24 replies to this topic

[rallentamento]

Birkenfeld1, on 20 August 2012 - 09:34 PM, said:

The accident happened before turn 2 (left turn)....the rider hit barricade approx. 20 yards before turn on a straight away...head down going approx. 25/26 mph.

That is a shock, and we may never know what truly transpired to make these events take place. I'm just happy to know that he is recovering and he is in good spirits. Keep it safe and the rubber side down in Sedalia guys.

[Chad]

Where the course comes together (at figure 8), and where accident happened; would it be possible to use cones or something that has a lower potential for injury if someone crashes into it?  The barricades come back into the course, which means if you have your head down, putting in a hard effort to get the wheel in front of you, it could be easy to not see the narrowing of the course in time.  I've been following a wheel before, with head down, and the rider ahead swerved to miss a cone and I barely had time to react.  It happens easily, and anything that can be done to prevent the mistake from being serious would be good.  I really like the race and the course is tough, technical and challenging at speed; just a suggestion.

[Steel1]

Chad, in pack riding it is  never a good idea to "have your head down", no matter how hard an effort you are putting out.  That is EXACTLY how crashes happen.  At race speed, you need as much time as possible to react.  Burying your head, especially when you are on the rivet, is a recipe for trouble.

[Pershing]

This is good example why cones or tape aren't a good idea with two way traffic...

[cleeland]

agreed that cones are not safe.  pre-ride the course, preferably at speed, so you have an idea of how quickly those corners come up when you're going race pace, and so you know how to set your line up through chicanes such as found in turns 2 & 3.

[illinihand]

If the rider had his head down he wasn't going to see anything anyone put up. Hope he recovers quickly and is back on the bike soon.

[cleeland]

illinihand, on 22 August 2012 - 11:52 PM, said:

If the rider had his head down he wasn't going to see anything anyone put up. Hope he recovers quickly and is back on the bike soon.

Right.  My comment about the banner was related to when I was racing in the dark in the 1/2 race and the barriers at the chicane were difficult to see in normal light, and once the break got away and the pace car was out in front, there were a couple of times that the pace car was coming towards on the other side of the chicane and the oncoming lighting made the barriers and the wandering spectators impossible to see.

Head should never be down.  The race is happening in front of you.

[Eville Mike]

From a photographer/spectator who has never raced or even ridden this course except when it wasn't a course, and who has no business replying to this topic at all...

1. This was the 3rd year for this race and since before the 1st race on the 1st year it was well known that this corner (turn 2) was an 'attention-getter'.
2. The barrier placement at the approach to turn 2 (crash site) seems to narrow that approach perhaps a bit much considering how much road the riders need on the return turn (turn 6?).
3. I remember seeing a hay-bale "wall" being used as the divider on a 'figure-8' turn like this before, although I recall the streets being possibly somewhat wider than ours.

Again, this is from my point-of-view as a photographer/spectator. So, 'I'm just sayin' and 'for what it's worth'.

Meanwhile, I'm sorry the guy crashed and got hurt and I was happy to seem him alert and giving officials information when I got to the site several minutes after the crash. I hope he has a quick and complete recovery.

[illinihand]

When I go to a race and look at a course I don't see the road getting narrow and think, man they should not use this because it is too dangerous. I think, this is another part of what makes this course challenging. It is always the choice of the riders to race in the race and in my opinion if you choose to do so you understand the risks involved in doing so. I personally don't really like races that have huge wide open roads all the way because it makes it very hard to control the surging. But again this is all part of the challenge of that particular race.

I think the Edwardsville crit is a great course and they should keep it as it is. We know how it looks, we know how it races. I crashed there this last weekend and I don't want them to change the course. I don't even think the rider that crashed and was hurt badly has asked for it to be changed. People want to have challenging races and courses.

Great job Edwardsville!

Nick

[aligni]

This crit is one of my favorite venues and I've raced it all three years.  This past weekend's crowds were awesome and the City/promotors should be very pleased with the event.

I think the biggest issue the race will see going forward is course space limitations. IMO, anything over 60-70 riders in a given class will cause space problems.  Dropped riders needed to be pulled last weekend...and weren't.  No one likes to be pulled - but this course seems to dictate that.

Brady