TOB Caerphilly post race accident

muttley_109

After a good day watching the race at the top of caerphilly mountain yesterday I was heading home and came across and accident on the decent from the travellers rest.

Looks like someone in a car got fed up with waiting in the queue so did a U turn on a blind bend into the path of a group of cyclists. One guy went straight into the side of the car and looked in a bad way.

Does anyone know the guy involved? I just want to know that he's ok really.

Thanks

Ben

dork_knight

I was wondering if the cyclist was Ok as well... as I was passing I think they were placing a neck brace or similar on him.

It looked like the event staff were tending to him as there were no marked emergency service vehicles as I passed, yet an ambulance was traveling up a few minutes later.

I gather it was a woman driver who appeared to be pretty hysterical, seems she did pull out and straight over the white chevrons and the cyclist went into the rear near side passenger door ~ Pretty bad state on the door, so it seemed to be a heavy impact.

Hope everyone involved turns out to be Ok... couldn't see anything on the news when I searched.

bendertherobot

Saw an awful lot of impatience on my way back to the Black Cock. Mostly from drivers really frustrated they just couldn;t move. But a lot of poor cyling as well.

I really don't see why they don't close off the roads on the Mountain from say 1/2 hour before to after.

muttley_109

I agree they should have closed all the roads on the mountain to cars earlier and for a longer period. Closing the mountain roads wont inconvenience anyone that much. Just drive up the A470 and come off at nantgarw. There were plenty of cars going up and down the mountain 3 or 4 times presumably just because there were big crowds.
Also there were alot of drivers stuck in queues looking pissed off, did they not know there was a bike race going on? Was it made aware to the general public about road closures and an event taking place? If i was driving somewhere other than the bike race caerphilly mountain would be the last place I went. The whole traffic issue on the day wound me up quite a bit and then seeing the accident on the way back made me pretty angry really.

bendertherobot

Absolutely agree. Basically the mountain is a cut through and the lanes down past the Black Cock are a cut through to avoid a the cut through! There are multiple different ways out of Caerphilly and, as usual with motorists, they just want to get there as fast as is possible.

I do think they need to publicise it better, but, as you say, closing that section for an hour or so is hardly the end of the world for people.

Pross

Mentioned this in the stage report. I went past within minutes of it happening and when the traffic came to a stndstill I guessed what had happened and had been half expecting it. A combination of stuck drivers doing u turns, abysmal parking by spectators, parked cars pulling out and cyclists hammering down 20% slopes with no apparent thought for the hazards made it almost inevitable. A closure would be good but even some signs warning motorists of the delays and advising them to find other routes would help, I was amazed there weren't any - with roadworks you put them up a week or so in advance.

On the plus side I lloked on BBC Wales and saw no mention so hopefully it wasn't as serious as it looked.

nolance

Can't speak for the Caerphilly incident but I watched stage 4 over Shap Fell in Cumbria and there were loads of cyclists bombing down the steep roads trying to emulate the pros.The rain was hammering down,visibilty was poor and the road was very busy as a result of the rolling roadblock,loads of badly parked cars too,a recipe for disaster.
Also Carlisle has had plenty of signs up warning of possible delays due to the ToB start,not sure any" out in the wilds" would have made much difference to be honest.

Pross

Despite the name Caerphilly mountain isn't really in the wilds, it rises straight up from the town centre and the road at the top is an A road into Cardiff with the suburbs of Cardiff starting within about 2 miles of the mountain top.It's a main artery from the valleys to Cardiff so pretty busy at around 3 - 4pm.

ManOfKent

Signs were put out two weeks ahead of the race warning of road closures and delays, so any regular users of the roads should have been aware of it - not forgetting it would have been all over the local news etc. Anyone who was there for the race, whether cyclist or motorist, would have seen the crowds, parked cars etc and would know there would be congestion. So the accident should have been avoidable. Unfortunately all of us get a bit carried away at times, particularly after the adrenaline rush of watching the pros.

Hope the cyclist is OK.

DarkSquirrel`

I was the unfortunate cyclist who crashed on friday! Good news is that i'm alive and well, bad news is that my 6 month old Cube litening hpc pro is not, and neither is my wrist which is broken in two places! Got home from hospital today, but back in tuesday for an operation to repair the damage to my scaphoid and ulna.

Admittedly i was going quite quick, the thornill descent is one i enjoy regularly. Though the driver should have noticed me as they only started their manoeuvre as i was coming round the corner. I only had time to consider how much it was likely to hurt, and before I knew it i was on my back on the tarmac looking up through a leafy canopy!

Thanks all for your supportive comments. I would also like to thank another cyclist mark who helped at the scene, and a lady vet who was looking after my health whilst the ambulance arrived, im not sure of her name, any details for her would be appreciated as i'd like to pass my thanks on personally.

Would also like to point out that if it hadn't been for my helmet, i would not be in such good health right now.

Dorset_Boy

That's good news - hope the op fixes things permanently.

muttley_109

Im glad your ok! I arrived on the scene shortly after it happened and looking at the state of the car you hit I thought you would have come off a lot worse than a broken wrist. Gutted about your bike, I saw the various bits of it at the side of the road.
Do you know if the driver is being charged with anything? Doing a u-turn on a blind corner across double white lines and causing an accident is surely something the police should be taking up?

Hope you recover quickly and it doesnt put you off at all.

Ben

Mikey23

Pleased you are ok. Good job the lady vet didn't decide to put you out of your misery! Bike can be replaced, you can't x

Pross

Yep, glad you are OK. I really did fear the worst when I saw you motionless and covered in the space blanket waiting for the ambulance to arrive. It was a particularly stupid place to attempt a u turn given the lack of visibility the driver would have had - hopefully they have learned their lesson the hard way albeit at your expense!

Mikey23

Don't forget though that a strava segment finished off in an ambulance is cheating...