Crash etiquette argument

by schmalz

Pardon my bleeding

It happens to everyone who races long enough—a crash, a mishap, a meeting between Mr. Ground and Lady Lycra. But what do you do after you’ve done the asphalt glide with another? 

Do you get up and demand an apology? Do you scream and stomp your slippery cleats on the ground? Do you ask for compensation for your destroyed carbon bits—or more importantly, for your damaged psyche? What is the etiquette for post-crash moments? And this week we have an enhanced level of difficulty with our argument—no names and no team names.

 

78 Comments

Anonymous

several crashes. They’re a part of the sport and when I went down I figured it was just my time. That idea was a tough sell at home though as the wife was driving me to the hospital for surgery.

I’ve never caused a crash though. I’d feel terrible if I rubbed a wheel or took a turn too wide and knocked a guy out of the race or even worse knocked him out of work.

We’re strange group of people (aside from the lycra and inflated sense of self) as we take part in a voluntary, recreational activity that has the ability to severely injury us. A doctoral dissertation topic if there ever was one….

Anonymous

There have been some notable TT crashes. What’s been the worse course and/or weather for keeping the bike upright and without slamming into anyone else?

Anonymous

the advice below is wise. protect your wheel. it’s no one else’s responsibility but your own. start thinking about beer, pizza, or sex, during a race and your wheel is no longer being protected.

Anonymous

if you get pissed about crashing and take it out on the people involved, you’ve got no business racing. crashes happen. if you’re in one and you’re lucky enough to not be carried away in an ambulace, you should be thankful. this is a dangerous sport- a sport where you have to trust the people around to to a degree.

Anonymous

Do you protect your bars & your wheel(s)?

Are you comfortable riding shoulder to shoulder?

Can you balance against another rider that bumps into you – leaning into him/her?

Can you tap a back wheel with your front wheel along the side at will?

If not, please don’t race in my field until you’re ready…:)

Anonymous

Not all crashes are the same, and sometimes they’re caused by egregious errors or recklessness that should be addressed. It’s fair to be upset at someone for taking stupid risks.

Anonymous

Protect my bars and wheels? What does that mean? Brush my shoulders and I’m gonna freak out pal. And I don’t need to tap no stinkin wheel to go down man. And I’m in YOUR field!

Holja line!!

Anonymous

Funny, this topic was brought up last night while I was getting hammered at the bar, specifically about a CX rider who was taken down in a crash and subsequently punched the other ride in the face. “Mr. Holyfield” was banned my the officials from any USCF racing for 12 months and has not been seen since. We all agreed that this is a dangerous sport with lots of risk involved in the investment of time and money toward training and equipment, but that does not excuse you from being a complete asshat when you are taken out in a crash. Demanding payment for broken equipment shows that you have trouble understanding the risk involved in this sport and should take up golf.

Anonymous

note to luzzo’s riders: always carry a few stale garlic knots in your jersey pocket during races. use at your discretion, aim for the nose.

Anonymous

holy smokes what is that picture of the adler guy running in the field? where is that from? too funny.

Sportique

I do my best to not freak when bumped, and practice a fluid riding style. My mind says: “turn the aggression into watts muthurfucker”

When it does happens don’t put out hands to break the fall (just breaks wrists), tumble or roll if at all possible to spread out the impact.

Keep some tagaderm in the medicine chest.

Anonymous

Way back when I was a cat 4, there were two instances when I was on the FRONT of the pack setting a tempo pace when an “attacking rider” attacked and swept from one side of the road into my front wheel (and yes, I stayed on a steady line). One time it was a teammate who got a stern talking to after the race as I managed to stay upright, and the other time I hit the deck on a 40mph descent and went to the hospital with lots of broken bones. Personally, I was upset but would have been happy with the guy whose erratic “attack” swept across my front wheel to have (even after the race) said “dude, sorry about that. My bad.”

It’s not asking for much, but we race each other week after week and year after year, and we all know we will end up in crashes sooner or later. It would be nice to just apologize IF you pulled a stupid move. After all, we have to reintegrate with the pack every week and reputations of squirrel riding? It will come back to haunt.

The crashes that no one pulls an obvious stupid move? Live and learn. Fistfights are not the answer.

Hitting the eject button on your bike while hugging another rider in the sprint and then running along the pavement in your cleats because you are such a strong sprinter that you “don’t need no stinkin’ bike” to win a sprint? That is an option too I suppose. But only if you rode a smart race.

Anonymous

My mother told me, you better marry a girl who doesn’t mind the sight of blood, if you’re going to race. That should be a given for us all. Otherwise, if she freaks out when you come home covered in road rash, it just makes it more uncomfortable.

Anonymous

It’s dangerous as hell, and I question my sanity every Monday morning. By midweek, I’m looking forward to the weekend. By Friday night, I’m foaming at the mouth and can’t wait to line up. Be safe everyone.

Anonymous

a) remain calm when bumped, or even when a wheel is touched. it happens. b) always have an escape route planned (this i learned from riding motorcycles on the street) and update your escape route in real time. c) when the shit hits the fan, make the smallest possible correction to avoid running over a downed rider or being hit by an airborne rider, or bike. You can make a bad situation worse by overreacting. d) keep your mouth shut. Shouting is always counterproductive

Anonymous

I close my eyes and pray that the Omnipotent and All-Knowing Ralpha will guide me through the path less tumbled upon.

Anonymous

Australia’s Robbie McEwen and Belgium’s Tom Boonen may have suffered fractures after both fell during the closing stages of the Scheldeprijs in Belgium on Wednesday.

McEwen landed heavily on his right shoulder and seemed to be more seriously injured, according to Belgian TV station VRT.

The Australian complained of pain in his head, his neck, his chest and his legs and said he could have concussion, broken ribs and a punctured lung.

He was due to undergo medical examination later Wednesday.

“I’m in pain everywhere,” the Katusha sprint specialist said, before accusing Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet of causing the accident.

“He was too tight to me, causing me to fall,” McEwen said.

Van Avermaet, though, protested his innocence.

“I touched the back wheel of (Italy’s Alessandro) Petacchi and I lost balance,” he said.

Petacchi went on to win the race despite being involved in the collision that left over a dozen riders on the ground.

Boonen, runner-up to Britain’s Mark Cavendish in last year’s race, complained of an injury to his right foot.

“I can’t put any weight on it,” said the winner of Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix race, as reported on the VRT Web site.

“It might be broken or it could be that I’ve hurt the tendons, I don’t know.”

The leader of the Quick Step team also received injuries to his arm and his right leg.

Anonymous

As a relatively new cat. 4, I’m a little unclear on what exactly “protect your front wheel” means. Is it as simple as: at all times it is your responsibility to a) keep your wheel at a prudent distance from other wheels, shoes, etc., and b) look out for people coming across your front wheel, i.e. be prepared to take evasive action, but try to do so smoothly and in a controlled fashion, at least to the extent the situation allows.

Or is there some kind of front wheel kung fu that only the cool people know about?

Anonymous

Great F-ing topic – now everyone will be thinking about crashing and everyone knows that when you think about crashing you crash. I’m not racing this weekend!

Anonymous

means don’t overlap it with the wheel in front of you, because if they hit your wheel, down you go.

Anonymous

First rule of wheel fu is you do not talk about wheel fu.
Second rule of wheel fu is you DO NOT talk about wheel fu!

Anonymous

I thought that Petacchi changed his line going around the last bend. He was right in front and probably had the right to change his line and Van Avermaet should probably have slowed down a little to avoid his front wheel touching. I also thought that the hole McEwan tried to get through was just a hair too tight and he was pushing Van Avermaet into the barriers. All and all I thought it was too risky looking at it from above. They did not try to hit each other afterwords though and everyone seemed to be going his own way. On the other hand they did not really shake hands either.

Anonymous

Wheels overlap often. That is why it is proper etiquette to holja line. If you must go sideways it is proper to be sure it’s not across another’s front. You can touch tires and even scrape rims, but if the lead goes sideways the follow goes downways.

Wheel Fu is the art of allowing no penetration of your chi sphere around your front wheel.

Anonymous

awesome! watch out michael ball, another bike guy with overpriced jeans is gonna rock the….bargain bin 6 months from now at ross dress for less…

Anonymous

noob, the jeans have already been discussed…, you are as novice as the fool asking about ugli running the sprint finish.

Anonymous

caught up on Paris-Roubaix.

The highlight of the race for me was with 16K to go and while chasing Boonen and at full gas, Pozzato is able to lift his finger and give the bird to the rowdy Flanderians who were booing the ever-loving shit out him.

I love this sport.

Anonymous

“Moore said he wants to represent the Philippines and not the US because he is proud of his Filipino.”

The US national team regrets the decision.

Anonymous

I’m thinking if someone says something that’s published in a newspaper it’s fair game. Read: tough shit.

Anonymous

Don’t forget the Nutella on rice cake. It’s important to build the broader picture. An athlete who is so careful about what he puts IN his body must be equally selective as to what he puts ON his body.

Anonymous

Does not waste his time with such low profile events. He will be in France contesting a ProTour event with the Phillipine National Team.

The real question, who would win in a head to head fight? TT Vegan or the Ralpha?

Anonymous

isn’t that there aren’t funny jokes to be made about Rapha or Adler. The problem is that just saying Ralpha or Adler seems to pass for humor here.

Anonymous

Would the Raphlerati ride the Dutch bike?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/fashion/16CODES.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&8dpc

Oh, the perversity!

“James Vicente, a court attorney at the Kings County Criminal Court in Brooklyn, knows the quandary. After a trip to Amsterdam five years ago, Mr. Vicente was inspired to ride to work in his suit and tie. (He converted his road bike to a fixed-gear bike, with detachable fenders.)

“I liked the perversity of it,” he said. “I liked saying: ‘Anyone can do this. It’s normal.’ I never ride with a helmet either, even when people are telling me I’m an idiot. Riding a bike should be normal, and you shouldn’t have to wear a funny Styrofoam hat.”

One day he collided with another rider, tearing a gash in his suit sleeve and another in his pride. Today his suits reside in an office closet, and he cycles to work in jeans and a polo shirt.

Would he have gotten in the accident on a Dutch bike? He laughed. “Probably not,” he said. “I was riding with no hands, and the guy came out of the bike lane. If I’d been on one of those, I would probably have been going in more of a straight line.”

Anonymous

and then I blame someone for why I didnt do well (like leif hoste did at roubaix…he (I) wasnt going to win anyway)

Anonymous

The race reports are a nice new feature on the CRCA homepage. Overall, that website has really improved in the last year. kudos.

Anonymous

The race reports are a nice new feature on the CRCA homepage. Overall, that website has really improved in the last year. kudos.

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