to ride my bike on down to San Jose. I got to the hospital at 5:30.
X-rays had already been taken. Seana had a broken collar bone, eight broken ribs, and two breaks on her pelvis.
Seana spent one day in ICU, one week in the hospital, then three weeks in a wheelchair, and finally two weeks on crutches. After six weeks from the accident, Seana got the ok to ride her bicycle. Little did her doctor know what "ride her bicycle" meant.
Seana started with 27 flat miles, then did the Metcalf Mauler the second day. She rode over 200 miles that first week. After two weeks, Seana rode with me to where she got her accident, doing both sides of Mt.Hamilton, plus Kincaid, for 9200 feet of climbing in 71 miles. Three days later she did the Mt.Hamilton Challenge route, all by herself. After three weeks Seana did her first double century.
All of this riding was to get ready for the 508 mile long RAAM qualifier that included 35,000 feet of climbing near Death Valley. With just six weeks of riding, Seana completed this race, taking first place in 36 hours and 21 minutes. She went on to win RAAM.