John Madden wins the Masters 50 road title in June. He is also a classy tester, even against top elite riders (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Having been one of the strongest veteran riders Ireland has seen for a long time, claiming TT and road titles, John Madden is counting his blessings he emerged to tell the tale of a nasty incident while training.
The Irish Masters 50 road and TT champion was forced to dive from his bike onto the side of the road so a tractor with trailed turning right wouldn’t hit him.
And even when he threw himself to the ground the vehicle came so close he had to pull his legs out of the way so he wouldn’t be crushed under the wheels.
Madden was on his way to work, as a school principal in Larne, Co Antrim, this morning and was just about to pass a tractor pulling a long trailer when he noticed out of the corner of his eye the vehicle had indicated late to turn right.
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He said he was half way passed the trailer by the time he realised the vehicle was turning right, and straight into him.
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“He started to turn up a lane I hadn't seen in the dark; I had more lights on than a Christmas tree but still he just kept squeezing me across the road as he turned,” Madden said.
He told stickybottle he had decided to post details of the incident online and to share his experience here as a timely warning to other riders to be careful.
“I was slamming on the brakes but realised I wasn't stopping in time. I was shouting but he never heard.”
He said with the vehicle and trailer coming towards him and pinning him into the right had gutter, he had no option but to deliberately crashed himself into the corner of the lane the tractor was turning into.
“The bike came in around my back and as I sat in the road I had to literally pull my legs in as the rear wheels of the trailer rumbled past. My whole life flashed before me, and it wasn't even that interesting,” he joked.
As he lay on the ground shook and nursing some cuts and bruises the driver stopped the tractor at a gate into a field. It was only then he looked back and saw Madden, approaching him to see if he was injured.
The driver conceded he hadn’t seen Madden at all, despite very nearly running him over and the champion rider wearing high-viz and being well lit up for the dark morning.
He had himself medically checked after the crash and while no broken bones were found he was “pretty banged up”.
He urged other riders to be careful and keep his experience in mind, adding even with plenty of hi-viz and lights the driven hadn’t seen him at all.
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