Incident at Cycling SA Road Champs

This is SA and CSA. I more or less stopped riding on the road, even in races organised events, when I was very, very nearly taken out properly by a mommy who ignored marshalls and a red traffic light and headed straight for me during a big local event. Very scary.

This case is a shocker. CSA should have traffic police, even SAPS on stand by and driver should have long been arrested. At the very least name and shame truck owner (please don't say it was Super Group - unlikely I know) and maybe where he was delivering to. CSA / PPA to open a damages case against driver and owner (provided they (CSA) were within the law regarding the event and marshalling).

Guys, apparently the truck ignored marshals and went on the course wherafter the incident happened. Can't really blame CSA on this one, except if you expect them to literally jump in front of the truck?!

 

Edit: Here is the tweet I saw " @GenOrnsby @AndreSymes @Cycling_SA we did every possible effort to keep cyclists safe. Driver of truck ignored marshalls & blocked road."

Why did they just not stop the race/rider until road was safe again ?

 

 

Same thing when we had tour of SA (think it was 2011) when drivers threatened to drive into the cyclists lanes and run them over... "wat de *&^* soek hulle op die pad" is what I saw !!!

 

Someone actually drove into person next to me on the Durbi Dash .. Doctor nogals. Luckily no harm done.

Why did they just not stop the race/rider until road was safe again ?

ever done a TT? 

Rider had mentally prepared that entire day. 

in the moment i bet he had his head down giving it his all.

imagine getting stopped and told to start over?

doubt he would have been able to put out the same effort for a second time

a shitty incident. 

i really do hope they push charges against the driver and subsequently the owner of the truck.

the owner needs to be responsible for the drivers actions via a company code of conduct.

My wife and I were for a short while watching the men 60+ and women 50+. On one of the first laps of the race the men came past us as we standing at the Lady Loch bridge intersection. The men were racing with a farm truck right behind them and in the truck's slip stream was a hand cyclist. The race commissioner was trying to get the truck out of the way. The commissioner was overtaking the truck on the wrong side of the road around a corner where there was a solid white line. That was an accident which has was about to happen. That was a very unsafe moment in the lives of all the riders especially the para cyclist would have gone under the wheels of the truck should it have braked suddenly.

The commissioner was trying to manage a situation which was totally out of his or her control.

Are the roads closed for the event or left open? If open, this kind of incident will probably repeat itself.

ever done a TT? 

Rider had mentally prepared that entire day. 

in the moment i bet he had his head down giving it his all.

 

imagine getting stopped and told to start over?

doubt he would have been able to put out the same effort for a second time

 

a shitty incident. 

 

i really do hope they push charges against the driver and subsequently the owner of the truck.

the owner needs to be responsible for the drivers actions via a company code of conduct.

Nope, but I rather redo a race than lie in hospital bed.  

For me its always safety first, there always another day for a race.

Just did a loop with my car....temporary marshalls used with loads of farm roads / entrances. Might be an issue this weekend. Hope not!

All the best .. hope he makes a full recovery ....

I liked the end of the press release... "Thank you to ThinkBike and the BMW Club Marshalls for keeping our riders safe..."

That is an absolutely terrifying moment that could have gone horribly horribly wrong.

It is shocking to see that a national sporting even is plagued with problems like this. 

My wife and I were for a short while watching the men 60+ and women 50+. On one of the first laps of the race the men came past us as we standing at the Lady Loch bridge intersection. The men were racing with a farm truck right behind them and in the truck's slip stream was a hand cyclist. The race commissioner was trying to get the truck out of the way. The commissioner was overtaking the truck on the wrong side of the road around a corner where there was a solid white line. That was an accident which has was about to happen. That was a very unsafe moment in the lives of all the riders especially the para cyclist would have gone under the wheels of the truck should it have braked suddenly.

The commissioner was trying to manage a situation which was totally out of his or her control.

Stating the obvious here, but if full road closures were never going to happen, because of all the farming activity in the area, the route should perhaps have been thought out better? 

I wonder how the man is...

Sending strength

I can't help but cringe at the decision to hold a race there in the middle of harvest season.

Tractors and trucks are everywhere. Either full or returning for another load. 

Had it been winter time the road would be a lot safer by default. But that would not fit into the calendar. 

There are a number of questions the CSA need to answer to the cycling community - 

1) Rider safety at SA's  at their premier event

2) Why the UCI's weather condition protocols where not invoked on Saturday when temperatures hit 50 degrees (See twitter for pic's from team managers).

I've been on their case about this since yesterday.

 

Mike Bradleys only response was:

 

"we did every possible effort to keep cyclists safe. Driver of truck ignored marshalls & blocked road."

So - what is CSA going to do about prosecuting the driver..?????

They should throw the full book at the driver... and the truck owner...

That said - looking where you are going is probably advisable at all times - although I don't blame the rider here at all - it's supposed to be safe on the course - and that includes the road surface as well.

Stating the obvious here, but if full road closures were never going to happen, because of all the farming activity in the area, the route should perhaps have been thought out better? 

Nothing wrong with the route, except that a marshal should be placed at EVERY intersection, no matter how big or small. The person driving out a side road (be it a dirt driveway) might not be aware of what is going on. At least the marshal can tell them what to do, or what not to do.

Without knowing all the details, it's easy to speculate - but given the reply from CSA about the driver refusing to listen, it could have been prevented if a marshal was present at the intersection. This was a weekday, and it's not often that cycling events take place during the week.

That said, a marshal watching the cycling, and not watching out for "traffic" is also no good.

I wonder who the safety officer was for this event, and if their safety plan was conclusive enough to include all risks.

The marshals had more issue with me riding my CX bike along the side of the road to get to the WP than letting cars onto the route..... I am not sure that they actually understand what their roles are.

 

There are a number of questions the CSA need to answer to the cycling community - 

 

 

1) Rider safety at SA's  at their premier event

 

 

 

2) Why the UCI's weather condition protocols where not invoked on Saturday when temperatures hit 50 degrees (See twitter for pic's from team managers).

 

 

 

They do not use the car temp to determine the temp, think its, in the shade, 1,5m off the ground. Thats the official temp. 

A car temp gauge over reads by about 3-5 degrees on a hot day.

I dont want to take anything away from the incident involving the crash, but there are some realities we have to face. As well as giving credit where it is due.

To have full road closure for an event that covers 5 days is impossible. No matter where you have it. The only way you can mitigate this is to have separate road and tt events, and to even split race categories. As CSA is trying to accommodate all age categories. Which is great to promote the sport. Also logistically difficult as parents and children all compete. So 1 event is much better for logistics and costs for CSA and riders.

Having said that, other than the incident mentioned, I have not heard of any other incidents over the 5 days, and many categories. You need to realise there were multiple categories racing at the same time and different start times covering a day. So a full days racing every day. Impossible to close roads.

I raced and trained around the circuit and seconded on the final day. Loved the fact that we could all race over the entire road. Always had traffic officers, motorbike marshalls etc ensuring rolling road closure. Especially when the wind was up and gutters were aplenty. At the start/finish, half the road was completely blocked from traffic for the sprint. And Traffic officers were controlling the flow of traffic onto the course and off it.

As a route there were essentially only 3 access roads to the circuit and were all managed. Also had marshalls sitting at most, if not all, major entrances to the circuit from farms and businesses.

Problem is one can never control irritated motorists, but on a whole I never witnessed that.

So not saying anything perfect, but I believe it was a well run event with great racing on a tough circuit (if the wind blew)

So credit to CSA for that and all the traffic officers marshalls etc.

As for the weather. It was damn hot, and the 60+ and 70+ and youth and para categories suffered getting those conditions. Should they have been cancelled........probably. but a logistic nightmare how to accommodate that into the program. And I doubt whatever they did would have had any positive response either.

I do believe as mentioned that CSA should take up the fight on behalf of the cyclist with the truck involved in the incident. But I don't think we can blame them for everything that happens, and they deserve credit when they do put on a good event.

Problem on The Hub is ( and it's not Friday yet), everyone quick to criticize, but very few willing to put up their hand to assist to manage and get involved in the managing of events etc. And slow to give credit

They do not use the car temp to determine the temp, think its, in the shade, 1,5m off the ground. Thats the official temp. 

 

A car temp gauge over reads by about 3-5 degrees on a hot day.

The official temp was around 38 or 40 on Friday. But was measured at 55 on a Garmin bike computer in the sun !! Damn hot either way. And then throw in wind !!!!!

 

 

2) Why the UCI's weather condition protocols where not invoked on Saturday when temperatures hit 50 degrees (See twitter for pic's from team managers).

 

As per UCI rules governing the EWP this is how it should have transpired.

1. On Saturday morning prior to racing having started, any official team representative should have requested an EWP meeting with race stakeholders.

2. The stakeholders would meet before the racing starts and establish contingencies. 

3. Contingencies are established and each team's official representative is aware of the situation

4. During the race, the event occurs and the pre-agreed decision is invoked.

Working example:

1. You wake up on Saturday morning at 6am and it is already 30+ degrees. Its gonna be a hot as balls day so as official team representative it is YOUR responsibility to request a stakeholder meeting in line with the UCIs EWP.

2. Before the racing starts, the meeting is held.

3. The general consensus is that it is gonna be a hot as balls day and the stakeholder meeting resolves that should the mercury breach 45 degrees Celsius, the stage will be shortened. Now everyone is aware of the proposed protocol.

4. Racing begins, true enough it was hotter than 45 Celsius on Saturday. The commissaires invoke the EWP procedure and all teams are aware that the race will be 6 laps rather than 10.

As you can see, it is not simply a matter of invoking the protocol during the race. If no meeting was held before hand, there can be no consensus on how to handle the situation. If everyone knows the rules before the race, its fair for all.

Now, there is some ambiguity in the EWP.

1. "The protocol involves notably the COMPULSORY convening of a meeting"

2. "The meeting CAN BE convened at the request at any one of the named representatives"

How can this be compulsory AND at the request of a race stakeholder?

Edit:

Let me just get my facts straight

As per UCI rules governing the EWP this is how it should have transpired.

 

1. On Saturday morning prior to racing having started, any official team representative should have requested an EWP meeting with race stakeholders.

2. The stakeholders would meet before the racing starts and establish contingencies. 

3. Contingencies are established and each team's official representative is aware of the situation

4. During the race, the event occurs and the pre-agreed decision is invoked.

 

Working example:

1. You wake up on Saturday morning at 6am and it is already 30+ degrees. Its gonna be a hot as balls day so as official team representative it is YOUR responsibility to request a stakeholder meeting in line with the UCIs EWP.

2. Before the racing starts, the meeting is held.

3. The general consensus is that it is gonna be a hot as balls day and the stakeholder meeting resolves that should the mercury breach 45 degrees Celsius, the stage will be shortened. Now everyone is aware of the proposed protocol.

4. Racing begins, true enough it was hotter than 45 Celsius on Saturday. The commissaires invoke the EWP procedure and all teams are aware that the race will be 6 laps rather than 10.

 

As you can see, it is not simply a matter of invoking the protocol during the race. If no meeting was held before hand, there can be no consensus on how to handle the situation. If everyone knows the rules before the race, its fair for all.

 

Now, there is some ambiguity in the EWP.

1. "The protocol involves notably the COMPULSORY convening of a meeting"

2. "The meeting CAN BE convened at the request at any one of the named representatives"

 

How can this be compulsory AND at the request of a race stakeholder?

The funny thing is, when you are there and ready to race, all you think is, ****, I better drink more than I normally do and stay well hydrated. Was never a thought of not riding or requesting the race to be shortened etc.

The funny thing is, when you are there and ready to race, all you think is, ****, I better drink more than I normally do and stay well hydrated. Was never a thought of not riding or requesting the race to be shortened etc.

Exactly. The riders and team officials are generally too pre-occupied to focus on something like this. Just pointing out that it wouldn't be feasible or fair for EWP to kick in during the race and no pre-agreed procedures would have been established. The EWP is vague and rightly so as there is no one size fits all response and each situation needs to be addressed individually and in isolation based on the circumstances.