Well, that was close. Last weekend, a cyclist in a Santa Barbara road race nearly bit it during the finish of a Cat 3 event. Mike Allec, a member of the Carefast/Storck Cycling Team, was involved in a serious dustup near the finish line as the riders were sprinting over a bridge. Apparently, Allec was nearly thrown off the bridge, 30 feet above a creek bed below during the chaos. “Words cannot express the gratitude for him being able to walk away from this with road rash,” read a statement on the Storck Team Facebook page. “This could have ended much much worse.”
Allec grabbed the retaining wall. But someone’s bike didn’t fare as well. There isn’t a gnarlier sport than road racing, especially on a tight street course where outside variables always seem to come into play. So many of these wrecks end far worse.