French cycle race through level crossing with train approaching (video)

[Brandane]

Why don't they just build a temp bridge over the line , a kinda scaffolding / easy structure to ride over and above the danger ,would easily solve the problem

Come on, this is supposed to be a forum for self righteous cyclists, we can do better than that!
Why don't they just build a temp bridge over the road, a kinda scaffolding/easy structure for a 200mph TGV to pass over and above the competitive cyclists who can't possibly stop, that would easily solve the problem.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Come on, this is supposed to be a forum for self righteous cyclists, we can do better than that!
Why don't they just build a temp bridge over the road, a kinda scaffolding/easy structure for a 200mph TGV to pass over and above the competitive cyclists who can't possibly stop, that would easily solve the problem.

Are you mad?

The bridge would cast a shadow over the road that could hide a puddle, causing some of the peloton to get their bikes dirty. No, far better to shut the entire French rail network down on the day of the race.

 

[TheJDog]

Prison is the only language that these riders are going to understand.

Prison... Or lead.

 

[_aD]

it was extremely stoopid but also extremely irresponsible, if as has been claimed on cyclechat before, cycling is the worlds most watched sport, then what sort of message does this give to kids approaching level crossings with their bikes?

Also, what message does it give about cyclists in general? Now we don't just RLJ and ride on the pavement, we jump crossings. Cyclist scum!

I wrote to the UCI to this effect; the behaviour of their riders affect my daily cycling life.

 

[mjr]

The bridge would cast a shadow over the road that could hide a puddle, causing some of the peloton to get their bikes dirty. No, far better to shut the entire French rail network down on the day of the race.

There's an alternative line to the south which is mostly bridged. To access a couple of sectors of cobbles, the race crosses that particular low-speed line multiple times at level crossings. Either the race should coordinate with SNCF signallers so it doesn't get surprised by barriers dropping onto the middle of the peloton, or SNCF should divert/hold affected services on one Sunday near Easter. This happened in 2006. I suspect SNCF is abusing the race in an attempt to accelerate its plans to remove level crossings from low-speed lines used by TGVs.

 

[sidevalve]

I must admit I find the 'funny' comments in pretty poor taste really. Maybe ten or so riders could have been killed and others injured - would it all have been so funny then ? The only way would have been to have a marshal stop the riders as soon as the barriers started to move - anyone carrying on to be disqualified. I believe the race was timed so as to avoid the trains but it was delayed due to bad weather - again the organizers AND the riders should have been aware of the possibilities. Trains do not take prisoners or care about stupid cyclists. Again sorry if this seems boring but death is a hard lesson to learn.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Relax, no one died.

 

[mjr]

The only way would have been to have a marshal stop the riders as soon as the barriers started to move - anyone carrying on to be disqualified. I believe the race was timed so as to avoid the trains but it was delayed due to bad weather

There was a policeman who stopped the riders just before the train. I think the race was actually faster than timed because of a strong tailwind - the first hour was over 50kph.

 

[Brandane]

I must admit I find the 'funny' comments in pretty poor taste really. Maybe ten or so riders could have been killed and others injured - would it all have been so funny then ?

But no-one did lose their life or get injured, did they? And even if they had, they would only have themselves to blame. You don't gamble with your life when you see barriers down on a French railway line where TGV's are known to travel! If they place such little value on their lives and that of others then I for one will have no sympathy for them when it all goes wrong.

 

[wam68]

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news...ter-paris-roubaix-riders-jump-crossing-166314

Seems the train company aren't happy either

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

The people who dodged round the barriers are seriously stupid. A TGV can travel 500 yards in five seconds, as this unfortunate cyclist discovered...

http://road.cc/content/news/114250-french-tgv-train-travels-40km-cyclists-body-embedded-front-cab

They travel fast on specially dedicated lines where there are no level crossings, they don't thunder about at high speed on lines like in the video! Just because it has a 186 MPH (300KPH), that doesn't mean it is travelling at that speed, and nor does it somehow make the train any more dangerous! In other words, the type of train doesn't matter.

The train was not travelling fast and took a while to reach the crossing. Anyone with any sort of depth perception would have seen that and clearly took a calculated risk much akin to crossing a road!

That said, I probably would have stopped, although I get the impression that due to the number in the peleton, a few of them probably only realised where they were at the last moment, by which time it was too late, or, had they stopped suddenly, they would have caused a pile up, potentially right in the path of the train.

Those last guys crossing didn't have any excuse though.

But no-one did lose their life or get injured, did they? And even if they had, they would only have themselves to blame. You don't gamble with your life when you see barriers down on a French railway line where TGV's are known to travel! If they place such little value on their lives and that of others then I for one will have no sympathy for them when it all goes wrong.

Yes, although I am afraid that I am just sick of the whole attitude these days (especially in this country in fact) that if you even step on a railway track, YOU WILL DIE!! If you stand even a millimeter on the yellow line at a station, YOU WILL DIE!! If you even think about it, YOU WILL DIE!! And so on.

Load of nonsense if you ask me.

And I will say again, the fact it was a TGV doesn't make any difference, a train is a train at the end of the day.

 

[slowmotion]

OK MDB, go off and play on the railway line again, you little scallywag... it's jolly good fun....

Compare notes with the unfortunate Mulhouse rider when you're flapping about on a fluffy cloud.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

OK MDB, go off and play on the railway line again, you little scallywag... it's jolly good fun....

Compare notes with the unfortunate Mulhouse rider when you're flapping about on a fluffy cloud.

No, no, I just mean that being into railways, having worked around trains and so on, you do come across some things that.... Well..... How long have you got?... Its the whole Health And Safety culture now, and yes, I know railways are dangerous, I would never skip a level crossing normally and the riders were being irresponsible, but it has all got to the stage where nobody is allowed to think for themselves any more just to protect the minority of genuine idiots


....... And there you are too, making the automatic assumption that I will be killed on the spot for being on or near a railway....

 

[slowmotion]

I'm quite prepared to take a few risks that might harm me....but they are my risks. As Cyclist33 pointed out earlier, a lot of people watch Paris-Roubaix on the box, including kids on bikes who might try and emulate them at their local railway crossing. The daft thing is that the riders didn't gain anything by setting a bad example. The whole lot re-grouped to set things fairer, as is the convention.

500 yards in five seconds is quite a bullet to dodge when you are wobbling through a barrier chicane on two wheels.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

I'm quite prepared to take a few risks that might harm me....but they are my risks. As Cyclist33 pointed out earlier, a lot of people watch Paris-Roubaix on the box, including kids on bikes who might try and emulate them at their local railway crossing. The daft thing is that the riders didn't gain anything by setting a bad example. The whole lot re-grouped to set things fairer, as is the convention.

500 yards in five seconds is quite a bullet to dodge when you are wobbling through a barrier chicane on two wheels.

Hence why I said they were being irresponsible. 500 yards in 5 seconds, what speed is that? That train wasn't going that fast surely?
I wonder what the line speed is there.