JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A man is speaking out after he was hit by a car while competing in the IRONMAN race on Saturday.
Zachary Stinson says he was just about to start his second loop in the 112-mile cycling course when a car turned out right in front of him.
“I saw it happening like in slow motion, and really thinking this is not happening,” Stinson said. “I had to make a decision, and I just turned my body and braked as hard as I could, but I couldn’t stop all my momentum.”
He says the collision left him with a laceration on his forehead and caused a substantial amount of bleeding.
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The IRONMAN race impacted more than fifty roads on Saturday. Locals in Nocatee and Ponte Vedra tell us the roadblocks caused hour-long delays.
Stinson says that while he’s cycling, he’s thinking about his cadence, heartbeat, power and nutrition — not his safety.
“I’ve done the training, I’ve done everything I need to do,” Stinson said. “I let IRONMAN work out the details and make sure it’s safe for the athletes.”
Still, he says that he doesn’t place blame on anyone. Instead, the solution is finding a mutually respectful way to get the most out of the event.
“There’s always going to be challenges, right, logistical challenges with this massive a race covering 112 miles in the big city,” Stinson said. “It just takes taking a hard look at everything, not casting blame or fault, just saying what we can do better.”
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St. Johns County Commissioner Krista Joseph also spoke out about traffic safety concerns after posting to Facebook that the county’s board of commissioners never voted on the event.
She says she was stuck in traffic for three hours on Saturday and witnessed multiple close calls between cars and bikers.
“I saw trucks with boats turning into the lane by accident, I saw people running across the street to get to the other side, in the middle of the traffic,” Joseph said. “It was just like a catastrophe.
Joseph says the board will be discussing how to “never let this happen again” at their upcoming meeting on Tuesday at 9 a.m.
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