Rio Olympics *Spoilers*

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  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,398
    Above The Cows wrote:
    Gweeds wrote:
    I'd imagine it's to deal with the volume of water coming down during monsoons.

    ^This. Stops run off onto loose soil and landslides.
    Yeah, I'm sure it's there for a reason - it's just not good for bikes.....
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 21,533
    Gweeds wrote:
    I'd imagine it's to deal with the volume of water coming down during monsoons.

    They may be a way of dealing with rain, but they are certainly not the only way as demonstrated by all the countries outside South America.
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    bobmcstuff wrote:
    Above The Cows wrote:
    Gweeds wrote:
    I'd imagine it's to deal with the volume of water coming down during monsoons.

    ^This. Stops run off onto loose soil and landslides.
    Yeah, I'm sure it's there for a reason - it's just not good for bikes.....

    Hell no! I get scared by "normal" kerbs on the flat let alone those on a descent.
    Correlation is not causation.
  • awavey
    awavey Posts: 2,368
    bobmcstuff wrote:
    frisbee wrote:
    Other than an air fence or catch net any curb, gulley, drain, wall etc. is going to be just as bad. The road surfaces actually looked pretty good compared to a lot of European descents (and most of the roads I cycle on in the UK).
    Well the roads had just been resurfaced sure, but thats not really the issue - a lot of those corners were off camber but mostly that gutter and kerb combo looks particularly unforgiving for bikes. Certainly not seen anything like that in Europe.

    well might have been, new tarmac with a bit of a moisture, whether its rain or just the mist/humidity because of the weather conditions, can often be really slippy combination, because they put too much oil in the mix basically as its cheaper, so you get like a film surface till the tarmac has worn in suitably, and that didnt look like a road that gets used that much.
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    TheBigBean wrote:
    Gweeds wrote:
    I'd imagine it's to deal with the volume of water coming down during monsoons.

    They may be a way of dealing with rain, but they are certainly not the only way as demonstrated by all the countries outside South America.

    They're cheap and easy. Seeing as Rio can't sort out it's human waste without pumping it into the sea, they're going to go for the cheap and easy option when it comes to rain water.
    Correlation is not causation.
  • Jez mon
    Jez mon Posts: 3,809
    Above The Cows wrote:
    TheBigBean wrote:
    Gweeds wrote:
    I'd imagine it's to deal with the volume of water coming down during monsoons.

    They may be a way of dealing with rain, but they are certainly not the only way as demonstrated by all the countries outside South America.

    They're cheap and easy. Seeing as Rio can't sort out it's human waste without pumping it into the sea, they're going to go for the cheap and easy option when it comes to rain water.

    I've seen pretty similar curbs/drains elsewhere in the world tbf.

    Awful crash. Made it impossible to enjoy the rest of the race.
    You live and learn. At any rate, you live
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,095
    bobmcstuff wrote:
    frisbee wrote:
    Other than an air fence or catch net any curb, gulley, drain, wall etc. is going to be just as bad. The road surfaces actually looked pretty good compared to a lot of European descents (and most of the roads I cycle on in the UK).
    Well the roads had just been resurfaced sure, but thats not really the issue - a lot of those corners were off camber but mostly that gutter and kerb combo looks particularly unforgiving for bikes. Certainly not seen anything like that in Europe.

    Unfortunately lots of crazy stuff like that in Europe. My pet hate locally are cycle unfriendly grates. There is also a long, fast descent near me with a big concrete gutter and concrete wall which looks just like the one in Rio. It is my fastest route to work but I often take a longer route just to avoid it as it is in a part of town with some very poor driving skills and they pass very very close.
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  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,031
    Whilst that descent was risky I didn't think it was any worse than others we see - huge drop offs in the mountains, straight into a wall on the poggio etc. Not a nice crash but I didn't think the descent was so bad it shouldn't have been in the race - the position just before the finish was probably as much a contributor to the crashes as the descent itself.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 21,533
    The South America gutters are huge though. You often have to jump from one side to the other. It's not the kind of thing you gracefully step up.

    (Assuming you wish to cross it for some reason)
  • thegibdog
    thegibdog Posts: 2,106
    Via Rob Hatch on Twitter:
    Dutch media update on Van Vleuten condition; in intensive care with concussion & 3 fractures to spine.
    https://gibworth.mypixieset.com
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,660
    Not easy to report this but dutch news saying she is in Intensive care with cerebral trauma and 3 fractures in her spine

    Which sounds pretty much as bad as it could be without the worst happening.

    Heartbreaking. Hope it's not as bad as it sounds.

    Edit - now hearing 3 small fractures in lumbar region of spine and concussion so everything crossed
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • gweeds
    gweeds Posts: 2,605
    Christ. I really hope she's ok. Bloody awful.
    Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter.
  • rich_e
    rich_e Posts: 389
    Poor girl, that was horrible.

    I've got to agree with Boardman's comments at the end of the race, the organisers really didn't take safety seriously given how dangerous that descent was. Even with Porte's crash, that barrier looked like it barely saved him from tumbling over what looked like a pretty substantial drop.

    I wonder how they even got her out of there. It would be pretty standard to helicopter rescue somebody given injuries like that, but given that road, I don't see that they would be able to get one in close.
  • awavey
    awavey Posts: 2,368
    Beebs report of the race,http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/37005124

    their "Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten went to hospital after crashing as she led the race, but avoided serious injury" [1] actually echos a UCIWomensCycling tweet that came out about an hour ago, ".@AvVleuten continues to be under examination but apparently no serious medical problem. Thank you to all medical staff and UCI Commissaires"

    and yet the Beeb report still says "...Van Vleuten was taken to hospital where Dutch cycling officials said she would spend the next 24 hours in intensive care with severe concussion and three small cracks in her lower back."

    and that doesnt qualify in their view as serious :shock:

    [1] which the Beeb have already edited out now to be fair
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,660
    Bigger dutch names on twitter clarifying that it is 3 very small - "tiny" - fractures. It actually sounds like the bigger immediate worry is the concussion

    It is not that her back is broken in 3 places.
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • dolan_driver
    dolan_driver Posts: 831
    Hope she recovers fully from all her injuries. Hopefully it is the case that the spinal injuries are minor and her head trauma doesn't affect her long-term health. She is fortunate to be alive after that hit.
  • tazmon
    tazmon Posts: 107
    https://twitter.com/avvleuten/status/762465519844732930

    Encouraging message from AVV, what a fighter :)
    Road - Scott Solace
    Mountain - Santa Cruz Tazmon (retro) and Scott Spark
  • ContrelaMontre
    ContrelaMontre Posts: 3,027
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    Whilst that descent was risky I didn't think it was any worse than others we see - huge drop offs in the mountains, straight into a wall on the poggio etc. Not a nice crash but I didn't think the descent was so bad it shouldn't have been in the race - the position just before the finish was probably as much a contributor to the crashes as the descent itself.

    Poggio descent has a lot more padding and hay bales in the event of messing up a corner. Course was technical at the very least but it was the lack of protection on the curbs that made it downright dangerous.
    Rule No.10 // It never gets easier, you just go faster
  • Crampeur
    Crampeur Posts: 1,065
    Rich_E wrote:
    Poor girl, that was horrible.

    I've got to agree with Boardman's comments at the end of the race, the organisers really didn't take safety seriously given how dangerous that descent was. Even with Porte's crash, that barrier looked like it barely saved him from tumbling over what looked like a pretty substantial drop.

    I wonder how they even got her out of there. It would be pretty standard to helicopter rescue somebody given injuries like that, but given that road, I don't see that they would be able to get one in close.

    The best bit was that they hadn't even repaired the fencing after Porte crashed into it - there was still a hole in it in the women's race.
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,095
    Crampeur wrote:

    The best bit was that they hadn't even repaired the fencing after Porte crashed into it - there was still a hole in it in the women's race.

    I saw that, I guess they figured that it is only women racing - as witnessed by the patchy BBC coverage of the women's event. 2nd class sporting citizens - unless it is beach volley coverage.
    BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
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  • tangled_metal
    tangled_metal Posts: 4,021
    I'm sure I saw a decent chunk of the women's race on BBC. Of course I've been away so only just got back in time to see the last climb to the finish. Nasty crash and I'm glad she's not as badly injured as I feared after watching it. She's a true competitor taking those chances needed to win. It is just a shame it ended like that.

    The only issue I have is in the safety measures the organizers made. The road is designed for use and conditions. It'll be used long after these Olympics are forgotten so debate about kerbs and rain gullies, etc are inconsequential. The organizers needed to mitigate those dangers not expect a new road drainage to be built for the race.

    Any fault lies squarely with the race organizers. It could have been.made safe but I reckon money won over on.that one.

    Whether it should have been run over that route is better answered by other professional road racers. Has any experienced.road pro commented? I respect Boardman a lot but he made his name on track with a bit on the tour as a prologue specialist. Correct me if.I'm wrong but he's not a David Millar or other experienced pro road cyclist. I'd like to know what someone like Dave Millar thinks about it.
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,095
    edited August 2016
    Tangled Metal wrote:
    Correct me if.I'm wrong

    You're wrong. :) He didn't just turn up and ride the tour prologue a couple of times but rode a lot of road events with the GAN team. He was well respected by his fellow pros back in the day. He probably knows as well as Millar what he's talking about.
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  • skyblueamateur
    skyblueamateur Posts: 1,498
    I think the fact that the roads are laid with an off camber was as much to blames as the wide gullies to be honest.

    It’s a shame as there was some brilliant racing. Interesting to see how the lack of race radio’s and smaller teams affects the racing.
  • dinyull
    dinyull Posts: 2,979
    Just out of interest, how does anyone think that descent could have been made safe?

    The only possible way of making it safe IMO would have been to plan a different route.
  • dinyull
    dinyull Posts: 2,979
    SkyBlueAmateur wrote:
    I think the fact that the roads are laid with an off camber was as much to blames as the wide gullies to be honest.

    That comes down to dispersing storm water though.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,660
    tazmon wrote:


    Encouraging message from AVV, what a fighter :)

    Proper Girl! More worried about losing the race than that she nearly lost her life! Just want to give her a hug!
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • Omar Little
    Omar Little Posts: 2,010
    davidof wrote:
    Crampeur wrote:

    The best bit was that they hadn't even repaired the fencing after Porte crashed into it - there was still a hole in it in the women's race.

    I saw that, I guess they figured that it is only women racing - as witnessed by the patchy BBC coverage of the women's event. 2nd class sporting citizens - unless it is beach volley coverage.

    I didnt see what was on BBC1 or 2 but there was uninterupted coverage on one of their Olympic channels, red button and website.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,660
    davidof wrote:
    Tangled Metal wrote:
    Correct me if.I'm wrong

    You're wrong. :) He didn't just turn up and ride the tour prologue a couple of times but rode a lot of road events with the GAN team. He was well respected by his fellow pros back in the day. He probably knows as well as Millar what he's talking about.

    Cillian Kelly was pointing out to all that would listen that there had been a test event on that course and no one had complained. He went rather quiet after AvV's crash but he has a point...

    Presumably any road on any hill in the area is going to have the same design so unless you literally build a road for the 2 events I'm not sure what could realistically been done unless we just had a lap of the copacabana seafront for 6 hours
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • tangled_metal
    tangled_metal Posts: 4,021
    davidof wrote:
    Tangled Metal wrote:
    Correct me if.I'm wrong

    You're wrong. :) He didn't just turn up and ride the tour prologue a couple of times but rode a lot of road events with the GAN team. He was well respected by his fellow pros back in the day. He probably knows as well as Millar what he's talking about.
    Fair enough on Boardman.

    Has any other old pro said anything about the route? Despite Boardman's expertise I'm still not 100% satisfied. Anyone else supporting his vocal opinion questioning the choice of the route down that road?
  • Thick Mike
    Thick Mike Posts: 337
    Straw bales and netting could have mitigated the effect of crashing on the descent. That was the correct (and more expensive) approach. Apart from that the course was brilliant, had just about everything you would want in a road race course. Much better than London 2012.

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