| Subject: | Racing observations |
| Date: | 04/18/2000 12:06 AM |
| From: | Candi Murray |
|
X-From_: wlee-@newportnet.com Tue Apr 18 09:01:10 2000 Return-Path: <wlee-@newportnet.com> Delivered-To: ob-@teleport.com To: ob-@teleport.com Subject: Racing observations From: "Bill Leeper" <wlee-@newportnet.com> Reply-To: wlee-@newportnet.com Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 02:00:21 -0700 I recently had the pleasure and the pain of competing in my first Mountain Bike race. "The Chainbreaker". I say pleasure because for most of the race I really did enjoy it. I say pain because approximately 2 miles from the end someone wiped me out from behind and left me laying face down in the dirt. I would like to thank the Medic there and the staff for the quality care I received when I reached the finish line. Without them it would have been a lot worse than it was. I realize that wipe outs are a part of racing, both non assisted and assisted. And I know it truely was an accident. I just want to make a couple of general observations that may help make the sport more enjoyable for all. First, the injury I sustained is serious enough to keep me off the job for at least two weeks so I do not feel that it was trivial. I would not be wasting your time if it were. Second, as nearly as I can figure out the other person involved was one of the Pro riders. I say this because the person who came along a few minutes later said that the person who must have been involved almost caused them to wipe out as well and no one else came along in between. I was unable to even move enough to where I could attempt to see the license number. Third, this individual left me laying in the dirt without any apparent regard as to whether or not I was even alive. I say this because I did hear a "are you okey" called out to which I was unable to answer. For all this person knew I could have been seriously hurt as I was not doing much moving. I had to lay there for several minutes before I could do much of that. Now, my points to all this in case anyone is still reading. The accident and injury are to be expected in a sport such as this. I have no problem with that. It is one of the risks. But any person with an ounce of morality would feel obligated to stop and see if I were indeed allright, especially if they were partly to blame for the accident. What happened may be condoned in other sports, but should not be tolerated in this sport. When you have a sport in which everyone from Pro to Beginner are mixing on the same course then it is partly up to the "experts" to make sure what someone in front is going to do before trying to pass. I am sure the other individual involved has managed to rationalize the accident to have been entirely my fault as he has not apparently come forward. But the fact remains that it was probably both our faults. I heard him call out "Track" but could not determinw where he was. As I was already almost all the way to the right I thought that he was attempting to pass on the left so I was moving entirely off the right so he could pass. Unfortunately he was attempting to pass on the right where there was not enough room to begin with. Which brings up my next point. There was plenty of room to pass safely just a few feet up the track. Apparently this individual just could not wait a few seconds to make sure he could get safely by. Since this sport mixes us all into the same race, it also becomes the responsibilty of the rider passing from behind to make sure that it can be done with safety. Quite frankly, I was attempting as best I could to yield the course at the time of the accident. And lastly, I was talking to someone after the race before I made it to the aid station an upon hearing what had happened to me I got the response that the sport was pretty "cut throat" among the money riders. And this attitude should not be tolerated by any of us. As beginners, we pay our money to race just as everyone else does. And this gives us just as much right to be there as anyone. As in any sport, if it were not for us there would be no prize money for these people to win. Who would be willing to sponser a race to which only a handful of people showed up for? I have no problems with the people who put on this race. I do, however, have a problem with the "jerk" who helped contribute to the accident and then left me laying there without stoping to see if I was badly injured. We don't need this kind of person in this sport. If you see someone go down you stop and render any assistence if it is needed. "Especially" if there is no one else around at the time to help out and you were also involved. I am sorry if I have bored any of you with this long letter. It is just that I will be racing again and I would like to seethis kind of thing removed from the sport. And if anyone thinks I am whining and complaining my e-mail address is listed below and you can 'flame" me all you want. BTW, I did manage to finish my first Mountain Bike race. And I will be back, hopefully by the end of next month. Even with my injury I enjoyed the race and for the most part it was a positive experience. Thank you for your time. Bill Leeper P-II powered by non MS OS wlee-@newportnet.com BeOS and loving it Member Beta Bros. |
