Clifton CC

Went down to Bishopwood this morning to watch the Seacroft race. Toby, Tim and Reuben riding, sorry if I missed anyone else.

Perfect conditions really after the fog lifted, no wind and dry roads. Toby and Tim looked comfortable in the bunch. I must confess I didn't know the third Clifton was Reuben, but it was looking ok for everyone until the last lap when half the field managed to go down in a crash on a perfectly straight, flat road.

Reuben looked to have come off worse and it did look like a collarbone or something similar, plus some expensive damage to a very nice bike..hope you're ok. All 3 were involved or held up in the crash, bad luck guys.

Didnt know Rubens was involved in the crash.Toby and i were with Toby gettting a bit of Rash but nothing serious and me just doing an impression of slow motion going down but everything ok.Hope Rubens is ok . Darren was right in his impression of the race.Very comfortable today and just moving to about 25/30 riders back preparing for the finish then crash As i got up i was going to try to get going again but my bars were bent round then i saw Toby just getting up so i stopped to see he was ok.Didnt even see Rubens.The race took a predictable course with people going off the front but being dragged back exceot one who i think won.Doing the training rides there defainately helped and to be fair they are a lot harder than the race so good preperation for sterner tests to come.Good to see support for The Clifton at races that helps the motivation if any is needed.
av speed 23.7mph 50 miles 2hours 3mins.CHEERS

Well it was an interesting day today!

After 3 laps, my headset cap came loose which I managed to tighten by hand. Then one of my bottles flew out of cage at a big hole. I probably should have read the omens of how the race was going. But I felt very strong, had got some spare water from Tim and with just over half a lap to go, Tim urged me on up the final drag with Toby following near behind. I manoeuvered to about 5th place going through the forest and settled into a nice tempo on the long straight. I was optimistic to be a player in the sprint finish as I still had plenty of room on heart rate when BANG!

I am not 100% sure but I remember the wheel in front and to the left side of mine slowing and swerving quite aggressively across my path. Not sure if they were avoiding a falling rider or just a pothole but ultimately their rear hit my front and I went straight over the bars at 27mph or so according to the GPS. Not sure I could have done anything to avoid it apart from not racing.

Piecing together the evidence, helmet took the hit first and is cracked in several places. Very thankful for that basic bit of safety equipment. Then shoulder then hip folllowed by my bike going over the top of me and several other riders.

The team from Seacroft Wheelers were excellent. They were at the incident pretty quickly and they had a competent first aider who checked me over and put a sling on me. They looked after me with blanket etc until the ambulance arrived. They took my car key and transported my bike back to the car for me. They even dropped my car key back to my house in York. Have rung them to say thanks, they really were great.

The paramedics tried gas and air which wasn't really cutting the mustard so I got on to the good stuff with some morphine. That helped significantly with the pain.

Anyway after several hours at A&E, the damage is a broken scapula (shoulder-blade) and acromion (bit between shoulder-blade and top of arm) but not my collarbone. Just a sling and pain-killers to see me through until mended. And a nice bit of road rash.

Bike not looking good, rear dropout knackered which I think writes off the frame. Other bits of damage to bars, pedals, shifters. Some significant holes in jersey and shorts.

I am concerned that Toby is OK. He was quite concussed and his parents drove him to A&E. Toby or anyone else - please post an update.

Figures-wise, did 45.5 miles over first 8.5 laps at 24.4mph. Thoroughly enjoyed it all, just a shame about the crash.

Just spoken to organiser of today's race. Toby has suffered some concussion but is starting to remember events. He is being kept in York hospital tonight as a precaution.

Hi Reuben - glad to hear you're "ok" despite some nasty injuries. Thanks for updating us on Toby; I hope he recovers quickly. A shame you didn't get to contest the finish.

That circuit is strange; I was brought down (without any lasting injury) on my first ever race, on that second bridge. And the last time I raced there in the mini-TLI a couple of years ago there was a big crash too (which I just avoided). All that on what seems like a very tame course with no real gradient and only one blind-ish bend.
tom

Went into see Toby in hospital and he has severe concussion, struggling to remember things, but his memory is gradually returning. Some road rash on his right leg, arm and face but he is in good spirits. They will keep him in hospital overnight to make sure he is OK.

Billy

Blimey what a terrible day for Clifton, I hope everybody recovers quickly.

Well, here I am in hospital trying to write a detailed account of something I don't remember anything about. I can recall a few fleeting images, some of which include me pulling a few turns on the front and chasing down a cycleworks rider (who didn't seem too pleased), and thats always nice still can't remember anything about the crash and I am grateful to read that your ok Reuben.

Bike is mostly ok, new rear mech needed, and maybe a front brake lever. So not too bad. Considering I shaved by legs for this race I can now offer a practical demonstration to those who question my reasoning for doing so! So there are some positives

Because I still can't remember anything it looks like I'm staying in hospital for another night :/ so no cycling in what looks to be beautiful weather this week

Oh well


Cheers

Tobz

Get well soon Toby. Race report

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/a ... in-Selby-0

Good to hear from you Toby. Hope you get out of hospital soon and memory continues to come back.

Glad to hear you're okay Toby and hope you're out of hospital soon. Just remember Jens Voigt's quote following his major crash in the Tour a couple of years back:- "I've lost half an hour of my life. But since it was half an hour of pain and suffering, I don't want it back"....

Hope you guys recover ok and are soon and are back on the bike.

Ian H

Oh dear Toby, you just seemed like your normal happy chappy self after the crash. I don't think I'd be a very good first aider.
Nice to know the Seacroft looked after you so well Reuben, they are my second claim club and a great bunch.

I'm not sure why there seems to so many crashes on Bish, Maybe the road surface isn't as good as it was? I remember Willhub smashing his bike into a thousand pieces on there a couple of years back too. I raced on there many times in the 80's and 90's. They used the circuit a lot, I always felt safe on it, and I don't remember ever seeing a crash.

Speedy recovery guys.

I was involved in that crash with Will. Good conditions on a nice straight road. It was a TLI handicap. If memory serves me correct the groups had just come together and things were getting a bit 'twitchy' in the bunch...Only takes some one to touch a wheel...
Sounds like you were both really unlucky particularly as you were both near the front and therefore in a 'safe' place.

Get well soon guys

The damage to that nice Cervelo sounds terminal though

I am really surprised that circuit has such a history of crashes. I did count at least 3 water bottles at same hole where I lost mine and my headset cap rattled loose on same section of road as crash several laps later but the road condition is really just about average.

My guess is that it is the first race of the season and that, even though a lot of riders will have spent time on club training rides, there is still a big step up from 10 on a training ride to 60 riders really pushing it along.

What's annoying is that I took the vast majority of the race really conservatively and was hanging out near the back for most of the time. And I avoided a couple of other group tyre-squealing moments a few laps earlier because I could see the twitchiness from a distance and had plenty of time to brake and avoid it all.

Anyway, really looking forward to geting back on the bike when shoulder mended. Although just been reading blog of one person who did Ironman triathlons 10 days after similar injury to me - their advice seems to be HTFU!