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Crash/crack your aero helmet and you will know why the USCF requires certified safety helmets while racing.

This stems from the California state team time trial championships in San Diego this past weekend.

At the event, 55 teams of 4 members each circle the 4.1 mile island 6 times, or 40k. Thats over 200 riders at speeds of 23-30 MPH. The course was closed to traffic.

The said section of course has a bending right then left turn with a slight rise - and it has potholes/bad road.

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I want to post excerpt of an e-mail I recieved today, from a very fast rider on a 'name you would recognize' team that would have likely won, had his team stayed intact, ... such is TTT.

"We were on pace for a 50 minute ride, we went through the first two laps right on schedule. Then one of our riders crashed hard in the first
turn. He apparently touched wheels with the rider in front of him through
the bumpy pavement in that corner. I was right behind him in line and dont know how I didnt go down. It was one of the hardest crashes I have ever seen. He hit the deck at 30+ mph. We all coasted up the road a ways trying to see if he was O.K.. We had just begun to circle back when [he] screamed for us to keep going."

"The real reason I am writing to you though is that [his] Garneau prologue helmet was cracked right down the middle when his head hit the ground in the crash. [He] appears no worse forwear and is at work today. In the days leading up to the race, we were all wishing that we could use our cool Euro head fairings for the TTT, I have a Briko, some of the other guys have Limars etc but after seeing the damage to [his] helmet I thank our lucky stars USA cycling requires approved helmets even for time trials."


and another account from another team involved in the crash:

"On the last lap, just before the uphill right turn, our team passed team 'D', and the Excel-erate [ed. note: they won the state championships] team passed us. Into the corner Excel-erate was passing team 'A', when team 'A' riders collided and 1 or 2 went down."

"One of the Excel-erate riders hit them and went down. My teammate hit him and went down. I swerved around him and my other teammate hit me and went down. A team 'D' rider hit him and went down. Another 'D' rider hit his fallen teammate and went down. 6 or 7 riders went down."

"Injuries on my team, 18 stitches in one rider. Collapsed lung and multiple fractures of rib cage in the other. Still in hospital."

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In the UK, where safety helmets for TT are not a requirements, riders are now facing banishment from a race course after two riders had died within a six week period due to auto collisions. I do not have details on the injuries, but wearing a head fairing instead of a helmet probably does not help:

http://www.eadt.co.uk/...3+19%3A02%3A55%3A760

http://www.eadt.co.uk/...3+23%3A41%3A47%3A723

http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/...3+12%3A49%3A10%3A773



Moral of the story: Be like the Bunnyman and wear your helmet.



Gary