This article gives a good overview and background of the tragedy. It does look like there was a sudden shift after a head injury.
Originally Posted by
carleton
I raced for years and I never had a single wreck. Not even sliding down from riding too slow. This isn't just from infrequent use of the track. There were years when I was on the track with others 3-5 days/week training and racing.
There are several others who share similar experiences. Wrecking is not common at all.
Agreed. I wacked my helmet a lot more road biking or mountain biking (but never in 10 years of track). In my experience, track biking is fairly disciplined and very consistent. A road or mountain bike ride contains a lot more surprises (and in my experience more accidents).
The article above implies that the head injury came from a road ride on January 5, when Kelly crashed during a Rally team training ride in Malibu, California.