Did anyone see what happened that caused that one guy to go over his handlebars and wreck? He is a friend of mine and I am trying to figure out what happened. Did anyone see what caused him to wreck?
Second-hand info from two different sources (volunteer at the med tent who heard the chatter over the radio, another on course volunteer manning the corner near where it happened): he may have been bumped by a passing motorcycle. My wife had a later wave and was in the group stopped on the course for 30 minutes while they cleared the road and brought in the helicopter. I hope your friend is doing OK.
I doubt they landed a helicopter; there’s no place to put one down in that area. And, had a group been stopped for 30 minutes, then all the waves after that would’ve been jammed up. From what I saw, he was in an ambulance on the road when I flew by. I was told he blew a front tire…
Bob
I didn’t see it so I don’t have any news to share. I did hear from others about someone being medivaced out by helicopter. I hope your friend is recovering swiftly and completely.
Brian you are one tough SOB … Glad your ok!!!
He is OK believe it or not with the speeds that you can carry down the hill.
Face looks like hamburger but no broken bones etc.
Bike did not have a flat tire so throw that rumor out the window.
They did land a helicopter in the field and flew him to Shock Trauma so that is clarified is well.
Thanks for your feedback and concern. He is doing quite well… no broken bones, no internal injuries… some stitches in his face, but all in all should recover 100% with no problems. If anyone does hear of anything please let me know. Thanks.
I’m glad to hear that he’s doing better. I rode by right after the paramedics go to him.
I doubt they landed a helicopter; there’s no place to put one down in that area. And, had a group been stopped for 30 minutes, then all the waves after that would’ve been jammed up. From what I saw, he was in an ambulance on the road when I flew by. I was told he blew a front tire…
Bob
There were actually two separate groups stopped for up to 30 minutes. They let the second group go a bit early and they just ended up stopped again when they hit the main group a 1/4 mile later. My wife estimated 150-200 people all bunched up. A friend who flew by shortly after the accident reported being waved to stopped by a volunteer, but she and the folks around her were confused and kept going by the scene. My wife was one of the first ones blocked by a vehicle stopped and volunteers waving their arms in the middle of the road. I don’t know how they plan on figuring out the timing (if at all); it’s an impossible task. Some riders were stopped for 30 minutes, others for only 5 or so if they were later on the course. This included several of the relay riders who apparently were not exactly happy about being knocked out of contention. Most people realized that there was somebody potentially seriously injured on the side of the road and took it in stride. The bad part about it is that there were no real side roads they could have diverted to on that part of the course short of backtracking for a few miles; it’s mostly large parcels of farmland. There was a large open field nearby where the chopper put down.
I don’t see how this is possible. I was a Clydesdale in the last wave with the Relay riders and when I went by the scene, there was an ambulance there, a helmet in the road and not much else. No helicopter, no arm waving volunteers stopping us, nothing. Now, sure, I was riding pretty strong and passing dozens and dozens of people, but this was at approximately Mile 14 of the bike course and unless they held up everyone behind me for 30 minutes, I don’t see it happening. And you assert that some were stopped for only 5 if they were later on in the course? The accident only affected one portion of the course. Not saying it didn’t happen, but if it did to the exact extent you describe, there probably would have been more of a stink made.
That said, my wife was at the entrance to T-2 and saw at least 5 riders come into the area way too hot and hit the deck due to the rain. As with most accidents, these were caused by rider error, not someone else.
Bob
I heard the helicopter coming in to land just after I passed the scene, the ambulance was there with a few others and while I didn’t see it I sure heard a low flying helicopter.
I also was in the last wave and probably at that point significantly behind you. A friend who was significantly further back was stopped on the road for 20 minutes according to her garmin.
Ok, well, um, huh. People were saying slow down when I went by, but no one said a peep during awards or anything like that, which is odd for CTA to not metion something.
BTW- did you find out what happened to the guy your friend was looking for?
Bob
Well, it is what it is. Truth is it probably only affected the slower riders or those with slow swim times. Clearly some of the faster racers in the last waves made it past the accident spot without being stopped. Take a look at the results from the W20-24, W40-44 or Clydes for instance; there are plenty of 2:00+ bike times, with a big gap in the middle (athlete who came in X has a 20-25 minute faster bike split than athlete X+1).
When I said that some were held up for only 5 minutes, I just meant that some slower riders approached the stoppage 5 minutes before it was released. Those in the first group may have been there for 25-30 minutes. No word from Vigo on what they plan on doing about it; there really isn’t anything fair that can be done at this point.
He got caught up waiting for the helicopter actually!
He also had two flats.
Ok, well, I will retract or whatever I said…They haven’t posted the Relay times and I don’t think they handed out any awards yesterday. As you said, it is what it is.
Bob
Wow Bob what does it take for you to believe it???
Teamate Racing - Howard County Paramedic allowed thru the stopped riders to assist.
Big Chunk of Steel with rotating rotors landing in the field and taking off with a human body on a stretcher … everyone loves to make that up!!!
Even the guy that crashed that many of us have talked to several times.
Try this, maybe you are a numbers guy!
Triathlete in an early wave - Does the swim in 23 minutes flat, out of xsition in less than 26 mins, avg speed of 20+ puts him at the 14 mile mark by 1:10 at the latest … Lets just say you are the Robert that was the fastest clydesdale … you could very well be still in the water when he crashed.
This thing was cleared by the time you got there.
I remember the rain and by the time it rained he would have been almost done with the race.
Thank god the other postings at least asked if he was OK instead of doubting that anything happened.
Now back to the original question “Is there anyone that saw the accident”
First of all, yes I am that Robert.
Second, Kevin mentioned that he heard the helicopter, so, ok, I believe that.
Third, I did not question whether is happened or not because I saw the ambulance on the road. Rather I questioned whether people were held up, as was said, on two occasions for 30 minutes. That’s all.
Bob
I was the fastest relay cyclist and when I went by the accident spot there was just an ambulance and a policeman keeping an eye on things. The racer was on the stretcher strapped down with a neck brace and serious road rash on his face. Total bummer to see that have happened to someone. 
But I got through fine and only had to slow down from the 40+ that I was going to about 18 or so. It had also just started to rain right around then.
As far as relayers being held up??? I was first back to transition and waited around for a bit before going out on an easy recovery brick and there were relay cyclists trickling in at about the times I would expect. I did a 1:05:28 so I had a sizable lead on every other relay cyclist except one of the co-ed team riders who was just a minute or two behind me. The main contendors in the relay got through at least for the men and coed ones.
And yes, they did give out relay awards as my team got 3rd for the men (we had a slower runner … he ran a 51 minute time and we STILL were only two minutes over the top team who had a 35 minute runner).
It’s good to hear that there were no major complications with him! I hope he recovers quickly from the accident and gets back out there soon. It definitely was a sad sight to have to see. I know a lot of people that went by were pretty shaken up from it. Having been a road racer for years in the 90’s unfortunately it was nothing knew to me.
Hey Rick, I was the co-ed guy… You only got me by 28 seconds according to the results : ). Great ride and nice talking with you. I tried like hell to catch you… Thanks for being my rabbit!
I was in the second to last swim wave (W40-44) and made it past the crash before the helicopter came. When I went by I saw the cyclist who was standing up and it looked like he was going into the ambulance on his own.
It started to rain right before, so maybe he just lost traction. The fact he was standing makes me believe he was ok, but a few minutes after I passed I noticed a helicopter hovering above the scene.
I found out after the finish that many people were stopped for at least 20 minutes.
/Hijack/
Thanks! It was nice to meet you as well!
Yeah, just double checked your split! It seemed like a minute + since my swimmer came out about :40 or so faster than yours and our transitions were pretty much the same.
/end hijack/