What is the safest cycling race discipline?
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Having done road races, time trials, and hill climbs in the past I can concur that hill climbs are the safest form of racing.
The two worst cycling accidents I've had happened on normal Sunday rides, one with the club, and one with my daughter.
The two worst cycling accidents I've had happened on normal Sunday rides, one with the club, and one with my daughter.
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But damn it hurts. The only time I road pursuit I got 2nd in the state championships (1st time I had ever ridden the track) but I was coughing up blood for a few minutes afterwards.
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Crits are probably the most dangerous. Road races, especially ones that have a bunch of climbing temd to be pretty safe. Time trials should be safe but people wreck in those all the time, mostly due to pushing it. Hill climbs are great.
Triathlon is safe if you're know how to swim. I have seen people eat it hard there, a tri bike down a steep hill can be unruly.
Have you considered chess?
Triathlon is safe if you're know how to swim. I have seen people eat it hard there, a tri bike down a steep hill can be unruly.
Have you considered chess?
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#57
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I have been in some races with mountain top finishes, but there were usually several climbs and descents before the finish. I am not masochistic enough to think hill climbs are fun, and to compete in a race which is entirely uphill, and I have ridden the alto d L'Angliru. That was a hell of a climb for a sprinter like myself.
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I don’t think anyone says that they’re fun. The question was whether they are safe.
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To me, road/crit can be pretty bad. I went to the hospital for a sprint crash at the end of a race this year.
I crash almost EVERY cyclocross ride. A little washout or something. It's slower and usually not life altering stuff. I feel cyclocross is THE 'road' bike thing to do if you want to race bikes that way. I feel it's pretty safe.
Time trial? Yeah, most here are still open road so not any safer than a solo training ride is. Also, downhill on the TT bike I'll hit 40's mph. There's no way to say that is safe in anyway IMHO. Despite the improvement from not being in a rabid bunch of Cat 5 roadies.
So, my ultimate vote is for slower/muddier cyclocross races. I think the fastest avg speed for a 30min race was like 14mph. That was good for almost a top 10 despite a little slide out mid-race I had and almost vomiting mid-race. The single-speed division is really more "fun" and super friendly and friendly on the wallet bike wise.
So, my #1 would be single-speed cyclocross racing.
I crash almost EVERY cyclocross ride. A little washout or something. It's slower and usually not life altering stuff. I feel cyclocross is THE 'road' bike thing to do if you want to race bikes that way. I feel it's pretty safe.
Time trial? Yeah, most here are still open road so not any safer than a solo training ride is. Also, downhill on the TT bike I'll hit 40's mph. There's no way to say that is safe in anyway IMHO. Despite the improvement from not being in a rabid bunch of Cat 5 roadies.
So, my ultimate vote is for slower/muddier cyclocross races. I think the fastest avg speed for a 30min race was like 14mph. That was good for almost a top 10 despite a little slide out mid-race I had and almost vomiting mid-race. The single-speed division is really more "fun" and super friendly and friendly on the wallet bike wise.
So, my #1 would be single-speed cyclocross racing.
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Individual pursuit at a velodrome has to be the safest outdoor form of outdoor racing.
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#62
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Hey so I want to get into racing and I did my first crit race and crashed at 30 mph luckily it was not to bad just a sore wrist and road rash. I really enjoy endurance sports and don't want to have a bad accident and be on a wheelchair for the rest of my life. So I was wondering what is the safest discipline in cycling? (Mountain biking, cycle cross, road racing, etc)
By far the most dangerous discipline is riding or training on the roads by yourself. National death rates for bicyclists out number race deaths by 1000x. Deaths in organized races are pretty rare.
Injuries in races. I worked as a ref for 30 years. I scraped up countless falls, sat on some and had to stop races to let the ambulances get the victims out. You get all kinds. Potential for any injury are high in most disciplines but its the serious injuries to worry about. Riding into a parking meter or concrete planter at the crit course is usually worse than a pile up. Yet, most crashes are not all that serious despite what spectators, ambulance drivers or newbie racers think. I have yet to see any really serious injury in cx. The rest (road, crit, track, mtb, tt), yep. In one road race a guy knocked out for 10 minutes, when he came to he insisted he could catch the peloton. The golfball size lump on his head said, no way are you moving until the EMS gets here. Another crashed in a crit, decided to drive himself home. Woke up at 3 am coughing blood, wife took him to the hospital. Had a few broken ribs and a punctured lung. Meh. Tough guy, eh? Another broke his pelvis in a crit, decided to drive himself home. After 50 miles of driving he stopped by a hospital and got career ending treatment from a clueless resident covering the holiday weekend shift. Another 30 miles and he would have gotten expert care and been back on the bike in a few months. At one cx I organized, a junior (minor) crash and broke his collarbone before the race, before signing up. No release. His older team mates made him wait for the race to conclude before they would drive him the 2 hours back home. One of my training buddies broke his collar bone 7 times that I know of. He was more pissed about having to take some time off the bike. My sister in law rode off the edge of the pavement, tried to steer back on and crashed, broke her collarbone and I've been hearing about it for 20 years why she won't ride a bike again. My mom turned 90 this year. Still riding! 87 years so far! She learned to ride a bike on real gravel roads. yeah. She crashes about once a year. She has so much experience falling off her bike she knows how to avoid getting seriously hurt. 3 trips to the emergency room in the past 15 years. Two of those hauled in by panicky friends or relatives. Everyone has their own tolerances for pain and adventure and excitement.
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Not all crits are dangerous. I watched a Strider crit one day that seemed pretty safe.
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You can suffer very serious injury in cyclocross even if the speeds are not high and the ground is generally soft. Too easy to simply break your neck or punch your guts by handlebars or hitting a tree head on, countless possibilities.
One way to prevent accidents happening by one's own fault is not to ride past some limit when you become careless from being too tired out. Then it is like being drunk, attention span and situation awareness goes down and that's when accidents happen.
Experience also helps to prevent being in accidents since it enables you to keep cool head in difficult situations like those road mass sprints. That is a good advice but you need to stay in one piece to eventually get it, the experience I mean, no easy feat.
One way to prevent accidents happening by one's own fault is not to ride past some limit when you become careless from being too tired out. Then it is like being drunk, attention span and situation awareness goes down and that's when accidents happen.
Experience also helps to prevent being in accidents since it enables you to keep cool head in difficult situations like those road mass sprints. That is a good advice but you need to stay in one piece to eventually get it, the experience I mean, no easy feat.
Last edited by vane171; 04-20-21 at 04:56 PM.
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Try a Madison event on the track. You're only racing half the race. So your risk of crashing is reduced 50%. And remember, NO exchanges in the last 200 meters.
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#73
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Hey so I want to get into racing and I did my first crit race and crashed at 30 mph luckily it was not to bad just a sore wrist and road rash. I really enjoy endurance sports and don't want to have a bad accident and be on a wheelchair for the rest of my life. So I was wondering what is the safest discipline in cycling? (Mountain biking, cycle cross, road racing, etc)
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This sound super lame, but I came across a random Ebay find a while ago........Keirin armor. Apparently for track racing Keirin it is almost like cycling padding for track racers.
Typically, we have some early season crits and road races. Given how cold it is you could wear it with no aero penalty at all. Nobody would likely even notice it.
My thing with some of the road stuff is after my road crash, I'd like to see an integrated face hoop on race helmets. It protected my noggin, but my face was hamburger. A company was working on one, but probably since it isn't by a major maker of helmets has languished.
I call this "vaporware", basically a design project and nothing more.
https://bikerumor.com/2019/02/18/ven...ng-protection/
Typically, we have some early season crits and road races. Given how cold it is you could wear it with no aero penalty at all. Nobody would likely even notice it.
My thing with some of the road stuff is after my road crash, I'd like to see an integrated face hoop on race helmets. It protected my noggin, but my face was hamburger. A company was working on one, but probably since it isn't by a major maker of helmets has languished.
I call this "vaporware", basically a design project and nothing more.
https://bikerumor.com/2019/02/18/ven...ng-protection/
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That way you don't wind up with a multi category impromptu 100mi rolling road race of crazies.
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