Shawn Ongers

This weekend Shawn Ongers, a rider on the Lenovo team suffered a nasty high-speed crash on one of the descents yesterday. He hit a signpost, and fractured several ribs, and six vertebrae. He is fortunately (miraculously) not paralyzed.

Shawn lives in Walla Walla, and I've known him since my Whitman days. He is a solid all-round racer, and a great all-round guy. Shawn was off to a strong season already, scoring a win in early March, and featuring in several other local races. I'm so sad to hear about Shawn's crash, and I'll be thinking about him a lot these next few weeks -- especially when I go up to race the Tour of Walla Walla, Shawn's (and in a way my) hometown race.

Best of luck in your recovery -- your presence will be missed in the peloton.

UPDATE: Shawn is doing relatively well. He's up and walking around. The fractures in his vertebrae were not terribly serious (apparently he broke the fins on this sides of his vertebrae instead of cracking them through the center), so according to the doctor, Shawn will be able to ride his bike before long.