a folding wheel ? *****17th July stage spoiler*****

jibi

http://www.sportvid.net/burghardt-fell-over-the-dog/

The wheel folds like a piece of paper.

The dog looks OK though, nice soft crumple zone.

george

Noodley

Are T-mobile having a competition to see who can hit the most unusual object? Cavendish started with a spectator, then Rogers hit a barrier (and took down another cyclist just to show off a bit), now a dog enters the fray...what next?

Eurostar

I've replayed this a few times. An alloy rim would have folded too. The rider turns the bars to the right just before he hits the dog. As soon as he touches the dog the wheel goes through 90 degrees, so the rim is pressed against the dog's side all the way along its body. I used to have some Lightweight Obermayers - they are much stronger than they look and it takes a lot to wreck them with a frontal impact. I think if the rider had hit the dog dead straight the rim would have been OK and the dog and the forks would have broken.

RichN95.

Noodley wrote:

Are T-mobile having a competition to see who can hit the most unusual object? Cavendish started with a spectator, then Rogers hit a barrier (and took down another cyclist just to show off a bit), now a dog enters the fray...what next?

And Sinkewitz hitting the guy on the way back to the hotel.

SteveR_100Milers

Thats bizarre, one for not seeing the dog, and secondly how easily the wheel collapsed. I said it before, there are an awful lot of crashes this year, more than usual it seems.

cougie

I like the people turning and walking away = pretending that its not THEIR dog.....

coinneach

Looks like most dog owners the world over!

But don't the cyclists shout warnings to each other in the group?
Or was he just asleep?

One positive thing: he did fall nicely..theres an art to that I have never mastered and hope never to have to now, but you can minimize damage by how you fall.

cougie

Dont think its the riders fault - he did his best !

andyp

You'd think people would have the sense to a) leave the dog at home or b) keep the feckin' thing on a lead. :roll:

Eurostar

Re. falling nicely - all it takes is practice. After the first few times your brain doesn't just freeze when you're in mid air - you start thinking and concentrating. It's the same with anything frightening. I haven't proved this falling off a bicycle, but a motorcycle's fairly similar, don't you think? Your instinct is to tense up or, if sliding along the ground, to try to get to your feet. So you have to force yourself to do the safest thing, which is to go limp until you stop sliding. After a while you get the hang of it. I wonder how many times a year the pros fall off?

RichN95.

I liked the dog's beligerent look to camera at the end

jimmythecuckoo

ha ha ha, you wait until you see what the Orange elephant is going to do!!!!!!!!

oldwelshman

I guess this takes dogging to a new level? 8)

LangerDan

I remember a story in "Winning" magazine 20 years ago about the Tour of Baja. Apparently, the standard method for dealing with dogs chasing the riders was for the police outriders to shoot the dog.

I wonder would it work for Didi Senft?

peejay78

i love the dog's look when it skulks off.

rustychisel

Local commentary here was quite aggrieved on behalf of the riders... rightly so. He said "having a dog at a bike race is like bringing a shark to a swimming meeting".

ricadus