"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - The Insanity of it all. or I need a new Helmet

pulling from the recent page-long thrashing about a Local (turkey-day-crit) crash

MABRA annually reports "incidents" per event / race / category. On average in the mid Atlantic there is 1 crash per 3 cat 5 races, and 1 crash per 3 cat 4 races. I can't find the reports off hand but a google of mabra.org should yield the results. Incidents are not graded by severity. However there are people who have died during amateur bike racing.

Thoughts on the Dangers of Racing?

Mitigating strategies (how do you know when you can ride safely in a cat X pack)?

Cat 5: Stay up front and mind who is around you.

pulling from the recent page-long thrashing about a Local (turkey-day-crit) crash

MABRA annually reports "incidents" per event / race / category. On average in the mid Atlantic there is 1 crash per 3 cat 5 races, and 1 crash per 3 cat 4 races. I can't find the reports off hand but a google of mabra.org should yield the results. Incidents are not graded by severity. However there are people who have died during amateur bike racing.

Thoughts on the Dangers of Racing?

Mitigating strategies (how do you know when you can ride safely in a cat X pack)?
none.

just ride your f'n bike. bones heal

... However there are people who have died during amateur bike racing.
...


Can you site a source for this?

Can you site a source for this?

Our own DannoXYZ listed a race where someone jugular was torn open on a concrete planter.

I have a teammate who likley will never race again due to his injuries sustained by (I'm guessing, as I've not heard the whole story) taking a header into something.).

Folks die; **** happens, we keep playing. I'm not trying to be a Nader-ite here. but some recognition of the dangers might be appropriate.

Can you site a source for this?


The Carl Dolan Memorial Circuit Race is so named for a rider who died of heat stroke durring a TT, as stated in the pre-race instructions of the same event.

To run/rock/rub an old cliche "You are still more likely to be killed maimed in a car crash, on the way to the race".

pulling from the recent page-long thrashing about a Local (turkey-day-crit) crash

MABRA annually reports "incidents" per event / race / category. On average in the mid Atlantic there is 1 crash per 3 cat 5 races, and 1 crash per 3 cat 4 races. I can't find the reports off hand but a google of mabra.org should yield the results. Incidents are not graded by severity. However there are people who have died during amateur bike racing.

Thoughts on the Dangers of Racing?
Mitigating strategies (how do you know when you can ride safely in a cat X pack)?

my mitigating strategy is not riding anything super expensive since i'm just getting started. steel frame, check. centaur group, check. open pro wheels, check.

i figure this way if i need to replace a bunch of gear it won't kill my bank account. (and the extra weight is good for training)


Can you site a source for this?

a guy (brad lewis) died during a crit out here a few years ago, but i think he had a heart attack or something (e.g. not crash related, but it did happen during a race).

OP is either a wussy, or a troll.

either way, i don't give a sit what she/he thinks. ;)

The reason I ask is I know of 3 people in my area who have died commuting, but not one racing. If I were to rank the risks it would go more along the lines of:

Commuting
Training and cookie rides
Racing

This list is based on the number of people I personally am aware of hurt or killed engaged in each.

I agree with this point. "Folks die; **** happens, we keep playing."

Here's the quote from the other thread that got this one going:


How, on God's green Earth, can anyone ever even consider bike racing after coming to these forums and hearing about these horror stories?

Really, is a medal/trophy/pair of wool socks/bragging rights really worth it?

As a neophyte racer, I'm really struggling to figure this all out.

....and his response to his own question.....


Because I love the sport, its the only sport that I can do really well, it gets my competitive juices flowing and it's motivated me to stay in the best shape of my life. But I won't be racing long if I can't deal with the risk. (and its not just injury... I think about all the $$ involved in fixing my gear.)

Before I throw the baby out with the bathwater and quit altogether, I'd like to know if there are others out there that are/were in the same situation and what the outcome was.

Sorry, I realize this is getting OT

Good questions. Let us know if you get it figured out. I agree--as with anything, you weigh the arguments for and against, and if you can't deal with the risk, you shouldn't continue racing.

And is something nasty happens in a race, you knew the risks and need to accept the consequences.

The reason I ask is I know of 3 people in my area who have died commuting, but not one racing. If I were to rank the risks it would go more along the lines of:

Commuting
Training and cookie rides
Racing

This list is based on the number of people I personally am aware of hurt or killed engaged in each.

I agree with this point. "Folks die; **** happens, we keep playing."

To cite a recent NYTimes article 20% of Bicycle fatalities in NYC involved alcohol, 93% involved cars. I suspect these numbers would be reflected almost anywhere cars are present. More cars more problems.

people die from peanuts...the food, maybe even the comics also.

Ill die happy

I have witnessed two people die during bike races, but they were pedestrians walking in front of 1) the finishing sprint in Fitchburg around 1979, and 2) the peloton in the middle of nowhere north of Concord, NH, around 1981. The first was an elderly man crossing the street "to get an ice cream". The second was a truck driver carrying a bag of groceries, looking down. He was between the break and the peloton, so the lead police car had already gone by.

I did know two women who died (many years apart) in bike races in New England, but I wasn't present. One was hit by a car in Stowe, another hit an exposed curbstone with her head in Arlington, I think.

But while these are rare things, the number of crashes per low-category event probably approaches 1.0. In terms of the likelihood of being in a crash before you get out of Cat5 (which is no guarantee of safety), you are almost certain to be involved in at least one. I don't think there is anything approaching the danger="risk of injury" of bike racing that people regularly sign up and pay for. But the number of broken bones and such is actually pretty low; so the danger="risk of severe trauma" is low, but anyone who has been around awhile knows someone who paid a big price.

A guy had a heart attack and died in a race here a year or two ago

Always cracks me up when people think things like this should be safe, it's a risk, that's why it's fun, what did you expect? If it was easy and painless everyone would do it...

A guy had a heart attack and died in a race here a year or two ago

yep, Keith Mitchell died during the Crystal City classic when it was a criterium. I was hanging out waiting for the cat 3 race to start while the masters (40+ I think) was on the course and stopped/re-staged. Announcer asked for a moment of silence as the ambulance carried Keith away. They didnt announce that he died, but rather that it was a very serious situation or something like that. It was very sobering as you could have heard a pin drop in the middle of a city. I wont forget it.

pulling from the recent page-long thrashing about a Local (turkey-day-crit) crash

MABRA annually reports "incidents" per event / race / category. On average in the mid Atlantic there is 1 crash per 3 cat 5 races, and 1 crash per 3 cat 4 races. I can't find the reports off hand but a google of mabra.org should yield the results. Incidents are not graded by severity. However there are people who have died during amateur bike racing.

Thoughts on the Dangers of Racing?

Mitigating strategies (how do you know when you can ride safely in a cat X pack)?

know how to handle your bicycle and yourself well, first and foremost, take care of what you can control

get near the front early and stay there

attack alot and ride in breakaways