Action - pictures !

[nathanong87]

some "action" from this weekend. Im on my back on the grass.... my caad10 is airborne

quoting this from 365 days ago. I crashed so hard at this race. (on my back)

in the same race today, stayed out of trouble..... and WON! (will resize when i get back to home computer...sorry about size)

[btompkins0112]

Congrats! Way to erase that bad memory!

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[KWalker]

That is the most dangerous, sketchiest race ever and every year they manage to increase the chance of carnage. Congrats again Nate!

[HammerTime2]

Way to erase that bad memory!

[Tinea Pedis]

Another pile up? On a straight road, when you have the whole road to use?

What part is the organisers fault?

[efeballi]

@nathanong87, awesome war face!


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[mm1]

Did all the guys on the deck not heed the finishing straight messages about prayer and redemption?

[Kjetil]

Can the pile-ups be caused partly by that little terrain suppression making an accordion effect in combination with what looks like an every man for himself head on/down sprint?

I like the cow, btw.

[nathanong87]

Can the pile-ups be caused partly by that little terrain suppression making an accordion effect in combination with what looks like an every man for himself head on/down sprint?

I like the cow, btw.

yup from my not so lengthy racer experience, the reason why the crashes happen every year on that finishing straight is a combination of things below:

- the final run in, is slightly down hill. I know strava is like not definitive, but it says the last 1.6km or 1 mile is 1.5% down hill.
- It's very very straight and the finish can be seen in the distance from 2km out
- cat 3 and cat 4 (inexperience, and everyone thinking they can win, AND sprinting for 1-25th placings)
- the course isn't very hard* well , racers make it hard or not right? so people 'feel' fresh going into the final

here is what i've seen first hand in the past two years is that races going into the final 1.5km are spread across the road. People are 'feeling' good, and ready to start sprinting.... The issue seems to be that once people see the 1km signage, they open up their sprint...no not lead out, their sprint to attempt to WIN from 1km out. This is the issue it seems because the first guys then kick the hornets nest and you have 5-6 lines, spread across the road, sprinting full blast, trying to win , leading out everyone behind. Now everyone behind getting their draft aren't using much energy so they have energy to give. 2nd wave, and 3rd wave are all anxious and they start sprinting at 800m....for the win. The front wall of sprinters (well their legs) are now giving up.....They start to become road furniture and people behind are either a) block in... b) or still want to be in their draft realizing they are 800m away.

you simply have people running into the backs of each other or slamming on brakes.... This on a finish that's down hill and stupid fast. Last year I ran into the back of someone, because he ran into the back of someone. Someone ran into the back of me, flipped, and broke his hip.

This year i rode on the side of 4 trains top 8-10 places, in the wind from 1.5km out, because i decided that i was not going to take anyone's wheel in this race. I was surely going to ride FAST , but i wasn't going to put myself in the same position as last year, getting boxed with nowhere to go, and only people to smash into. By 600m out, i could just see in my peripherals elbows touching, hearing riders yelling, and suddenly carbon cracking and tubes popping...... It was all happening to behind me. Really scary. I didn't look back, but ended up hearing about the carnage after crossing the line.

a young junior, my friend, shattered his collarbone. His wheel got pablo picasso'd. 20 people went down at least. 4 went to hospital.....

[LeePaton]

Good win brother. Race looks... interesting, I'd maybe avoid it next year now you've took honours.

[worstshotever]

N -- I think you're spot on. A teammate of mine emailed the promoter last year making essentially the same argument and urged him at least to include the wall each lap in the 3/4 fields in the hope of making the race a bit more selective, obviously to no avail. My teammates who raced this year described that finish stretch behind you as resembling a WWI battlefield with bodies littered in clumps every few hundred feet moaning in pain. A former twenty-20 rider, now on my team, saw it all about to go to hell and just proactively peeled off into the grass and cruised in after it was all over. Kinda glad I wasnt able to race it this year (well, except for the free ice cream, bouncy houses, and giant cow picture opp., all of which are awesome).

[JamieL]

From the Tour of Friendship in Thailand. 2nd from a 100km break two days after finishing up on a drip - man it's hot over there.

EDIT: Resized

[KWalker]

Another pile up? On a straight road, when you have the whole road to use?

What part is the organisers fault?

Starting down the list:
1. The race has almost no hills and is very short for a cat 3 race at 43 miles. More fresh riders at the end including lots of 4s that have no clue how to behave in a pack. Also lots of aggro, overweight masters racers who treat the sprint as if its their chance to redeem all of their regrets. Despite being fairly flat its not a very fast race and in years past there was some nasty wind.
2. The race has a few sections that are all road, then a few that are single lane. Constant bottle necks.
3. The race finishes on a long false downhill at close to 40mph in an open field usually with crosswinds.

And the big problem:

4. This race became very well-known for including a climb called "The Gamber Wall". It was probably about 45s-1min long and around 20%. When I first did the race 3 years ago you did the wall every lap and the race was I think 1 or 2 laps longer. Last year we did it twice, they reduced the length of the race, and there was a monster finish line crash. So what do they do? They take out another lap of the wall. It then goes from being very selective to being the least selective race in the area. They did the same thing in the Pro 1/2 race and guess what happened? A crash so bad that they pulled 60 riders.

Perhaps its really hard to describe without being there, but I was in Nathan's race last year and somehow rode through the crash. With 2km to go we were going 17mph and suddenly in the last 500 were going over 40 and everyone was scrambling to get in position.

Edit: None of this is to diminish Nate's win. He clearly rode very smart to avoid all the known problems and sealed it off with a great sprint.

[nathanong87]

N -- I think you're spot on. A teammate of mine emailed the promoter last year making essentially the same argument and urged him at least to include the wall each lap in the 3/4 fields in the hope of making the race a bit more selective, obviously to no avail.

yea i realized that the organizer can't do it logistically after questioning why the wall isn't included ever lap.

there is essentially only one entry and exit for the 5-6 people living on that street. So with rolling closures and no yellow rules line, in order to do gamber wall, those people living their would have to be ok with no being able to leave their house (or come back to their house) for the entire day essentially. I wondered too, why the number of times seems to vary every year , and the above explanation makes sense.

i really dont know how to change that race or course other than removing the 1k sign honestly. Most other races in my area dont have the 1k sign. They start signing maybe* at 250m to go. i swear when racers at turkey hill see 1k to go, sprinting starts... again that's my assumption though.

edit: to add to what karsten just posted
- only 1 road is yellow lane ruled. There wasn't a bottle neck here to be honest. Seemed mellow/non factor to the racing or the 'danger' on the day. my observation this year and last.
- yea i see people put on their 'brakes' after the rollers, trying to recover. So there is a definate slow down until the final 1.5km when things decide to ramp up downhill.

all domino effects really. I personally think inexperienced racers (and probably me when i started racing to be fair) have a lack of respect for themselves and others in races. Racers are willing to do anything to win and put them and their bikes in places they shouldn't be. At that point they are probably ok with endangering themselves, but do not realize the impact that it might have on every single wheel behind them.

rules:

[micky]

@JamieL; was it your first time at Tour of Friendship? How would you describe it beside the weather?