NathanC

Aussie Rules is for girls. Rugby League is 10 times more tough and dangerous.:

roadwarrior

Vaughters once said if you want to know what it's like to be in a racing accident, strip to your underwear and I'll push you out of my car into the parking lot at 30mph.

roadwarrior

so they put them in soccer where they learn how to roll around like they've been shot, faking an injury...

Just kidding...

The thing about bike racing is that you are riding along with 100+ guys for 3-5 hours. In the middle of that peloton, there's contact all the time. People's minds wander. The skill is not going down and taking 40 other people with you...some of you think a CAT 4 race where one guy in front of you gets on the brakes and a couple people go down...think of those wrecks you've seen that look like dominos going down...or those big sprint wrecks....

It's a lot better than it used to be. Back in the toe clip days you didn't separate from the bike...think of a sprint wreck with a pack where the bike is whipping your legs around. No helmets....those little strap things were better than nothing, but not much.

It's extremely sad that a rider lost his life. Remember when Kivilev passed when he hit his helmetless head on the pavement in Paris-Nice? After that they began to phase in mandatory helmets, now required all the time. But even with all that, it's still a dangerous sport.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZy-tPkZ3W4

This is from the end of last year's Indy 500...I used to crew in the series. Having raced bikes and knowing a bunch of people in the Indy Car business, I greatly respect the danger in all sports. A couple of Indy Car drivers have tried bike racing. They think Indy Car racing is safer. The guy in the flying car, Mike Conway won a couple of weeks ago.

collegeskier

The art of free soloing. Alex Honnold is one of he best, and i saw a video where he says he has a slightly higher risk tolerance then most. You think.

This is another guy speed free soloing. Impressive but a bit crazy. https://youtu.be/G-dPjDYVKUY

patentcad

You think?

collegeskier

I try to avoid it, especially on Bikeforums.

RecceDG

Having driven race cars for a number of years - I don't want to get into a "my Dad can beat up your Dad" pissing contest as to which sport is tougher or more dangerous - but let me tell you, driving race cars is no picnic. In fact, it is downright brutal. And cars with a lot of downforce, like Indy or F1, are off the charts.

And you want to see focussed concentration? Watch the cockpit footage of a WRC driver at work. No blinking!

It's a different discipline than pro cycling. It stresses different abilities and capabilities. Both are tough, in their own way. Neither are in any way "easy".

One thing that some of the media have missed about this fatal accident is that he didn't just fall off the bike and slide across the road. If you see the pictures of the crash site, you'll see he fell off a retaining wall and fell 20m onto another roadway. At 3m per building storey, that's like falling seven floors - and not a case with a high survival percentage no matter what you are doing. Throw an NFL linebacker in full kit off a seven storey building, and that will not end well.

So this isn't a "typical" bike crash. More's the shame, because a "typical" crash would have broken some bones and stripped off some skin, but he'd still be able to race another day.

DG

patentcad

Anybody who doesn't think driving racing cars is an athletic endeavor is utterly clueless. I remember reading the average HR for a driver during the Indy 500 was 175+ or something for the better part of 3 hours.

mmmdonuts

+1

And many spend off track time cycling to stay fit for driving. Same with moto racers.

baj32161

HEY I SPILLED BEER ALL OVER MYSELF BOWLING. THAT COULD HAVE CAUSED A SERIOUS SLIP AND FALL!!!
Seriously. I do not like the idea of calling all other mainstream sports jokes. I do agree with his basic tenet that bicycle racing is alot more difficult and dangerous than the vast majority of people and sports fans in general realise. I have heard too many sportswriters say that it is just "riding a bike and even I can do that." Most of my friends know how I love to ride and the very few that have gone riding with me could not believe how difficult it was for them....thinking I was some sort of great rider, even as slowly as I was going.....and I SUCK at this.

Cheers,

Brian J.

AndyGrow

I wasn't aware there was a competition going on for "toughest/most dangerous sport".

Shut up and ride.

patentcad

We know.

twobadfish

I'm going to try to pull you back to reality. There is no contact in cycling. There is RARE risk of you falling in a manner that you will get KILLED. Cyclists don't fall that often.

Soccer, rugby, American football, hockey... these sports involve REGULAR physical contact that can and does result in injuries that ends their career permanently. They are also games. Cycling is not a game. Gaming sports and non-gaming sports will forever be looked upon differently. Have you seen some of the injuries runners have endured? SNAPPED shins? Does that mean their sport is inhernetly dangerous? Sure you can fall going really fast coming down a mountain... but it's not a regular part of a race (falling). It's a rare occurrence and it's even more rare to DIE.

It seems like you don't feel like you get enough credit for cycling being a tough guy sport. But really it's not, regardless of the chance of falling to your death on a fast decent.

Carbon Unit

I use to work for a company that owned an Indy car and I sat in it once. If you are much bigger than 140 lbs, you will be very uncomfortable in it because your shoulders will be touching the sides. The steering wheel needs to come out for you to get in it. Someone could be claustrophobic in one. It is basically a go cart.

collegeskier

Sounds like you don't watch all that much cycling. I would guess that at least one rider hits the ground on average in every race. And there is more contact then you think in those sprints.

banerjek

Aside from the physical forces drivers are subject to, there is also the issue that driving on the edge of control in heavy traffic for 500 miles takes sustained concentration.

Darrell Waltrip had a quote I've always been fond of, "Now they call us athletes. They used to just call us rednecks...."

I've sat in one and find that even if you weigh 140 lbs, they're incredibly cramped. There's no way I'd want to be a race driver.

patentcad

Spare me your sense of 'reality'. Pro cyclists crash CONSTANTLY. Hell, even in amateur racing and training I've crashed many times. Anybody who races will tell you that. Any fall like that has the potential to kill you.

Like I said, not to minimize injury risks in other sports, but few sports have the potential to kill you quite like bicycle racing. Some other sports do: motorized racing (bikes or cars), downhill skiing, etc.

twobadfish

You're right, I don't. I just assumed fatal crashes weren't all that common in cycling. Sorry.

roadwarrior

The Tashkent Terror, Djamolodine Abdoujaparov...or as they also called him Abdoupushemoff...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Nt4x3nuzfQ

...and he walked away...it took him 20 minutes to clear the finish line to keep that green jersey.

For you kids out there, this is why you don't sprint looking at your feet.

VT Biker

This thread has devolved into exactly what some of us found troubling with JV's comments in the first place. The arguing over which sport is more dangerous is silly. None of us chose the sport we chose because it was more dangerous.

Not only that, but people here are arguing over two different aspects of a sport's dangerous factor....

a) the day-to-day grind (such as what you get with football or rugby) and even then, there are constant lower impact crashes and falls in cycling as well and

b) the low, but potential catastrophic risk of death or serious injury (such as what you get with cycling or motor sports but can also get with in football as well...such as the recently paralyzed Rutgers lineman.

Statistically speaking, want to know the most dangerous activity for athletes in high-school....cheer leading.

banerjek

I did.

Nothing says macho like silky smooth legs, fruity colors, and wearing tights. The drivers can't help but be intimidated by my manliness...

surgeonstone

So a person waiting in fear with a jacked up heart rate of 150 is undergoing an athletic event? Lot of factors figuring into an elevated heart in a race car driver and muscle activity is probably the least important.

surgeonstone

Exactly right-far and away the most dangerous.

surgeonstone

No your right- they are very rare.

collegeskier

Fatal crashes are fairly unlikely, at the top level. But crashes are often, lots of broken bones (collar bones) and sprinting has more contact then the average person would think.

I think this was the point of JV comments. People think, I ride my bike I don't see what is so hard about it. When if you watch closely it is more physical and there is more dangerous then you would think.