"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - TT crash stories

Interested in hearing any and all TT crash stories from experienced TT riders, including lessons learned to avoid same.

Thanks

If you're approaching a turn, and your wheel feels soft, it probably is. Ouch.

My teammate at Empire State Games last year was a relatively inexperienced racer, but a very strong rider and a fantastic guy that would kill himself for the good of the team. First of four stages is a ~10mi ITT. He's on a borrowed bike with a borrowed aerohelmet. The helmet is a last-second addition and doesn't quite fit perfectly. Halfway through his run he hits a small pothole, the helmet goes down over his eyes, he tags a traffic cone, wipes out and trashes a wheel ... DNF. Outisde of a flat, I wasn't sure a DNF was possble in an ITT. Needless to say, we didn't let him live that one down. He more than made up for it in stages 2 and 4. This year he's kicking my arse all over the place. Best guy ever.

-mark

My team ran a TT yesterday, and because all of the volunteers I conscripted into service bailed, I was out working a corner all day. I was at corner three, at a 'T' junction, where the riders going out made a left, and the riders coming back in came in right. We had cones marking the intersection and also to prevent riders from crossing the yellow lines because of A) the rules and B) the heavy (and unexpected) amount of traffic on the roads that we were watching.

So, me and three of my teammates, having nothing to do for a moment, watched a rider come back in for the return to the start/finish. Dude was on a Cervelo, Zipps and the whole outfit, and y'know, looked the part. Fast, too. As he started to make the turn, he crossed over the double yellow, went between the first of the cones and then locked up his front wheel and endoed right in front of all of us, probably at around 20-25 MPH. Broke the seatpost on his Cervelo – and roughed himself up pretty badly. We had to drive him back to the start because he landed mostly on his butt, could hardly walk, and his bike was trashed.

First things out of his mouth were "Damn cones, I didn't even see them."

Huh? You mean those big orange things in the middle of the road? My guess is that he underestimated his speed and the corner and overcorrected, losing his traction in the process.

My friend said that as soon as he saw the guy's bike start wobbling, and as he flew over the handlebars onto his back/butt, he turned away because he didn't want to see a stretcher case in the making.

Bad stuff.

Huh? You mean those big orange things in the middle of the road?

Neon witches imbedded in asphalt.


Try to find the footage of Steve Bauer's wreck in the Niwot TT of the Coors Classic (1984? 85?). It was spectacular, and it proves that TT crashes can be pretty ugly, and usually pretty easy to find who's at fault.

Neon witches imbedded in asphalt.


Try to find the footage of Steve Bauer's wreck in the Niwot TT of the Coors Classic (1984? 85?). It was spectacular, and it proves that TT crashes can be pretty ugly, and usually pretty easy to find who's at fault.

this one ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEkF2nMl7YU

I was going through a sweeping curve at ~27mph, and hit a pavement transition. That got my rear wheel skating since I didn't have any shock absorbtion with my elbows on the pads up front. I didn't slide out, but it messed up my line enough that I rode off the road.

So, don't turn sharp while you're in the aero bars. I didn't think this curve was sharp enough...

Here's a tip. Keep your head up and dont focus on the white line. I crashed doing that about 8 years ago. The line was between the road and the shoulder. It veered off to the right in sight of the finish and I followed it right off the road and into a 3ft deep drainage ditch at speed. I didnt even realize what I had done until I was hitting the ground. I eventually got up and finished with a 62 and change, but I was on a good 58 and change pace. Lesson learned.

this one ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEkF2nMl7YU

I remember that one, but I'm sure there was one in Colorado that was wild and crazy.

this one ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEkF2nMl7YU
Do you think the aero helmet did Lemond any good with him looking down all the time like that?

Amazing crash. You could tell he had a tire blow and he might have kept it upright had it not been for the curb.

I once sort of dozed off in the State TT and rode right off the road. Technically I didn't crash.

http://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.com/2007/12/story-how-not-to-prepare-for-state-tt.html

I don't think I fell totally asleep but I think I did one of those "drift offs".

cdr

I was doing the invisible aerobar one day going to work and I kind of drifted off and fell into a crack on the road. I lost a whole lot of skin.

I was almost hit by a deer in a TT this year. The shoulder of the road went uphill such that the ground was around level with the top of my head. Out of the corner of my eye, I see something large jump down off that hill. A large deer passes a couple feet in front of my bike and, luckily, keeps going across the road. That really spiked my heart rate. I had a really good time that day, but it could've ended really badly if the timing was slightly different.

Keep your head up

Sometimes tough to execute.

Sometimes tough to execute.

You dont have to tell me twice! :lol:

In my case, I had a extreme case of tunnel vision coupled with the fact I was giving it everything I had left in that last 1k. All I could see was the white line 10' in front of me. I didnt even realize I was heading off the road until it was too late to correct my course. Funny think is I am most binned it at the begining of the TT on the course's first right hander. I was going way to fast and almost lowsided the bike into a cornfield.