Advocacy & Safety - Potholes

What is the pothole ettiquitte ~ I mean, the race organizers. Should they be responsible in getting them
a) filled in; or
b) marked with cones etc.

I was in a race where there were huge potholes, and I ended up hitting one while trying to miss another one, my wheel bent in and caused me to lose control and I couldn't brake and ended up going towards the curb and flying over my bike and into the dirt. I scraped up my face and jaw pretty well, after 5 days I am back to eating semi-solid foods.

I was not the only one who did this, others too hit the holes and flew, one girl hurt her hip.

What do you think ~ any experience in this?

No experience with races, only potholes. The way I deal with them as a commuting cyclist is by knowing the roads I use. I guess this doesn't apply to a race course.

I do not have a practical answer, other than to ride the course several times before the race, and to memorize where the potholes and other road defects are. This is one reason I do not like to ride in a tight formation or too close to the outside edge of the pavement -- I want to be able to see what is coming and to have sufficient room and forewarning to maneuver around it.

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, the course does not allow bikes on it when it is not during the race. The street is too narrow to have both cars and bikes on it. But other times I have biked a course before a race for the directions.

tri_kim, that is horrible. Even though I haven't done much racing, that is definitely one of my worst nightmares.

My suggestion is that you see whether there are any applicable rules in the governing body for Canadian bike racing. If so, you could call the organizers on those rules via the system. If not, you could lobby to get some new accountability/liability rules instated.

What a bad situation. :( Good luck in the future.

Never raced, but I love it when event coordinators like at centuries, etc., clearly mark the potholes with spraypaint. Otherwise you could be going down an unfamiliar hill at blistering speeds and ... well, you know.

Good luck with your jaw. That sounds really nasty. Seems to me the race sponsors could have marked the tank trap in some way.

Originally posted by tri_kim
... Unfortunately, the course does not allow bikes on it when it is not during the race. The street is too narrow to have both cars and bikes on it. ...

Can they legally ban bicycles from a public road (other than a limited-access "free"way) in BC? On a narrow street, bicyclists should take the lane and become part of the main traffic flow. If motorists have to slow down a bit, so be it.

"Can they legally ban bicycles from a public road (other than a limited-access "free"way) in BC? On a narrow street, bicyclists should take the lane and become part of the main traffic flow. If motorists have to slow down a bit, so be it."

In this particular case, the bikes have a designated path in this park, but it was not the race course.