Veteran death in Time Trial

[mr Mag00]

I was on holiday when this happened and only heard about it yesterday.

such a shame an inspiration as said in the piece but does highlight the dangers.

 

[amnesia]

I posted this a while back... just around the corner from me

I have actually been trying to join the BJW but they don't seem to answer emails and the forum appears little-used.

 

[Yellow Fang]

He sounds like a great guy, and not such a bad way of going out for a committed cyclist.

 

[ColinJ]

He sounds like a great guy, and not such a bad way of going out for a committed cyclist.

I know what you are trying to say but I think you've got that one wrong, sorry!

To 'do a Beryl Burton' - that's not a bad way to go. If you are going to die of ill health, then let it be sudden when you are out on your bike.

To be in good health and die in an avoidable accident, that has to be bad whatever age you are, and whatever you are doing at the time. Tragic.

I've heard of this kind of thing happening quite a few times. Let's be careful out there, folks...

 

[zimzum42]

Tragic event.

Difficult though, as he wasn't knocked off by some boy racer, but rode into a stationary object.

Not a good way to go, but not a callous act or a SMIDSY.

 

[wafflycat]

Sad though it is, the death does NOT show the 'peril' or 'danger' of 'racing on the open roads'.
What it shows is that if you're riding your bike not looking where you're going, you can plough into the back of a stationery object in front of you.


Sadly it's something easily avoidable and entirely down to rider error, not some 'peril' or 'danger' of 'racing on the open roads'

 

[Bill Gates]

Sad though it is, the death does NOT show the 'peril' or 'danger' of 'racing on the open roads'.
What it shows is that if you're riding your bike not looking where you're going, you can plough into the back of a stationery object in front of you.


Sadly it's something easily avoidable and entirely down to rider error, not some 'peril' or 'danger' of 'racing on the open roads'

Many years ago the president of my cycling club who had been a top rider was competing in a TT. The course was on a fast dual carriageway. He ploughed headlong into a car that had broken down on a clearway. He had been riding with his head down. No one wore helmets in those days and even now only young riders must wear a hard shell helmet in a TT. Most "fast" riders wear a head fairing offering little or no protection.

The last I heard of him was that he was a paraplegic unable to move about without assistance. Always ride with your head up and if you do look down make sure it's only for a seconds and you know what's ahead.

The picture in the news item shows him wearing a TT helmet. When you look down they are no longer aero, which as a very experienced rider he would have known. One can only assume he was knackered as the strain on the neck and shoulders keeping a low profile in a TT is very draining.

 

[wafflycat]

Always ride with your head up and if you do look down make sure it's only for a seconds and you know what's ahead.

Exactly the thing to do, as per the posters at just about every TT I've ever been to (and that's a lot...) says to keep your head up. Indeed I've known riders sanctioned when they don't.

 

[Will1985]

In a way it is in the regulations, although it could be worded better:

The riding position shall be set so that the competitor has good forward vision when in a competitive position.

Some people interpret that as a position which can provide a good forward view when you take a snapshot, not something which should be maintained over the distance of the course.

Too many people copy the likes of Dave Millar who has his head down most of the time.
In this case it's the rider's fault and, if he had survived, would have been hauled up in front of the district committee and given a 6 month competitive ban.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Sorry - but it's a schoolboy error to ride with your head down. We've all done it (well I have) when we were little. Mostly we got away with it (well I did). Lesson learned..........