The inaugural Sedona Bike and Brew race Saturday, Aug. 23, left even the riders unable to finish it no less happy than the 60 others who did.

“This is going to be a very successful event in the years to come. No doubt about it. I will definitely be back next year,” said David Biermann, owner of a local construction company who helped design the obstacles and course layout for the last two months at the Sedona Golf Resort, as his wife Annie fed him a post-race beer through a straw.

“How’s that for service?” she said. “He wanted to test out the new wife.”

Biermann had one arm in a sling and another immobilized due to a double wrist break and collarbone broken after a third hole sand trap flipped his bike. The collarbone, Biermann added, will need to be surgically reattached in Flagstaff next week.

“I’ve always had trouble coming off of that lip,” he said. “I hit it way too fast. It shot me straight up in the air. I came down on the wheel and pogoed. Between the joints and the breaks, I knew something was wrong.”

For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Aug. 27, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.