
A few weeks back USA Cycling gave us all a scare by threatening to consider banning helmet cams, tubular tires for juniors, and...some other stuff I don't care about. This threat of consideration fomented an uproar amongst USAC members, causing the USAC to reconsider their threat. So in case you missed the memo: there will be no ban on helmet cams.
But we're not out of the woods yet.
USAC's premise for considering the ban was based on hypothetical, anecdotal evidence, and was, to use the legal term: rickety-as-shit at best. Basically, the folks at USAC thought that a helmet cam could possibly get driven through a rider's head in a crash, although they did admit that there was "no particular accident" that had given them this impression.
However, while the evidence that helmet cams are actually dangerous is lacking, there is a metric butt-load of empirical evidence to back up the fact that CHAINRINGS are incredibly dangerous.
Exhibit A:

That's Elite Cyclocross racer Luca Damiani's calf after he was involved in a tangle with Justin Lindine at Cyclesmart International in Northampton a few weeks back. Lindine hooked the course tape with this bar, causing his bike to flip up, just as Damiani came around the corner behind him, and WHAM! Lindine's chainring went into Damiani's calf. Thing is, Damiani didn't realize what had happened, he just kept rolling. In the photo below, you can hardly see the cut on his left calf, and he's looking down going "what the hell happened?"

But by the time he got to the bottom of the hill about ten seconds later, he knew something was wrong, and he ducked under the tape while letting out these sickening, very black-box flight recorder type moans. I happened to be standing there with a video camera, not knowing what to do. At 10 seconds in, you see what could either be referred to, depending on what company you're in, as a "mouth" or a "leg vagina" open up as Luca says "STITCHES FUCK! Look at that."
4 comments:
Crying. Crying. Crying in laughter at work this is so funnY! Worth putting the headphones on for. PTFM!
I raced wearing a broadsword and a viking helmet once...
here
hilarious parsons satire!
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