Jure Robic

iainf72

Reading reports Jure Robic was killed in a traffic accident while out riding.

An amazing guy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jure_Robi%C4%8D

inkyfingers

Very sad, a quite exceptional chap.

frenchfighter

That is a real shame. The NY Times article which is linked to on the Wiki is certainly worth a read - a highly unqiue guy.

Tom Butcher

That is sad - remember reading about him after someone linked to an article last year.

finchy

Shame.

Doesn't surprise me that it was in a car accident though. When I was in Slovenia the locals complained that Italian drivers are too slow. :shock: :shock: :shock:

iainf72

Bit of detail

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/09/ ... ent_142872

RIP Jure

cajun_cyclist

Very sad news, man, I know a bit about the Race Across America, RAAM I believe it is called, he won it five times from the Wiki article! He won it this year and must have been about 45 years old doing it. I read a cycling book by one winner of the RAAM.

During the 2004 Race Across America, he was reported to have had only eight hours of sleep during his eight-day, 2958.5-mile (4761.2 km) ride across the United States.

I'm led to believe Ultra Runners basically don't do drugs so if this pertains to an Ultra Cyclist as an Endurance athlete, that is something, it looks like an impossible task. This was some guy. Very saddened for Jure. Maybe the RAAM has a website. This reminds me of a story concerning a Marathon where this Kenyan won it about two years ago but he died in some sort of violent act back in Kenya last year so that made everyone sad that he would not return to the next one. You never know what can happen.[/code]

canamdad

From the NY Times article: Hans Mauritz, co-organizer of Le Tour Direct- "For me, Jure is on another planet. He can die on the bike and keep going." My sadness is for him but also for his family who must keep going without him.

pomtarr

RIP

cajun_cyclist

As a practical matter, if one is dealing with sleep deprivation or so little sleep at least, can that be a hazard to other people?? How does one train for these events? These Ultra Sports are extreme.

NY Times article quotes:

‘‘He pushes himself into madness,’’

...: muscles and tendons weaken, or simply give out. Body-bike contact points are especially vulnerable. Feet swell two sizes, on average. Thumb nerves, compressed on the handlebars, stop functioning. ...

Competitors endure fatigue-induced rounds of hallucinations and mood shifts. Margins for error in the race can be slim, a point underlined by two fatal accidents at RAAM in the past three years, both involving automobiles.

An Ultra Runner runs trails mostly and is off the main roads and is not on the asphalt, in fact, in that book UltraMarathonMan by Dean Karnazes www.ultramarathonman.com , during one of the Ultra Marathons, Karnazes falls on the street from fatigue during the night of an Ultra Marathon Race and the headlights of a car wakes him up! That's some fatigue factor, combine with bonking and all this. This is a risky sport. Karnazes also writes about how they run while basically they are sleeping or something strange like that.

Karnazes is thought of being a bit of a showman. Tops in Ultra-Running for those interested is Scott Jurek for one. I don't know if Jurek, sounds like a type of Yugoslavian name to me, is in all this pushing to the limits, is a big Vegan type. I did not read much about this pushing to the limits in the recent landmark book "Born to Run" by MacDougall.

After all, for many of us, riding a century or running a marathon is taxing enough! :roll:

Tusher

So sad.
RIP Jure-your life may have been shortened, but it was certainly not boring.

Captain Fagor

Gutted.

RIP.

BalmainBoy

I've crewed RAAM a couple of times and got to know Jure a little. An absolute gentleman and legend - very funny too - he liked a laugh.

We've lost a remarkable athlete and human being