Chloe Dygert crashes in Worlds TT

[greglepore]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62F96V0hp8U

No idea what failed on the bike, or a massive speed wobble.

There are pics on the web of her leg injury-they're too graphic to link, and I haven't had the heart to look. Suffice it say it a very deep laceration in mid thigh to knee-probs from the two boltheads or the edge of the guardrail.

[MMiller]

That's hard to watch... no way i'm looking for the wound pics.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by MMiller

That's hard to watch... no way i'm looking for the wound pics.

I looked away like when watching Clarice Starling in the basement with Buffalo Bill.

No stomach for that.

[flatbutt]

Oh sheet that was nasty.

[Jeff Higgins]

Ouch - I hope she comes out o.k. in the end, with no lasting problems.

Seeing this kind of makes me a bit angry. I see some level of incompetence in the course designers, safety officials, or whoever it was that laid out the locations of the protective barricades. We all know the corner does not "end" where the road goes straight again - we all "track out" well into the straight part.

I watched this play out about 15 years ago at a local stop on the old Progressive Insurance flat track series. We don't have an actual clay track for this around here, so they tried it on a horse racing track. Bad idea - the soft loam required for horse racing did not suit the motorcycles at all. That's a story unto itself...

For the sake of comparison to what I just watched here, I offer what happened to a young lady who was on a factory Harley, one Jennifer Snyder. I was standing at the outside of turn four when she came around, leading her heat. She got caught in one of the ruts that they had just spent about four or five laps digging, and high sided big time. She hit the chain link fence under the permanent rail for the horse track and, more importantly, about fifty yards past the last hay bale, which was right at the tangent of the corner to the straight. Whoever set out the hay bales obviously didn't realize how far down the straight they needed to go. I see the same thing here.

That crash pretty much ended Ms. Snyder's very promising career as the first woman to secure a factory HD ride. The chain link ripped the fingers off of her right hand, and the stantions for the rail didn't do her any good either. A few people standing around me collected up her fingers and handed them through the fence to the medics who loaded her on the helicopter.

This kind of malfeasance just makes me angry. I hope this young lady comes out alright...

[greglepore]

Yeah Jeff, the padding was wrong, likely set by a non rider not aware of the physics. But speed sports are imperfect.

You really want to get your ire up-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQX0BtE9830-In spain, they put bollards out to protect trash dumpsters. So you pull the dumpsters and then run a bike race...almost ended a promising young Americans career.

[look 171]

She needs to get off those aerobars. You can't go into a fast downhill turns with your hands on those. Hope she's ok

[flipper35]

At a few frames past 8 seconds it appears she hit a dip or slick spot and she turns hard right to recover and that starts everything into motion.

[sc_rufctr]

The road looked clean and her bike seemed fine. Nothing out of place.
If I had to guess without talking to her I'd say she was fatigued. A momentary lapse in concentration is all it takes.

I hope she's OK.

[look 171]

That hump on the road cause her to lose balance as she shifted her body to try and straighten out and make that turn at speed. Her biggest issues was that her elbows and hands were on that TT bar. You can't handle or control a bike like that ( especially with that saddle moved way forward for power throwing the balance off on a TT bike) with just elbows and those long skinny rods that stick way beyond the hub. Had both her hands be on the drops or proper place, she should be able to get out of this, at least break enough to slow down before hitting and going the railing. There was no way for her to apply the brakes. I re-watch the vid and noticed her going at the same speed after the wobble the whole way until she made contact with the railing. It doesn't look like she's too fast for that turn. I have hit many dips and bumps like that hauling down a mountain side. My hands are always on the drops or the hood for stability and control the bike with pressure from my feet on the pedals.

[greglepore]

Lots of discussion of this on the cycling forums. I don't think she panic braked, don't think she had the time to. I agree that the asphalt seam set off a speed wobble event-whether that was due to her center of mass (likely) or due to a component failure (steerer fracture, stem slippage, wheel detension?) who knows. I does appear that the injury was from coming down on I support on the far side of the rail.

Tankslappers are very freaking frightening.

[Otter74]

That's an awful looking crash. Having recently done a long descent myself on rather bad pavement (Mt. Evans, Colorado last weekend) I have to think that having her hands on the aero bars was a contributing factor. Even if you're on the tops on conventional bars, it's a lot harder to control the bike than if you're on the hoods/ramps or drops.

[greglepore]

Jim Miller at USA cycling has confirmed no mechanical failure, just a speed wobble

[Embraer]

Never heard of her until I clicked this thread.....she's from Indy.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Otter74

That's an awful looking crash. Having recently done a long descent myself on rather bad pavement (Mt. Evans, Colorado last weekend) I have to think that having her hands on the aero bars was a contributing factor. Even if you're on the tops on conventional bars, it's a lot harder to control the bike than if you're on the hoods/ramps or drops.

thats a serious descent!

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by look 171

She needs to get off those aerobars. You can't go into a fast downhill turns with your hands on those. Hope she's ok

Yup.
https://www.outsideonline.com/2355151/world-without-aerobars

[look 171]

Originally Posted by Heel n Toe

Yup.
https://www.outsideonline.com/2355151/world-without-aerobars

I didn't read the whole thing but ban something that's so effective at what they are design to do in racing is a crime. It stops tech from going forward. There are already enough of those by the UCI. People just need to know when to let go and go back on the reg tried and true methods. If she shift her ass back another 1" or 2, let her weight sit over the rear wheel, put some pressure on the outside pedal and get off those twin sticks , I bet she will come through that turn without any issues. With those bikes, she's literally sitting on top of the BB. Sad thing is, all that take less then 1/2 second to do. No real aero benefit for that split second while she's stops pedaling right before the turn.

I wouldn't ride near guys that come on our training ride with those damn things. Often, we tell them to come back with a regular bike. of course, these are folks who have no idea what they are doing. Triathlete that want to train with speed but we often throw them out. Most can't handle a bike or don't know how to ride in a fast pace group ride.