#16
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As a former KC racer, I saw him race a few times in STL, and he assisted with my bike fit Feb 2014 - great guy and will be missed.
In terms of the crash, fragmented recounts from my friends suggest that it occurred when Casey opted to make an attack away breakaway group. Several spectators mentioned that someone yelled "outside, outside" when Casey launched his attack and the other racers responded. What is unclear is what actually occurred that led Casey to get tangled up with another racer and resulting in the fatal crash. Did a racer respond recklessly and tracked from his line? Unsure. I suspect the metal barricade was a city requirement as this race was downtown KC and would have to follow city codes. When Tour of MO existed, KC required metal barricades at some locations. An alternative hypothesis is that the barricade was associated with some construction (building, no street). I heard that it took an ambulance 10 minutes to arrive to the scene. However, it is unclear whether that contributed to his death or not. Spectators, mostly cyclists with a range of skillsets to include doctors and nurses, immediately responded to the scene, which leads me to wonder the condition of his brain following the crash. The above is written with a heavy heart. I personally know the first person on the scene, the person who comforted the first person's daughter as she watched her dad spring to help, and the race promoter. The community is still in shock. Last edited by ahumblecycler; 06-28-2017 at 06:57 AM. |
#17
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Maybe it's too expensive but we probably need to get to the point where the sport starts to take some of the same precautions as motorcycle events:
Namely: - The race needs to have an ambulance on site or following the race for races that involve huge distances like pro road races. - Start designing barriers that are safe for riders to hit like has already happened at racetracks that can't remove the walls and install sand traps. (Inflatable barriers, etc..) The barriers that tend to get used don't seem to have safety as a goal at all, I've seen hay bales which aren't too bad, but they are usually 24-36" high so they just serve as something for the riders to flip over and land on their head. Otherwise the barriers in use are crowd control barriers, not something designed to be safe to hit on a bike at 20-40mph. RIP Last edited by benb; 06-28-2017 at 09:57 AM. |
#18
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Most events won't let racers roll out if there is no ambulance present.
I would venture to speculate that while there was one on scene, it would have had to pick its way to the site of the crash past an active race. |
#19
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Casey's untimely passing made me think of Nicole Reinhart, an elite U.S. track and road rider who died too soon while racing. Somehow their youth makes these losses more tragic to me. What ifs and all that.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicole_Reinhart |
#20
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Don't forget Chad Young just few months ago, just 21 years old, made pro ranks - 3.95GPA mech engineering senior. I still cry for my friend (father) and family
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#21
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Not in my experience. A medical plan needs to be in place, but an ambulance onsite is not a requirement.
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#22
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I raced against Casey a few times, including both days in the Tour of KC. At the time I didn't know him as I'm new to Cat 2 races. Saturday had a short but steep climb up to the start finish. Every time up to the top of the hill there was a spectator yelling so loud with excitement "Let's go Casey! Let's GO!" I kept thinking, who is this Casey guy? He's got a nice fan following. I used that excitement to stay focused on staying/finishing with the field. That was my main goal, just to finish with the likes of guys like Casey.
Sunday Casey was a rider or 2 behind me when he went down. It happened after a sprint lap where the leaders can earn points toward the Omnium. The lap was super fast and I had to dig deep to stay with the field. But the wreck happened in turn 1 as the sprint lap was over and we were chasing. More so, I was going 30mph through the turn. There wasn't a reason to attack. Just hold on and slingshot later. It's still puzzling why it happened then and there. The turn was at the end of a straightaway, into the wind, wide, and into an incline. I can still hear the sound of the crash. It pains me to think about it. Could this have been me? There was a point where I had to avoid a racer who was just released back into the course after having what I assume was a mechanical and received a free lap. I thought for sure I was going to hit the barriers. My heart goes out to his friends and family. Also, my wife said that after the crash the event staff began zip tying the barriers together. It was at that point I realized how it could be fatal.. ugh Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
#23
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#24
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__________________
It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that certain je ne sais quoi. --Peter Schickele |
#25
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Quote:
I wonder if USAC will revise the way they handle course approvals, medical plan approvals, and perhaps include a sort of course safety check protocol for the head ref to perform day-of prior to the first event going off. Unrelated, but if I'm not mistaken I understand that Chad Young's accident was at least in part due to the descending position that places the majority of your weight over the front wheel? I know that in the days just after the accident a bunch of pros who were his friends posted on Twitter to call for USAC to ban that position. Putting 2+2 together, I assumed that played a role in his crash. That style of descending freaks me out. I'm a cat 1 with pretty good bike handling skills, but I just don't see the rewards for doing that outweighing the risks. I have seen others try to do it on group rides and I stay far, far away from them. Last edited by earlfoss; 08-22-2017 at 08:51 AM. |
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