CRASH!

This is what went down last night at the first race of our crit series. They have an “A” race and a “B” race. The A race (40 laps) is for the 1/2/3’s. The B race (20 laps) is for the men 4/5’s and ALL women. This was the B race sprint finish, about 35 feet from the finish line. One guy left in an ambulance.

ap crash1.pl

ap crash2.pl

ap crash 3.pl

ap crash 4.pl

Thanks to Jeff Jakucyk who always takes the best pictures!

About Judi

Bicycles are my salvation. They are my way of life. If you don't like it, then you can go straight to hell. Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

28 Replies to “CRASH!”

  1. Wow! I had a guy 1/2 wheel me and put his front into my rear a couple years ago in a sprint…my rim was destroyed but I stayed up…he broke his collarbone. Two years ago at my local crits, a dude put his head down and was pushing hard in a sprint, drifted off the road and right into a big pipe sticking out of the ground. Tore his aorta…he died on the spot. I haven’t gone back since.

  2. Did the rim fail, or was it the guy on the right who got knocked or somehow found his way to inserting his wheel into the front of the guy in green? So when are races going to listen to reason and stop letting people with cheap dick wheels race? Or how about this: 36s for all who are under Cat 2. (Or deep dish) Put a ham fisted, heavy, strong guy on those less than solid ‘racing’ wheels and what do you get? You get the above. Is it worth it? Fuck a bunch of that. Oh yeah, I remember why I got out of racing right when I started. It was the $3000 ultralight bullshit bikes, and trying to ride with them on a 26 pound CRITERIUM RACING BIKE made of steel, and not being able to hang. Oh yeah, I almost forgot.

  3. Not that I’m a racer, but I still gotta say it-My shit might be heavy, but it has always been utterly reliable.

  4. What we have here is a failure to communicate. Already peeps listen up and listen good. The only person that was harmed in these photos that shouldnt have been harmed was the dude that had to skid right behind the two involved in the dust up. He was wearing green shorts and white helmet. The two knuckle heads that were involved in the dust up probably deserved it, and here is why. First off to the guy in the green and white whos wheel looks like a taco, (in the first frame) What are you looking at on the ground? What the hell, get your head up and look out, look at the finish line, not down at the ground. As you see he is looking down and thus not even taking the best line to the finish. He is looking down and turning away from the best line to the finish. Bad, bad and more bad. Then to the guy who is in orange and blue with a red helmet. Your trying to fit through a gap thats not there. Why are you trying to go on the outside of a guy in front of you for the sprint. Dude go up the inside on a sweeper corner like that. Really??? You have that much power that you can come around him? If your that strong then what are you even doing buried in the pack? Burn a match to get to the front and sprint from the front, not the middle.

    My thoughts as well with crit wheels. Get some strong ass wheels underneeth you.

    oh yeah good save by the dude in black shorts/ red white helmet and white sunglasses. Way to roll with the impact and not panic and just ride that shit out.

    just my 2 cents

  5. I did enough 4/5 races in Cincinnati to know it’s way too dangerous to bother with. There are a lot of guys in those races that don’t have the bike handling skills to ride on the open road by themselves, much less shoulder to shoulder and wheel to wheel in a race situation.

  6. any time someone t-bones into a front wheel its gonna be bad. now, I’m all for a good set of strong race wheels, but they wouldn’t have prevented anything you see in this photo. this fella here with the tacoed front wheel wasn’t even sprinting in the right direction. This isn’t about wheel choice. it’s about not doing stupid ass shit in a bunch up.

  7. Unless there is a big crack or concrete seem or something in that roadway, I can’t really see why a wheel would just fold like that. Unless, of course, it was a really P.O.S.

    But even then, damn, that thing just gave up the ghost.

  8. looks to me like his wheel didn’t fail. it got t-boned because he wasn’t looking where he was going.

  9. @snake – loved your reply.
    @dolak – i was home working. i am racing with these guys the next 3 wed nites in this crit series. seeing these crash pix have made me super nervous.

  10. One real good piece of riding was from the guy in the dark blue and orange shirt and shorts, black helmet and white stripe across his chest. He looks to be centered behind the two crashing and seems to miss all the carnage. Including teh second crash by the rider to his left.

  11. Thanks, Judi. I was again considering going out for the Thursday night crits @ Seward Park to see if I could hang onto the back of the Cat 4/5/n00b pack for 20 minutes or however long they run, but now I’ll stick with the relative safety and sanity of banging elbows with angry, distracted SUV drivers on the streets of Pugetropolis.

  12. I don’t even go on the weekend “group rides” around here anymore. I will be damned if I’m ending up in the ER because some ahole wants to prove he’s the next great thing, or the greatest thing ever that never got discovered.

    I ride alone, or with a couple of friends and am happy with it.

    And I ride stuff that doesn’t fold like a cheap stinking suit.

  13. I think that is Scott in the Team Hungry jersey. The only one of the group who went down and doesn’t appear to have deserved it. I hope everyone came out okay.

    And, um, ride fast take chances. Race Hungry!

  14. The dude with the polygon wheel is already out of his right pedal in frame 2. My take is he’s either a ninja or popping out in the sprint was a contributing factor. I can’t get out of my pedals that fast.

  15. That dude in the red helmet caused that crash by trying to fit into a space his fat ass didn’t belong.

    “Live to fight another day”….

  16. The last time I saw someone break anything by his own power in a sprint was a beastman track sprinter tear his frame in two at a standing start…
    It was the olympics or something… Never saw a rim fold…

  17. Deserved it? Stupid? Pretty harsh words.

    I don’t know the guy, but he’s from a local (near Louisville) team, and he’s got a collarbone in more pieces than I thought there could be.

    At the very least, you could say”That’s bike racin'” as Bobke would have it… Or at best, get well soon.

  18. @Ben. True. That came out entirely wrong. Apologies all around.

    May he get well soon.

  19. two optional techniques for nervous sprinters: 1) win out of the break or solo. 2) do it lieswyn style and watch from 100 meters from behind.

  20. One guy ain’t looking.

    Another is trying to stuff two pounds of shit in a one pound bag.

    Both potential Darwin Award recipients.

    But they survived.

    So. Yea. They deserved it. Hopefully they learn from their mistakes and move on.