Road Bike Racing - Holy Chinstraps! Spartanburg Smith Barney Crit

So my girlfriend and I go to watch the Cat 4/5 race earlier tonight at the Smith Barney Classic race in Spartanburg, SC.

At the beginning of the second lap, about 30 yards past the start line on the straight away, a guy clips his handlebar on the guardrail and goes over the handlebars hard, right in front of my girlfriend and I. Unfortunately for him, his helmet straps were not on tightly, and his helmet rode up on his forehead when he face planted on the asphalt. He ended up splitting his forhead open from his eyebrow to his hairline, and it spread open a few inches wide. It was nasty, and his skull was in plain view.

He was tended to quickly to stop the bleeding, and went off to the hospital. Hopefully it was no worse than some bad stitching and a concussion. My girlfriend has always wanted to see a crash happen....she definitely never wants to again.

In total, about 15 guys went down, with a few others going to the hospital for X-rays on collarbones, etc. They got the guy with the head wound off the road in a couple of minutes and they had a restart. It was pretty scary for a minute, and I have to admit, it freaked a lot of people out. We left and came back a few hours later for the pro race, and everyone was asking us about it. Definitely the worst crash I had ever seen first hand.

Tighten your chin straps - the details make the difference!

I just wanted to let you know that alot of your info is greatly misleading. The crash was caused by a novice racer who moved all the way from the right side of the track to the left without everlooking to see who was there. He rammed into ME forcing me into the barrier. My handlebar then hooked the barrier causing my head and face to contact the barrier. My helmet (witch was tight and secure) busted, yet saved my life. There is a picture on www.GoUpstate.com of my crash.Go to the 29th springfling pics and I'm the thrid pic. I will add an attachment of the pic. It clearly shows that I have my helment properly secure. I would greatly appreciate you not talking about things that you don't know about. I am not an IDIOT. I nearly lost my life and I strongly believe in safety. Also, I was not rushed off to the hospital because the race organizers were poorly prepared and it took the ambulance nearly 20 min. to get there. Now you have some true facts from the poor guy who's head was split open and blood was on the ground. CHIN STRAP WAS TIGHT. It's all about the angles.

I just wanted to let you know that alot of your info is greatly misleading. The crash was caused by a novice racer who moved all the way from the right side of the track to the left without everlooking to see who was there. He rammed into ME forcing me into the barrier. My handlebar then hooked the barrier causing my head and face to contact the barrier. My helmet (witch was tight and secure) busted, yet saved my life. There is a picture on www.GoUpstate.com of my crash.Go to the 29th springfling pics and I'm the thrid pic. I will add an attachment of the pic. It clearly shows that I have my helment properly secure. I would greatly appreciate you not talking about things that you don't know about. I am not an IDIOT. I nearly lost my life and I strongly believe in safety. Also, I was not rushed off to the hospital because the race organizers were poorly prepared and it took the ambulance nearly 20 min. to get there. Now you have some true facts from the poor guy who's head was split open and blood was on the ground. CHIN STRAP WAS TIGHT. It's all about the angles.


Could you post the pics here? I don't feel like creating an account, or searching for that matter.

I just wanted to let you know that alot of your info is greatly misleading. The crash was caused by a novice racer who moved all the way from the right side of the track to the left without everlooking to see who was there. He rammed into ME forcing me into the barrier. My handlebar then hooked the barrier causing my head and face to contact the barrier. My helmet (witch was tight and secure) busted, yet saved my life. There is a picture on www.GoUpstate.com of my crash.Go to the 29th springfling pics and I'm the thrid pic. I will add an attachment of the pic. It clearly shows that I have my helment properly secure. I would greatly appreciate you not talking about things that you don't know about. I am not an IDIOT. I nearly lost my life and I strongly believe in safety. Also, I was not rushed off to the hospital because the race organizers were poorly prepared and it took the ambulance nearly 20 min. to get there. Now you have some true facts from the poor guy who's head was split open and blood was on the ground. CHIN STRAP WAS TIGHT. It's all about the angles.Aren't all the riders in a Category 4/5 race novices?;)

Sorry about your crash, and hope you get better. The OP didn't really have it that wrong. I don't think he was suggesting you were irresponsible or negligent. Take it easy. Relax. Noone has quite the perspective as the guy on the bottom of the pile. Be well.

This would be the one he's talking about.

http://sjimg.ny.publicus.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Avis=SJ&Dato=20070505&Kategori=PHOTOS05&Lopenr=505002&Ref=PH&Item=3&MaxW=450&MaxH=450

Heal up, and relax a bit :beer:

This would be the one he's talking about.

http://sjimg.ny.publicus.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Avis=SJ&Dato=20070505&Kategori=PHOTOS05&Lopenr=505002&Ref=PH&Item=3&MaxW=450&MaxH=450


Eesh. That almost looks like decorticate posturing.

Eesh. That almost looks like decorticate posturing.

Yeah, but check out the red mist. Looks like a small caliber gunshot wound :eek:

youch

Almost everyone I know who races said this was going to be a bad race. Evidently its been dangerous the past couple of years. Glad I didnt go and glad to hear youll race another day.

Eesh. That almost looks like decorticate posturing.

I'm not sure what that means, but it can't be good.

Aren't all the riders in a Category 4/5 race novices?;)

Not really. I know Cat. 5's who have been racing for years. All 4's presumably have been in at least 10 races, and many of them have much more than that.

Bob

Heal up, and relax a bit :beer:

I'd be pissed if someone was accusing me of dumb crap too.

My girlfriend has always wanted to see a crash happen....she definitely never wants to again.

That's real nice that your girlfriend always wanted to see someone crash their bike at high speed.

Not much room between the sets of barriers in that pic.

My girlfriend has always wanted to see a crash happen....

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/PS/87665%7EDude-Wtf-Posters.jpg

Glad to see that you are OK, and elaborating on the circumstances of the crash. The info about the loose chinstrap came from one of the race organizers who was at the scene on the other side on the road when it happened (the side that the barrier you colleded into was on).

I do want to be 100% clear on one thing with respect to the original post, as the thread has taken a bit of a dive: I wrote the post as a safety adivsory to people here on BF based on something that happened in a crash. As it was told to and witnessed by me, it was a added level of injury due to a minor oversight in equiptment (loose chinstrap). I literally double checked mine before I rode the next time, based on your crash. I wanted to post to provide the same info and warning to others in the BF community. In no way did I intend for any of it to be taken as an assensment of your riding skills, who was at fault, the level of riders in the field, etc.

I am glad to see that you are OK.