Hipcycler

Heck who knows...maybe it was someone who lurks or writes here....but man I saw something nasty that really should have never happened at a crit on Saturday.

Bell lap....large group together coming by the start/finish where the officials are standing.

All grassy area just ahead of this on the approach....all grassy area just past this place where several people were also sitting on some chairs.

I saw the entire thing happen....

Out of no where all of the sudden a 3/4 full water bottle comes flying out of the pack, through the air, and just NAILS this elderly man right in the back of the head. He never saw it coming. I saw it hit. His entire head went forward and he let out a scream.

Then he let out a great, "Why you little son of a beotch..."

He wasn't hurt, but he could have...pretty frail old guy.

Come on....why throw that bottle out like that there?
The officials were mad about too, and were hoping to track the rider down from what was on the bottle perhaps. I don't know if they ever did.

Pretty funny how a couple of older riders hanging around the finish line with me watching blasted the guy who threw the bottle too.

"OOOO...I bet he saved a lot of time by doing that."

I mean come on, it's a 4/5 crit in a local park for God's sake. Whatever. But if you're gonna feel the need to do that, use a half a brain and don't throw it up in the air in the only spot where people are standing.

urbanknight

How stupid, and I really do wonder if ditching the bottle (what does that weigh, less than a pound?) really helps that much in a sprint?

eippo1

Wow, that's pretty dumb. That's a good way to get banned by the USCF for a little while.

HillMut

what a sad story... they should have held him down and let the guy who got hit throw some bottles at his head, then suspend him.

I think a full bottle weighs 3 lbs? Uphill finish = ditch bottles , climb before finish = ditch bottles, flat crit=wtf was he thinking?

Namenda

Ditching bottles is fine...chucking them like liquid hand grenades is stupid. If you're alert enough to think about dropping your bottles, you should be alert enough to look for a proper place to aim.

HigherGround

D'oh! Now helmets are going to be mandatory for spectators too!

I agree, that was pretty reckless and stupid on the part of the racer. A pound or two doesn't seem like much until it is moving at your head at 25 mph. I wonder if the spectator was feeling any effects later on after the adrenaline wore off? I hope it was no worse than it sounds.

I once heard a story of a racer crashing himself while throwing a bottle away. He threw it across his body (such as with his right hand, to the left side), jerked the handlebars, and took himself out! Fortunately no one else was hurt in the process.

damocles1

There's no need to ditch bottles. If you do, you are a dillhole who is doing little more than endangering the spectators, the rest of the field and trying to look like a pro dog. It's a dumbass move...period!

If you really think that a bottle with 6 ounces of water in it is slowing you down, you're a dope and should sell your sh*t and quit.

MDcatV

Dropping bottles unless in a defined feed zone is NOT fine, it's littering, and it's NEVER fine in a crit. One of the reasons road races become more and more difficult to permit is due to the bottles and gu packs that jack azz racers toss onto the side of the road. I wish officials would grab folks who throw their trash during a race and DQ them on the spot, and suspend them from competing for a few weeks. A legit whoops, I dropped my bottle is different, that's an accident.

DannoXYZ 

A full 32-oz bottle weighs 2-lbs. An empty 24-oz bottle at the end of a crit probably weighs a whole 0.25lbs.

blonduathlongrl

wow, unbelievable how selfish and rude some people can be!

Namenda

Kind of what I meant. I'm not condoning littering. I suppose I could have been more clear, like just saying "don't throw bottles at people".

Hipcycler

...^^Snicker, snicker. This is pretty much my gut reaction to it all yesterday, but I'm not really a racer so I thought I'd float it here and see what the reaction from you guys would be. I guess my gut was right!

EventServices

I saw the Pro riders (TdG or AToC) do something cool in regards to pitching bottles:
Knowing they would receive new bottles shortly, they would wait until they were near crowds along the road, and they'd wait until they were near spectators and then toss them underhand onto the grass/shoulder/etc. as a freebie.

But riders who heave ho in a crit are probably just doing it for show. It serves no purpose whatsoever.
And as you saw, it never turns out well.
I saw guys do it today, and the bottle appeared to be empty.

jrennie

I have seen this when watching pro races where they will drop a mussette(sp?) or bottles as slow as they can at the feet of eager fans as a little way to give back. If you toss your bottles in a crit you better be supermely confident you are going to win. Nothing like the guy who did the chuck to be sprinting for 21st.

WCroadie

That surely won't be the last bonehead move you see from a racer either.