From the mailbag: "hey Tim, did you here [sic] anything about the wreck on tanglewood? I herd [sic] there wer [sic] like 5 bikes involved and one guy died. any info?"

First off, the group that crashed was a well-known squidpack whom I do not ride with, so I thankfully was not there. There was indeed a fatality that night, but the death resulted from a separate, single-rider crash on the south side of town. Curious about the details, however, I talked to one of the responders to the Tanglewood mess. He said there were only two bikes involved in the crash, not five, although there was a group of five or six riding together when the accident happened.

According to my source, there was no evidence of a car having pulled out in front of the group, as was reported. Geometrically, and based on the actual crash evidence, all clues point to the likely possibility that the two involved bikes got tangled-up at high speed due to an improper lane change on the part of one of the riders. Four people were injured, one with severe leg trauma.

I also talked to a young female rider yesterday who claimed to be a regular hanger-outer with that group. She said they often "ride crazy" and that there had been near-misses in the past.

I was also told by my source that at least one of the involved riders had no motorcycle endorsement, no insurance, no tags, and no license plate. Gee, I just can't imagine how something like a group crash could've happened with such a responsible, well-trained rider in the pack.

This kind of crap is precisely the reason I won't ride with the teen set. A very sad event, but boringly predictable -- another notch on the bedpost where sportbiking gets screwed by public opinion.