Spoonrobot 

Start at 2:30 if the link doesn't work.

I wanted to share this because it's the second crash I've been behind this year where the root cause was hitting a large rock and having the rider's hand's knocked off the hoods. Not meant to insult the riders affected, I've not seen such a clear video so I wanted to share. This was on a mild downhill - probably 3% at around 22-24 miles per hour. Rock was fairly large - maybe 4-5 inches? It's hard to tell from the video but it was large enough to be an issue but small enough that I didn't see it when I rode through a few seconds later.

I try to stay in the drops with a good grip unless there's climbing or I'm riding solo and have a good view up ahead. Even so I still get bucked around from time to time by things hidden in sunspots or just plain invisible.

Anyway, wanted to share as this was a good reminder to myself to brush up on my gravel technical skills and stay vigilant when racing or riding in a pack.

dgodave

Why are those people going so fast? Its just a "ramble".

shelbyfv

Can't believe the first guy to hit the downed bike was able to stay upright!

trailangel

That's what you get for riding drop bars off road.

Craptacular8

I guess I'm too chicken to ride that speed on gravel roads I don't know. I couldn't tell from the video with any real detail what he hit that dumped his bike. The surface in the video sure looks a lot less "gravely" than my usual rides. I have to say I generally do not have a tight grip on my bars either, just sort of let them float under my hands...maybe I need to ride a little tighter after watching this.....

TimothyH

Looked like a blistering pace. Wonder how much that had to do with it.

@Spoonrobot, how soon after the start was that? Near the beginning? Over excitement?

The video was great. Really wanted to do that event and was prepared to finish DFL but it was Georgia Tech move-in day for my daughter. I might ride the route in the fall for the fun of it.


-Tim-

Spoonrobot 

I can't find the exact place this happened in my strava but it was definitely within the first 30 minutes because the front pack of 50+ was still all together. I think it was more a clam downhill so everyone was relaxing for a sec and just not being able to see due to the density of riders. The video understates how close everyone was, it was one big pack like a road ride.

Oh you'd have good company, this ride always gets a huge turnout of regular riders since there are 3 length options for the rec ride with aid stations and a lot of support. If you want to try something similar the Sac O' Suds 50 is the first week of November and has a little more elevation but still pretty flat with good hardpack gravel.

tyrion

Dappled low angle sunlight can be super treacherous, can "hide" things on the road.

TimothyH

Three options?

<bristles>

I could have totally beat the 56 mile cutoff time.

The guy towing the trailer at the end of the video is totally hardcore though.


-Tim-

BluesDawg

It happened about 5.5 miles into the route. I ride those roads pretty often (I mapped the routes) and it always amazes me how the racers can ride it so fast in a tight pack like where you can't see the stray rocks and such that are easy to steer around when riding solo. I'm not that brave.

Glad everyone involved in the crash is recovering well, but the second guy you see going down in the video spent 4 days in the hospital with several cracked ribs and a collapsed lung. Ouch!

Watching how that crash started really confirms why I like the shape of the hoods on SRAM hydro levers. They may look funny to some, but your hand isn't likely to slip over them.

I'm probably going to work a rest stop at the Sac O Suds and then ride the Fried Green 50 the next day. Both start from the same boat ramp in Juliette but follow completely different routes. The FG50 is not officially a race like the SOS is, but you'd never know it from the way the fast guys approach it. Both are great rides on great roads.

TimothyH

^^

Awesome post.

scotch

I believe the event features a race as well as recreational rides. Can't really tell which this one was when the dude went down.

BluesDawg

The crash was in the race. The recreational rides started 15 minutes later and there were not nearly as many riders bunched together as what you see in the video.

TimothyH

Yep, the video was of the 56 mile race.

The winner did it at just under 21 MPH average. Would not be surprised if our esteemed OP is somewhere in that video.

I noticed a guy at 1:42 in the video racing a Luaf Grit fork. Video says he isn't a slouch but 2 time Dirty Kanza 2nd place. Looks like a Canondale.

Watching that video makes me want to ride my bike in spite of the crash.


-Tim-

shoota 

Yeah he's pretty good. He was actually training here in BFE Carroll, IA the first year he came in 2nd at DK. He actually should have won that race but that's a whole other story.

https://www.road-results.com/racer/53234

https://www.kansascity.com/living/article22681467.html

Oh, and then to top it off he came in second the next year to Ted King who was just off his World Tour professional career...

BluesDawg

New course record. The first 10 finishers came in under the winning time in last year's race. That was partly from chasing Michael Sencenbaugh and partly due to a 6 mile section near the end that was mostly fresh gravel last year being pretty well packed in this time.

Spoonrobot 

Little blurb in Shimano's GRX release had me raise an eyebrow:



I'm of two minds with this, design can often enforce good or bad habits but at the same time people are going to behave as they prefer regardless of the design intent. So it seems like more positive braking from the hoods is a good thing and will probably make the grip there more secure as well, but still less secure than riding in the drops. I don't think it's a good idea but people aren't going to start magically riding in the drops just because they're on gravel. Even though they should.

Also I was thinking about this recently as I crashed over the weekend during a gravel rally. Partially by being a dumbass and partially cause I was riding on the hoods and had a large rock wrench the bars out of my hands. Similar to the video in the first post except closer to ~12 miles per hour instead of ~25. Had I been in the drops I would have wobbled and stayed upright.