Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Helmet Cam - 2010 Harlem Crit, Cat 3s

Yeah, I finished it. Yeah, it's not that spectacular, not until you get inside the last 200 meters.

That's when the huge crash happened, at least in the 3s.

For the first time I decided to focus on a crash. It's not because I'm gruesome like that, but, man, when you watch it, you keep finding new spectacular things. You have power sliding, endos, bike skating (i.e. you ride onto a bike and skate said bike), a feet-down landing, barriers shoved aside like paper plates, jack-in-the-box riders springing up off the ground, and all sorts of cool things.

So, without further ado, here's Harlem, 2010, a race brought to you by RockstarGames.com and filmed by yours truly.

Enjoy.

5 comments:

Colin R said...

Aki, awesome video as always. I was wondering (after watching the crash like 6 times) how you came to the conclusion that the leadout guy crashed himself?

Aki said...

It's not in the video. However...

He was well clear of the field, went into the final turn alone, and then hit the barriers and/or a spectator. I heard the metal on the right as I exited the turn and thought, "No way he just plowed into the barriers!" But I've seen it before, solo riders riding into curbs/dirt, just not at Harlem, so I thought it a distinct possibility. I started going left, the guy in front started to brake, and then people started crashing.

A rider that was up there said he saw him take himself out.

There's also pictorial proof.

Note how long it takes for the next rider to fall.

To me it appears that he hit only barrier, but someone said it may have been a spectator. If you follow the arrows (put cursor up by top right, 1" down from corner, of each picture), you can see the sequence of events.

Anonymous said...

my sweetheart was at the barriers right where that guy crashed - she said that he hit somebody leaning over.

thanks for the shoutout, aki!

i think the brauer dude gets the Flecha Award for picking his way through that crash.

Anonymous said...

Great video.

I recall you mentioning way back when (or did I imagine it) an eventual in-depth review of the Tsunami. Is that happening?

Aki said...

NOL - I distinctly remember wondering "Who is that?" when I heard you cheering, so I had to include at least one.

Anon - I plan on a review, I just need to clean my bike enough to make it presentable. I'm running into those mid-season entropic things, where kits, bikes, wheels, tires all start deteriorating noticeably.

In fact, I really have to get my act together and send the deposit for my second frame. I want a spare that actually fits.