My crash

AndrewBye

I had a reminder on sunday that this bike racing lark can be a dangerous hobby!

www.sleepingbearproductions.co.uk were videoing my crash at Chertsey:

http://www.sleepingbearproductions.co.u ... SlowMo.wmv

Luckily no serious damage to me other than road rash and some bruises, although bike is gonna require some attention.

I've written my account of the incident on my blog: http://andrewbye.blogspot.com/

Bronzie

Ouch - you were well and truly "leant on". Did the guy apologise? Glad you are not too badly hurt.

andyp

I hope the guy who deviated from his line into yours at least apologised?

Tom Butcher

Great video - the slo mo one looks quite graceful but the full speed one really captures the speed of being on the bike and the violence of the crash. I'm guessing the other guy just lost his line rather than tried to shut the door on you.

AndrewBye

I received no apology from the Polish ex-professional Willier sportsbeans rider (Marcin Biaboloki).

He went away and sat in his car (which might have been just as well as I was pretty wound up at that point). Apparently later he went up to HQ proclaiming something along the lines of "I win race you pay me money".

vermooten

Fantastic footage, shame you had the be the Buster Keaton figure.

drenkrom

I'd be ticked off at the guy that took out your wheel. That was kind of a lame move, though, especially since there was no wheel to jump onto or anything. That's racing, I guess. Without the sour, the sweet just ain't as good.

phil s

I'd have decked him. What a tw@t

don key

drenkrom wrote:

I'd be ticked off at the guy that took out your wheel. That was kind of a lame move, though, especially since there was no wheel to jump onto or anything. That's racing, I guess. Without the sour, the sweet just ain't as good.

Are you and phil s talking of the guy who hit the wheel or the guy who took him down?

drenkrom

I was talking about both. The guy who hit the wheel 'cause... come on... at least try to bunnyhop it. It looks so cool when you get it right! But my comment about jumping onto the wheel was about the original guy who veered off his line. I guess that wasn't quite clear. My guess is it still isn't.

Garybee

drenkrom wrote:

I was talking about both. The guy who hit the wheel 'cause... come on... at least try to bunnyhop it. It looks so cool when you get it right! But my comment about jumping onto the wheel was about the original guy who veered off his line. I guess that wasn't quite clear. My guess is it still isn't.

That's a little unfair. He was clearly trying to avoid the bike which was sliding across the road at the time. It's one thing bunny-hopping in a straight line but whilst trying to manouver it's asking for trouble.

Kléber

Easy to judge on slo-mo video but in the midst of a sprint finish, acrobatics are hard. That move to close the door is outrageous.

It's interesting, with the advent of cameras and websites, everyone can see the local cheats in action, no longer will a few riders mutter about dangerous riders, everyone will see. At the same time, one move can get you branded as Mr Nasty.

don key

Garybee wrote:

drenkrom wrote:

I was talking about both. The guy who hit the wheel 'cause... come on... at least try to bunnyhop it. It looks so cool when you get it right! But my comment about jumping onto the wheel was about the original guy who veered off his line. I guess that wasn't quite clear. My guess is it still isn't.

That's a little unfair. He was clearly trying to avoid the bike which was sliding across the road at the time. It's one thing bunny-hopping in a straight line but whilst trying to manouver it's asking for trouble.

I thought the nonbunny hopper was a hopeless case but on seeing it the other way around its obvious that he is slightly hesitant in changing direction and goes right ,at the time this was good but the bike ,unaturally ends up going the same way and I think and hopefully know that his decision was vindicated by the slow mo and also bunny hopping is ok if you are ready and able but in fact his priority should always be to save his skin over the fate of the machine. So advocating whacking the guy ,either of them is (a) not to clever (B)not good role model material. I am a super hero as demonstrated in the crash vid with my Cadburys slow mo technique, answers on a post card. From behind the non breeding bunny looks to be way off the carrot line but forward its definately Bugs Frunny bee

The whole thing is exacerbated by the front wheel on the crash bike which pulls the whole bike over into the path of the bunny.

drenkrom

OK... maybe not bunnyhopping, but his response looks... tame. He's got a nautical mile of open road on his left yet he goes in one straight line. But I admit it's always easy to judge after the fact. Especially in slomo And I can't wait to be put in those situations again so I get all giddy. Winter in Canada sucks for cycling, by the way.

As for bunnyhopping, I've reflex-jumped over some crazy stuff. If you always ride with the "I'll try jumping over it, I'm going to crash anyways" attitude (mountain biking helps) and are any good at it (practice helps), you can sometimes save your hide. And the other bloke's back wheel.

And if you do crash, you ensure you do it in style. Just in case there's a camera around.

Toks

AndrewBye wrote:

I had a reminder on sunday that this bike racing lark can be a dangerous hobby!

www.sleepingbearproductions.co.uk were videoing my crash at Chertsey:

http://www.sleepingbearproductions.co.u ... SlowMo.wmv

Luckily no serious damage to me other than road rash and some bruises, although bike is gonna require some attention.

I've written my account of the incident on my blog: http://andrewbye.blogspot.com/

Hey Andrew sorry to hear about your crash. I'm not sure if I'm qualified to suggest whether the original 'apparent' shove was deliberate. I'm no sprinter and in trying to crank out extra watts in pure desperation I know I've gone off line on occassions :oops: - but the least he could've done was appologise.

Re the back wheel cruncher :evil: on first view I'm thinking clumsy barsteward but then again he was probably panicking trying not to hit the deck at speed. I hope you're back in action soon. You race at a level most of us will never get to so I appreciate it when you share your thoughts on training, racing or whatever. That means ya blogs getting better - less detached and clinical; more touchy;feely, autobiographical

Tom Butcher

In defence of the wheel smasher he's swerving right to avoid the crash before the bike comes back in the opposite direction and right across him - you'd have to be Robbie McEwan to avoid that. I like the way Andrew lies spreadeagled for a few seconds after the crash.

top_bhoy

Tom Butcher wrote:

I like the way Andrew lies spreadeagled for a few seconds after the crash.

Do you think he was feigning injury? :twisted:

don key

I have watched it twenty times in a row and it seem that you went right ,to pass the leader who was dying,before the beany boy went left and that its probable that he was defending himself from your encroachment. Its a bit like the Nine eleven, if the first news on the subject says it was al quiada then all subsequent stories lead with that headline.I ,after reading about the crash never looked for anything other than what he didand its there for all to see from what were shown that you moved first into a gap tha wasnt there.Vince Halpern had the same problem in a three man sprint two weeks ago at Hillingdon and instead of forcing the issue and risking a crash he pulled out of the sprint and settled for third, Its not good that this happened but it really looks like the wrong conclusion may have been drawn.

Also it seems that we need to see the rest of the approach footage to see if the jostling started at that point that we see in the film or before.

Smaller guys than me have bounced into me and in keeping myself up and on the track he was bounced, the problem was he was to small and hit the deck hard, people were trying to blame me but I didnt do him, he did me, if I had any inkling he would fold as he did I would probably have sailed off the track and rejoined on the next lap. Hindsight is a useless tool .

superlightweight

Well I am the 'wheel cruncher' in question here and i've come to defend myself! As I saw the crash happen i made the decision to move to the right, in order to avoid riding over Andy's head! Unfortunately his bike skidded across in front of me and I remember thinking "sh*t, I'm going down as well here!". I really didn't have time to think about avoiding the bike, or bunny hopping - shame it didn't happen in slo-mo like the video!!!

Andy is actually a good friend and work colleague - and sometimes i train with him when he is doing a recovery ride and i think i can keep up!! I even bought him lunch at work today as compensation

don key

superlightweight wrote:

Well I am the 'wheel cruncher' in question here and i've come to defend myself! As I saw the crash happen i made the decision to move to the right, in order to avoid riding over Andy's head! Unfortunately his bike skidded across in front of me and I remember thinking "sh*t, I'm going down as well here!". I really didn't have time to think about avoiding the bike, or bunny hopping - shame it didn't happen in slo-mo like the video!!!

Andy is actually a good friend and work colleague - and sometimes i train with him when he is doing a recovery ride and i think i can keep up!! I even bought him lunch at work today as compensation

Your off the hook ,its obvious the front wheel dragged the bike over to you ,your well being is more important than a bike.

drenkrom

Fair explanation. I'll be sure to post whatever slomo video of my crashes so you can chuck it all right back at me.

I'd rather have a buddy crunch my wheel than my head.

Toks

superlightweight wrote:

Well I am the 'wheel cruncher' in question here and i've come to defend myself! As I saw the crash happen i made the decision to move to the right, in order to avoid riding over Andy's head! Unfortunately his bike skidded across in front of me and I remember thinking "sh*t, I'm going down as well here!". I really didn't have time to think about avoiding the bike, or bunny hopping - shame it didn't happen in slo-mo like the video!!!

Andy is actually a good friend and work colleague - and sometimes i train with him when he is doing a recovery ride and i think i can keep up!! I even bought him lunch at work today as compensation

Hey it was nice of you to post mate. In truth it may feel like it but I don't think anyone was really blaming you

2Fast4Love

Just watched the full speed version, and the wheel crusher at the end doesn't stand a chance, he does well just to not hit the deck himself!

Actually looks like u blipped to your right very slightly just before the crash which probably would have either made the other fella try & squeeze you out, or, as I would have been more likely to do, blip right myself. Regardless, the guy should have apologised afterwards, even if only to check on your well-being.

AndrewBye

Well, my wounds are healing ok although still looking a bit manky. I Got back on my bike from wednesday and am managing to pedal without too much pain/discomfort.

I am finding it a bit harder to get motivated to go cycling after this crash, that plus the cold weather are keeping me indoors so far today on my day off work and its nearly lunch time.

I'll probably try and race again again this sunday at Chertsey, as im trying not to let this incident put me off racing.

Hopefully will get round the course safely and won't have any more bloopers video footage to show everyone.

16simon

I'd like to see Drenkrom bunnyhop a sliding bike at sprinting speed.

I was in that race, although in the bunch so I didn't see the crash happen. I have been in races where someone goes down and their bike slid across the road towards me. It happens so fast, and you're not sure if the bike will stop, slide across your line, or be right in front of you, plus there are riders close behind, so stopping pedalling to prepare to bunnyhop may well see someone go into your back wheel.

Andrew, have you tried contacting the jellybean team? I saw an article about them on Londoncyclesport, they're a new team, so maybe the bad publicity will persuade them to either pay for your wheel themselves, or lean on the rider to do the right thing.

At least you're only looking at the cost of a rim, spokes, and rebuild. It could have been much worse... last year, I got taken down in a crit at North Weald which saw my bars swing round and punch a hole in my Giant TCR Carbon frame's top tube. Both wheels, Bontrager Race Xlites needed rebuilding too. I'm a bit nervous about using my new Bontrager Race XXX lite carbon wheelset for racing this year...

graeme_s-2

Great footage, and glad you're mostly ok Andy.

I've just watched this again, and what strikes me this time is the way 3 people run over to check on his bike, and only one person runs over to check the rider's ok .

That's cyclists for you, never mind the guy lying sprawled in the road, his wounds will heal for free, but what about his bike!

fossyant

Glad you are OK - How's the bike - that's what most cyclists say...... I remember picking a team mate off the tarmac, more worried about the bike....he was carted off to hospital.

So "Hows the bike" ?... The shifters looked that they took a bash as well.

mattm_uk

I watched it only once, you did a Drogba...made a right meal of it!

AndrewBye

mattm_uk wrote:

I watched it only once, you did a Drogba...made a right meal of it!

I actually think my reaction and lying down after my crash is related to pain.

Pain is transmitted in the body via slower nerve fibres and travels @ approx 0.6 m/s, compared to other nerves which transmit at up to 120m/s. This means it would take approximately 2 -3 seconds to transmit pain from my body to my brain.

Plus add into that my brains processing time, where I had a subconscious / conscious check that everything was still in the right place after coming off at that speed.


Still think I made a meal of it, maybe try it for yourself?

Hit the deck from 60 km/h and then time yourself to get up as quickly as you can

don key

AndrewBye wrote:

mattm_uk wrote:

I watched it only once, you did a Drogba...made a right meal of it!

I actually think my reaction and lying down after my crash is related to pain.

Pain is transmitted in the body via slower nerve fibres and travels @ approx 0.6 m/s, compared to other nerves which transmit at up to 120m/s. This means it would take approximately 2 -3 seconds to transmit pain from my body to my brain.

Plus add into that my brains processing time, where I had a subconscious / conscious check that everything was still in the right place after coming off at that speed.


Still think I made a meal of it, maybe try it for yourself?

Hit the deck from 60 km/h and then time yourself to get up as quickly as you can

To be complimented by a well meaning standerby with" you did well to get up from that one" only to reply,"whats that supposed to mean then" is an obvious sign of your lack of comedy genius. I could write your lines for all eventualities with the stop gap "Im speechless" as a coverall , except maybe the bigger wounds, I would see it as a great honour to work for such a cheerles predator as yourself, try not to eat your own words as its an expensive meal. I do charge by the letter so if you should stutter I'll be minted.

Cheer up, all swell with the world Chesea LOST and the Beany boy WON yesterday with the only crash caused by a broken Condor Leggero seat stay which was blessed and cremated on the spot with an old pair of David Millars underpants, we tried using Roberts but the were to stained to burn at crematorial temperatures.

AndrewBye

-> Don Key

I believe the well wisher actually said "you were lucky" at that particular point i certainly didn't feel particularly lucky, hence my reply at the time. Perhaps in hindsight I might well have been lucky to get away with nothing more than road rash and bruises but at that point I wasn't necessarily thinking about that side of things.

If you are such a "comedy genius" why not just post under your real name so I can go look you up on ticketmaster and go watch you live somewhere performing some standup?

Of course if you speak like you replied in such convoluted engilsh perhaps I might just not fully understand what you are babbling on about.

But you are right about one thing Spurs did win yesterday so it isn''t all bad.