Weinfelden pileup.... some thoughts

[dinobot71]

One of my skater friends pointed out something really obvious...in cycling, when they cycle downhill and have a crash out in front they have a protection level that we don't...brakes! This is not to say they could avoid a crash that happens "on their wheel", or mid pack kind of thing, but at least farther back, the chances of an even bigger pile up are reduced greatly, simple because they can attempt to reduce speed farther back.

As speed skaters, we have no such an ability. To me this seems to make the risk we are taking with downhill speed skating far greater than it would be for cyclists. So my previous view of skating not being more risky than cycling needs to be updated I think At least in this circumstance I think skating is more risky, and I don't see the value of taking the risk.

(^_^)/
mike.

[sxevegan]

In cycling it seems like braking causes more pileups than it prevents.

You can also argue that a skater has the advantage because they can jump.

For the fun of it, here is a video of a cat4 pileup at the joe martin stage race a few years back. It's off topic, but a great video.
http://www.fayettevillebicyclecompany.c ... _Crash.wmv

[DROID]

There is a very fast method of breaking on skates. You can swing one leg in front and lock your knee while you make the wheels grind you to a very rapid stop. I saw this on Eddy Matzger's website. I have also seen video clips of Eddy teaching ways to fall "safely". Also, you can do a "slide into second base"......... this will stop you fast, but you will get some road rash.

All of this is under the assumption that you have a second or two or three to decide to try one of these maneuvers.

Many times the crash is so instantaneous that there is no time to plan any kind of maneuver,..... you are just "goin' down"

I have spent some time practicing Eddy's way of stopping and as soon as my shoulder is stable enough I plan to practice doing summersaults in the grass........ I will skate on a sidewalk in a park and then go off into the grass and do a summersault....... so I will really have a feel for the exact move I might have to make on a second's notice.

Who knows???????? this may be a stupid thing to do....... but if it makes it so that next time I crash I will make a summersault instead of PLANTING my shoulder into the asphalt,..... it's worth it.

DROID

[Mr. T]

Falling on grass is fantastic. It is even fun to some extent. Problem is that you cannot always find grass to fall upon.
Of course, if you landed on a a bunch of stuff with torns it would be a lot less fun.
Eddie's front T- stop works great. But, I have never seen it used at 50km/h plus by any other skater but Eddie. Plus, an acquaintance of mine, told me that while doing that front T-stop, something went wrong and he torn two ligaments in his knee... He said that next time he will think not twice but three times before doing it.
Even Eddie's rolling to a stop might work very well perhaps, but not all votes are in yet. It depends at what speed you go down. In particular you do not want to roll under incoming traffic or roll to stop against a lamp post or the side curb with your head or your back first.
On a bycicle, brakes are your friends. I am 200% positive or the professional cyclists would have already discarded them. Even when there is something bad happening in front of you, you almost always have a chance to slow down 10-20km/h which is a lot less to deal with. Of course, if you are literally on the wheel of someone else, I doubt you can save your ass, but in most cases... They surely saved my ass from probably getting killed twice. Once they allowed me, in a renegade downhill race, to go in the woods to avoid hitting a car at 70-80km/h and hit a tree, do a flip and land on grass unscathed (good, nice and friendly grass! Very nice thing to have when you need it). I even found a few mushrooms on the ground. . Problem is that I stopped 10 meters from a cliff. Had I been going 20km/h faster, I might have ended up down the cliff. Yes, brakes are a wonderful thing to have

[mrk]

I am probably the biggest braking fan on the web but for most skate race pack crashes brakes are not likely a good tool. If the pack is going to crash brakes are likely to simply make things worse. The best tactic is to avoid by going around things and/or jump over stuff. This is an area where agility drills on skates are a real good idea.

I believe in develop ALL my skating skills as much as possible. Jumping stuff is very useful if you can do it instinctively. Even though I like a heel brake a normal T stop is still a good way to control speed mid way through a turn (so you need to be good with both legs). The front T is useful in some conditions but generally it is more of a "trick" stop rather then a bread/butter move. Even Eddy is sketchy with the front T on grippy roads with new wheels. Eddy's primary stopping tends to be slalom stopping. Using a slalom is good on your own but not so good in a pack and really not something you want to do in traffic.

I use a heel brake stop when I need braking power but in a pack you need to think about what is going on behind you and generally for pack skating or even cycling stopping is the most dangerous thing you can do. To avoid a crash, the best method is to find away around or even over the problem and keep moving. If it all goes south, falling well can help a lot so doing some tumbling drills is useful so you know how to fall without getting hurt.

For a Weinfelden, I don't know what happened and I am sure that the skaters had good agility. Sometimes as has been said @##$@ happens and you can't avoid the crash. For other times going around stuff is the best way to go. On rare occasions in panic situations a brake is useful and it is an option some skaters will pick (not for everyone but I personally like having more options rather then less).

Remember the world is dangerous so make sure you are as well prepared as possible. Skate safe, have fun!

-Mark
http://www.gatorbackskate.com