“12:22 PM Potts, Dibens, have crashed out
Andy Potts has crashed, we have learned from the on-site race personnel, and is in an ambulance.”
Any word on how he’s doing?
i updated since then. he didn’t crash, he stopped because he felt his heart doing something funny, so they took him to the hospital, but afaik he was quite okay when the carted him off.
i updated since then. he didn’t crash, he stopped because he felt his heart doing something funny, so they took him to the hospital, but afaik he was quite okay when the carted him off.
well, hopefully his heart is ok. it seems like we keep hearing about athletes finding out they have heart issues.
now i hear something different, than he DID crash, collision with an AGer, maybe went to the hospital maybe not, in any case dropped from the race, got himself sorted, was afterward in transition talking to matty reed, had some sort of pain or discomfort, maybe “organ” related maybe not, got retransported for observation.
in the next update given me, i would not be surprised to learn he was spirited from the bike course by the secret service to occupy the massachusetts senate seat just left vacant. the info i’ve gotten has so far proved sufficiently unreliable that i’m going to stop writing anything else until we speak to andy or his family or designate personally.
He went down hard, went into shock, will most likely need surgery on his elbow. The word from his camp is that his season for the year is over.
This is pretty upsetting, as I feel he was a main contender for Hawaii.
I did the elite AG wave last year in Chicago and the bike course was terrible. On the second loop, there were participants taking up the entire width of the road and we were having to weave in an out - I felt like an X-wing fighter making my way to the Death Star’s weak spot. It would be wise for the race organizers to address this - maybe having two lanes, one for AG’ers and one for pros, separated by cones.
…well that really sucks badly if his season is over…still 6 weeks to Kona…lots of time to come back…and 2.5 months to Clearwater…Lance came back from broken collarbone to TdG podium in 4 months…
I agree and hope your optimism proves correct.
I was at the Chicago Triathlon as a observer, because of my injuries on July 5. Today it was awful that world class tri-athletes had to dodge through the heavy bike traffic of the non-professionals.
It’s Chicago. Been that way for years and years. That’s why the pros start so late so that 85% of the bike traffic is off the course by the time the pros get out there.
That being said, it seems that more and more people that are out there are woefully unprepared to ride safely in race conditions yet alone compete out there.
And don’t even get me started on the amount of people that were blatantly drafting going northbound into the wind.
That being said… I hope Andy is OK and recovers well.
Where was the crash and what was Andy’s bib #?
It is ridiculous that the pros should have to dodge through age grouper yahoos. Its bad enough to do it coming out of 40-44, but we’re just age groupers dodging each other for fun not for a living. When you’re doing it for a living and having to weave around guys riding 3 abreast is it just unacceptable!
dude 3 abreast is the standard for triathlon. It’s like a bike pack, just spaced apart slightly more, possessing worse handling skills then your average cat 5 group while riding on aerobars.
If it’s that crowded, well when you do a race with that many people you know what you are signing up for.
It would be wise for the race organizers to address this - maybe having two lanes, one for AG’ers and one for pros, separated by cones.
Ha, that’s assuming the race organizers cared about the safety of this race. I think if they did, they wouldn’t keep adding to the numbers of an already ridiculously huge race. 9,000?? Wasn’t it 7,000 a couple of years ago? And THAT was insane! I stopped doing Chicago a while ago - just too much potential for disaster, IMO.
I’m not sure I would compare a drafting bike race with a collarbone break to an Ironman where you have to swim 2.4 miles with an elbow break, but I hope your right and he makes it back. It would be good to see an American win Kona again.
Ok so i did the race yesterday.
I had a 9:40 start, pro gun at 11:00.
There is no way in hell that 85% of racers were off the bike course. If I’m a pro, I’m not too enthused about this situation.
I can totally see how the accidents happen.
We were given two lanes of road, allegedly the left for riding, the right for passing. The third lane to the right was open to traffic.
In reality, as I guess can be expected, it was two lanes of random riding, with faster people either squeezing between riders & cones or heading into the vehicle traffic lane.
There were a decent amount of sketchy bumps, ruts, and potholes out there.
I don’t see why we had to break from the traditional pass-on-the-left.
I don’t see why pros had to start at the end & deal with the mayhem.
Now that people have unfortunately gotten hurt, I’d wager that this is the last year for AGs before pros in Chicago.
andy did crash in a collison with an age-grouper, was taken to the hospital in an ambulance and was kept over night. The guy is hard as nails and i would not say his season is over in any way. he is beaten up and bruised pretty bad, but they saw no broken bones and no organ issues as reported earlier. and this folks is directly from the boss, his wife lisa potts. was very scary to be racing and knowing andy had gone down. Racing is tough and it is a risk we take but we sometimes forget stuff like that can happen.
let’s all send good vibes to andy and put the energy that everyone has about complaining to good use. get better andy and i look forward to the start line with you again soon.
heal quick champ.
BIG MATTY REED- OUT.
well said! congrats on the win!
tough to get positive vibes on this forum, but all the best to andy. accidents happen fellas.
Glad to hear he’s ok!! Hope you guys are back racing eachother soon!
Matt, great post. Glad to hear Andy is as well as could be expected from a crash like that!!
Congrads on your great racing over the years. Also, it is GREAT to see that folks can compete against each other, but keep this all in perspective!
At the end of the day, triathlon means NOTHING. It is family and friends is all that matters!!!
I assume you will be at Gold Coast racing? Hope you can make it over to the TeamUSA hotel and wish us some good luck.
Dave
You’re a class act…and really freaking fast, too.
Desertdude…Wildflower 2007 was the worst I have experienced coming out of the 40-44 and having to ride by the 3 abreast crowd. In that race I had to pass 1300 people over the event and it was white knuckle on most descents. At Timberman with wider wave spacing, even though I had to go past 1400 people most of the congestion was dealt with in the first 13 miles or so which either had a massive shoulder or was steep uphill, which made things OK for passing. After that a massive shoulder and no safety issues. Luckily for the pros they don’t have to deal with that at WF or Timberman…just put your head down and do your thing.
It really is too bad that the guy favoured to contend at Kona and Clearwater got taken out. Nice to see Matty Reed’s note…sounds like Mr. Potts will be back at the track banging out 65 second 400’s within 10 days and that would be a great thing.