"I DIDN'T even hear a car coming. And the next thing I know I'm waking up with an ambulance officer standing over me.''
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Prospect cyclist Tim Sherriff is still trying to piece together the missing minutes of Sunday morning that left him on hospital for three days with bruising on his brain.
The father of five was on the Meander Valley Highway between Hadspen and Carrick about 9.30am, completing the final leg of a training ride with a workmate, when he was hit by an unknown motorist.
The driver did not stop.
The crash occurred just five days after Launceston man Derry McCormack was hit by a semi-trailer on the West Tamar Highway at Riverside. Mr McCormack spoke to his family for the first time since the accident yesterday.
The car that struck Mr Sherriff on Sunday is believed to have left behind a side mirror, apparently ripped from the car in the impact.
``I had only just commented about what a beautiful day it was and a car - I didn't even hear it - came up behind me and struck me and took me out and I might have taken my friend out,'' Mr Sherriff said.
The pair had ridden from Prospect to Whitemore in training for this weekend's Western Tiers Challenge.
It was to be the first race for Mr Sherriff's new road bike, bought just 11 days before the crash.
Another motorist stopped to help the riders and call an ambulance.
``The thing that frustrates us is the person who caused the accident didn't bother to stop,'' Mr Sherriff said.
``It could have been much worse.''
Mr Sherriff was discharged from hospital yesterday; his riding partner was cleared to leave on Sunday afternoon.
``I've got some internal bruising and I've lost a fair bit of skin, and I feel . . . I feel like I've been hit by a car, to be honest,'' he said.
The 55-year-old has been riding Tasmania's roads for five years and said this was not his first run-in with a motorist.
``Everyone just needs to show respect to other road users,'' Mr Sherriff said.
It's the same message preached by friends and family of Derry McCormack.
Mr McCormack, 66, spoke to his family yesterday for the first time since being placed in an induced coma at the Intensive Care Unit at the LGH last Tuesday.
He is expected to undergo more surgery today but friend and fellow cyclist Graeme Hodskiss said his condition had improved.
``He is slowly getting better and breathing on his own,'' Mr Hodskiss said.
Police want to talk to anyone who witnessed a dark Ford vehicle near the old Bass Highway between Hagley and Carrick on Sunday morning.
Information can be left anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
