Had my first road crash today on the way to key biscane. Was drafting my buddy and was a little zoned out when he slammed on the brakes for a red light he did not see in time (w no warning) and I slammed into him. It was pretty ugly at first glance but turned out ok - some road rash but no major damage. He was knocked out for a minute and cracked his helmet. Being the hard core rider he is, he shook it off and rode a good 50 miles. My front wheel had a wobble so I called for support and ended the ride. It was a real eye-opener that turned out better then it might have. Will never ride without a helmet - that is for sure. My new Madone took nary a scratch - still not sure how I got so lucky. The handlebar tape absorbed some of the contact as did the pedel and rear rim lever. All in all a very lucky outcome I guess..... I felt badly for my buddy but he also was preety lucky I guess.

in mishaps I'd venture to say. It seems we all at one time or another have fallen over while clipped in, and I admit to going down in a drafting situation similar to yours - just me and a riding buddy on an open country road and I caught the side of his rear wheel. Can't remember now why he slowed down, but off into the grass shoulder I went and stood the bike up on the front trie, which tacoed under my heft. No injuries, just had to hobble back into town with a floppy front end. BTW, howdy fellow florida rider.

Hmmmmmmmmm . . .

What can we learn here?

You don't ride in "traffic" like you're riding in a peloton on a race circuit. Pelotons don't encounter traffic, signals, pedestrians. You can't be aware what's going on around you when you're glued to someone's wheel.

You can still "draft" a rider and have a clear view of what sort of traffic conditions your riding in, But the wheel you're sitting on is more like 2 feet in front and to one side and you're watching the road, not the wheel.

Save the "peloton" stuff for racing.