Ideas for safer racing

furrag

I recently read this: http://www.chasingwheels.com/road-racin ... s-crashing

Lookyhere

I feel that its all the 4th cats fault is missing the point, alot of very good riders crash, yesterdays stage in the Giro being but one example.
Alot of 4th cats feel under pressure to score pts "oh you r still a 4th cat?" sort of thing, as if being a 3rd or higher carries some sort of status? eh?
Removing the pts from 4ths only racing and having a min of 10 races before moving to 3rd would help, as would some of the E/1s getting more involved in offering advice etc instead of looking down their noses.
What the local BC (in the s/w) is doing offering novice and improver courses at a local cart track is excellent as well.
But ultimately it comes down to the riders themselves realising they are not Cavendish etc and they need to have abit more respect for what can be a very dangerous sport.

dawebbo

All the ideas I can think of at the moment would put barriers up, which I don't think is good for the sport.

I do think some courses are more prone to accidents than others though (such as hillingdon) and I agree with the decision that Stuart made to not give BC points in the Tuesday evening 3/4s races.

One thing that gets me is you often get 90% (maybe an exaggeration...) of the riders who do nothing but sit in all race until the finish - do they all geniunely think they're good sprinters with a chance of winning?

giropaul

ozzzyosborn206 wrote:

P_Tucker wrote:

ozzzyosborn206 wrote:

Monty Dog wrote:

The fact that people turn up at Cat 4 races these days on Pro-Tour level kit actually makes it worse - I was trying to follow a guy the other day who was riding a new top-range frame and Zipp wheels - the course was potholed so he was weaving all over the place, bunny-hopping and the like whereas in my view, you just have to keep your line and soak it up if in the middle of the bunch - if you want a nice clear view, get on the front! Anyway, he was so erratic, he was a menace to himself + others but alas, blissfully ignorant of his bad riding.
I was once marshalling a race and some junior was so wound-up during his warm-up I thought he was going to mow me down as I crossed the track in a marshall's bib to deal with a registration issue.

that seems stupid, if you smash into potholes you are more likely to crash and puncture, to me it makes sense if everyone dodges potholes ad points them out to other people so they can avoid them too. Which bike i rode wouldn't make me take more or less notice of potholes etc, i would still try and find the smoothest line

Well it depends on the situation, doesn't it? If the bunch is very close together then swerving can cause crashes. Jumping the hole is the correct and most Euro option.

yes i agree but i doubt most 3/4 races have bunches that are that close anyway which seems to be the races being talked about here, but yeah bunny hoping is the best thing to do but again i don't think many 3/4 cat riders would have the skills to bunny hop at last minute in a bunch without swerving

Somehow though, every Belgian can! Belgian races are always well ridden, and there is zero tolerance of anyone who can't hold a line, get in the right place, or who tries to move up on the wrong side.
What's more, there are loads of races, and loads of riders, so getting it right isn't putting anyone off from getting into racing.

BarryBonds

:P

sub55 wrote:

My big idea for making RR`s safer. Ban sportives.

+ten million
or at tleast ban tri bars in them????

BarryBonds

giropaul wrote:

ozzzyosborn206 wrote:

P_Tucker wrote:

ozzzyosborn206 wrote:

Monty Dog wrote:

The fact that people turn up at Cat 4 races these days on Pro-Tour level kit actually makes it worse - I was trying to follow a guy the other day who was riding a new top-range frame and Zipp wheels - the course was potholed so he was weaving all over the place, bunny-hopping and the like whereas in my view, you just have to keep your line and soak it up if in the middle of the bunch - if you want a nice clear view, get on the front! Anyway, he was so erratic, he was a menace to himself + others but alas, blissfully ignorant of his bad riding.
I was once marshalling a race and some junior was so wound-up during his warm-up I thought he was going to mow me down as I crossed the track in a marshall's bib to deal with a registration issue.

that seems stupid, if you smash into potholes you are more likely to crash and puncture, to me it makes sense if everyone dodges potholes ad points them out to other people so they can avoid them too. Which bike i rode wouldn't make me take more or less notice of potholes etc, i would still try and find the smoothest line

Well it depends on the situation, doesn't it? If the bunch is very close together then swerving can cause crashes. Jumping the hole is the correct and most Euro option.

yes i agree but i doubt most 3/4 races have bunches that are that close anyway which seems to be the races being talked about here, but yeah bunny hoping is the best thing to do but again i don't think many 3/4 cat riders would have the skills to bunny hop at last minute in a bunch without swerving

Somehow though, every Belgian can! Belgian races are always well ridden, and there is zero tolerance of anyone who can't hold a line, get in the right place, or who tries to move up on the wrong side.
What's more, there are loads of races, and loads of riders, so getting it right isn't putting anyone off from getting into racing.

sfter bunnyhopping its very European to wheelie over the finish line too.



Ok its not but it would be cool....

Pross

Use the Go Race system. Before anyone gets a 4th cat licence they have to take part in 5 or more Go Race events, limit the fields in these races to 20 riders so that people get used to racing in a group but not a huge one. Perhaps give rider briefings before the start as you would get when trying something like go karting to learn about racing lines and dos and dont's. The races could have a black flag system and anyone riding dangerously could be disqualified. Only when you have been signed off as racing safely by the comms in the requisite number of races are you able to obtain a 4th cat licence. I think it could actually bring in more people as there must be a lot of cyclists who fancy trying racing but are scared to go in at the deep end. There is certainly a lot of interest in people taking up the beginners courses at velodromes so with some advertising I think a system like this could be successful.