gnu - I suspect that's exactly what happened. David was riding in the company of several other riders, and they were in a small town, not moving very fast. As David turned at the intersection, he appeared to hit a bump, and suddenly accelerated rapidly onto the sidewalk and piled into the wall of the ice cream shop. I know the place, I drive by it frequently. I'm pretty sure his wrist turned the wrong momentarily and he unintentionally accelerated the bike. He remembers nothing about the incident. His fiance was riding passenger on another bike close behind with a more experienced rider. David had arranged it that way, as he felt she'd be safer, since he's not that experienced. Good thing he did!

The first car on the scene had a registered nurse in it. Another good thing. She reacted fast and helped stabilize him and call for help, and he got airlifted by helicopter straight to Toronto. The helicopter landed in a field right behind the main street of the town.

Fortunately, all this is paid for by our standard Canadian public health insurance. Otherwise David would be wrecked financially as well as physically. His employers have continued paying him full salary for the duration of his hospitalization! He is a very well-liked man with a lot of friends, employers included, it seems.