I did the Santa Barbara tri on Saturday for the second year in a row and wanted to see if others had thoughts or concerns about the safety on the bike course.
It’s such a great race in a beautiful venue but there were several instances where the combination of traffic and slower riders in the shorter events created situations that didn’t feel safe or weren’t conducive to actually racing.
Thoughts from others who did the race and ways the race director could adjust the race to make the bike safer and more competitive.
I did not race on Saturday, but have raced it in the past which was less congested because many of the races were on Sunday, a two day event.
Yes, it is not a closed course and has safety concerns. Yes, there are times when “racing†is secondary to safety because of congestion, both cars and other cyclists.
Someone else can talk about the death of the wife of a superstar triathlete on the course years ago.
I doubt it is possible to close those roads. So we choose to slow down and try to be safer and not “race†it or not race at all.
Otherwise Santa Barbara is a fantastic race.
Not sure how long you have been racing, but this is what the majority of races look like going all the way back…Now of course there are the big ironman type events that get road closures and such, may be why they have dominated the landscape for so long. But your average local race cannot close off roads completely and there are always traffic concerns. About the best you can hope for is that lights and stop signs are organized and you can float through, although many races still require a stop at those…
I have done SB many, many times over the years and yes, you do have to share roads with cars often, and you need keep your wits about you and not feel entitled to the road. Kind of like you would on a training day…
And someone brought up the death on the bike years ago, was the wife of a friend of mine. Had nothing to do with traffic though, it was on a tricky and bumpy turn where she went down and hit her head…Just one of those tragic things that happen from time to time, how many of us have crashed dozens of times and walked away with some road rash, or in bad cases a broken collar bone or wrist…
Never gonna get a closed course there. I’ve had situations where the CHP have instructed people to turn left not realizing how fast cyclists are actually going, having to deal with slow farm trucks on the flats near carpenteria, super chewed up pavement sections, cars coming out of driveways coming back thru montectito. I recall thinking the last time I did it even tho I love it, not a particularly safe bike course.
Of course, haven’t really done SB unless you’ve had to stop for the train.
I have not done it since they’ve put everyone on one day, only long course Saturday (I think, then women’s race and sprint / kids on Sunday?) Also was surprised to see on a live feed that they now do a TT start
I think the woman that died fell on the narrow bad pavement descent after the gobernador climb? That section was redone last time I did it (2018 ish)
I have done this race for over 5 years and traffic has never been a big issue. This year was a fluke as there was an accident on the freeway so waze was diverting people onto the backroads. Add all the freeway construction to that and it was a recipe for a busy day.
As a local, I hardly ride outside anymore on weekdays because the construction traffic has gotten so bad.
