Trebon's Crash on YouTube
I had to watch it a few times before I figured out which direction the riders were supposed to be riding...looks like they needed something more than a little course marking tape on that section. I'd have to say I wouldn't necessarily find the rider(s) at fault in this case...
posted by funkdaddy at 10:04 AM
8 Comments:
that was bad news
it looks like the tape was already down in that section and guys were already crossing the course a little before that one dude shot across
they needed some snow fencing or something there
not a smart set up
at a small race they could have got away with that, but with 100 riders going around there was way too much chance of a overlap with 2 riders meeting
look at the video, when they are down, guys are still going across the tap and barely staying in their lanes
Very Gnarly crash!
The tape did nothing to hold anyone on the course at any time. I personaly broke a LOT of tape during each of my races, but you never noticed because you were just trying to keep your bike upright.
I passed Treefarm on the ground, and all the attention I could pay was "was that guy wearing super-bright orange?" I then promptly went throught the tape going the other way (because they were all in the racing line) and got back on my side by cutting back in at the pedestrian crossing.
The whole course was so wild, I don't think anyone could have foreseen and/or avoided this.
From now on, I bet race promoters will have course with some type of buffer zone between opposite directions to avoid this type of thing happening again. But no one had ever thought that this was even possible before.
They absolutely needed more than tape there. There are a couple of other videos of that section..., the organizers were lucky no other major collisions happened there.
That's a scary crash and it's a drag that it took out Treefarm as well as the other rider. It looks like the other rider was out of shape and was just trying to keep it upright and in doing so, was riding in the opposite direction.
Unfortunately, when the ruts and the conditions are like they were in KC, the bike is going to go where the rut directs it, so the racer can't be faulted in my opinion. I would have to say instead that more care needs to be taken to insure racers' safety. Sometimes a single ribbon of tape just isn't enough.
When there are that many racers on a course in that condition, if proper care isn't taken beforehand by the race organizers, these problems will always happen. It's a matter of when and not if. It's a shame that Ryan Trebon had to find that out personally.
I put together a course or 2 sometimes, and I always worry about having sections close to eachother or seperatred by only tape, yet sometimes that is just how it works out. many times you are limited by space, or other times it is fun to have sections of the course looping past eachother, but I always try and put multiple layers of tape if there is a chance of overlapping into other lanes. The races up north here do not have nearly as many people as that national event. But it seems to me they should have a qualifier for the national races?? there should not be 100 people on a course and guys getting lapped because they are no where near the level of fitness and skills as the true contenders. I think they should for sure either have qualifying races to have less people on the course, like 50 or so. or have qualifications, such as UCI points or ranking points to establish who the true contenders really are.
anyone else have idea's on this subject??
I think the qualifier idea or something similar is a good one. something to reduce the numbers of racers on a course at the same time.
People tend to forget that the U.S. is a very big country with a huge population and any type of championship is going to attract huge numbers. Somehow, I don't think the Belgian national cahmpionshpis get the numbers we do here in the U.S. Even California is divided up into two parts.
Cyclocross courses by nature and design are compact, so huge fields will always be a concern. Smaller fields will also give more racers a fair chance and more enjoyment for the dollars they spend on entry fees and travel expenses.
Regarding qualifiers - to continue the upward growth of this branch of cycling we've always thought a system of heats during Nationals could work. In the largest entry fields - think Elite Men, probably 3 different Master's Categories - each with 30 minute long heats of 60-75 max. They could be run with 25 or 30 best finishers advancing to the medal round. Only in extraordinarliy wide open courses like Providence in '05, '06 would a rider in the back 1/3 of races stand a chance of finishing, let alone contending for a medal. In a field of 60-75 riders you still get to race, not just particpate.
Everyone would still be able to participate in Nationals and the best riders would mostly move through the qualfiers to final. "Mostly" because who knows what flat tire or biff a contender could encounter in their heat and finish 10 places out of the finals. Bike racing.
The question is how much time would these heats require - KLM created a 4-day event this year in Kansas - is that enough time to add a qualifying day? Will Nationals become a 5-day affair with attendant rider costs to stay an extra longer? Staff costs for promoter for an extra racing day and extra earlier set-up days - lots of potential and lots of questions to be answered.
Would Masters, for instance, attend a separate Nationals just for them? 3 days for just Masters with qualifying heats on friday, medal rounds for qualifiers on sunday with saturday the medal rounds for smaller entry fields. Is there enough sponsorship money to separate categories - or enough competitors to support separate Nationals with their entry fee money?
Tom Simpson
Pilarcitos Cyclesports
Good commentary - I think we should discuss this on a new thread - Tom's last comment has been spun into it's own post - please post comments at the link below:
Qualifiers for Nationals?
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