For IU student Hank Duncan, the worst has already happened. Duncan, who is a senior Little 500 rider, was involved in a horrific accident on 10th street and Fee Lane earlier this year.

“The injury left me with something I will remember for the rest of my life.”  Duncan said.

Duncan who rides for Forest cycling, was on his way to class when the accident happened.  A driver on 10th street didn’t see him, swung open the car  door and hit Duncan in the process.  Duncan was slammed by the door and hit the pavement, striking his head, and landing on his wrist.

Huge crash with multiple injuries, and its on turn one again. That’s caused issues over and over. No caution flag however. 164 laps scored. #Little500

— Matt Cohen (@Matt_Cohen_) April 13, 2019

“The pain was some of the worst of my life,” Duncan said.  “I really had no clue where I was at first and was just looking at the blood pouring out.”

Duncan was raced to the hospital and doctors put 12 stitches in his head and diagnosed  a broken wrist in two spots.  Duncan said he is grateful it was not a lot worse.

Duncan is a senior leader for Forest cycling. He was  injured again during team pursuits just a week before the Little 500.  Duncan re-injured his wrist, spraining it this time, and had such bad cut up knees, he could barely walk.

“This really just topped off how this whole season in biking has gone.”  Duncan said. Duncan is used to getting the usual cinder scraps, but this really put him in a pickle.  Ride the race in pain, or have his team down a rider.

Injuries are always common in street rides and riding on the track.  It is something most riders have in the back of their mind, but when it happens, it can be terrifying. Cinder injuries are most common on the track for riders and IU senior Bret Lawson is always there to treat them.

“Cinder injuries are some of the worst for riders.”  Lawson said.  “We really have seen some bad stuff, but these are the one riders hate us for.” Lawson, a student who runs IU-EMS, is an EMT on site for rider injuries on the track.  He is at the track daily to treat riders any way possible.

“We see a lot of broken collarbones and cinder injuries.”  Lawson said.  “It is a good day when we don’t have to transport someone.”

Lawson said the track is made of cinders what is a mixture of asphalt and burnt wood.  These injuries have special treatment as well.  The medics use a mixture of water, gauze and cinder suds.

“When a rider goes down on the track, we first apply water to clean the injury and get the base layer out.” Lawson said.  “We follow that up with cinder suds and then scrub like the dickens.”

Leaving cinders under a rider’s skin can be dangerous..

“We must get those cinders out or an infection could occur.”  Lawson said.

Duncan was able to push through the pain and ended up riding in the race on Saturday.  It was something that Duncan said he will never forget.

“Even though the pain was horrible, I wanted to push myself and others that have had injuries during biking.”  Duncan said.