If memory serves me that was Jake "Earthquake" Watson, he may have been riding for Marin at the time.The other fatality was a male in the US riding downhill. 2002 i think. I dont know if it was a NORBA but it was racing and he came into a rock garden at some say 55-60km/h and got loose. He landed heavily and died of chest injuries even tho he had upper body armour.
yeah his team manager insisted that all the team DH riders wore them. smart man.By the way I read somewhere Waddell was wearing a MX (Moto Cross) Helmet, and that he probably would have died with a bike helmet on, since the MX helmet was destroyed.
That was Garry Payne, he crashed on Mitchell's Pass between Blaxland and Emu Plains in Dec 1997, the day after his birthday. Garry was a top 5 national series competitor at the time, and was improving very quickly.another fatality was from very sketchy memory a friend of Paul Rowney's duing his time racing in OZ before his Haro deal in the US..say around '94,'95. It was a training accident on the road in the blue mountains. His tyre blew out or a single peeled off on a corner at speed and bam into the guard rail. I remember having a minutes silence before a race in remembrance of it..a couple of other guys close to him also wore black armbands in that race too. pretty sad
Gz was a good mate of mone, he was as good a bloke as he was a rider. He died on the Tuesday, and me, him and a couple of other mates (one of whom was riding with Gaz when he crashed) were all together on the Saturday before, eating pizza, having a couple of brews, playing Playstation and talking shit. Then 3 days later I get a call to say he's on life support. Life is shit sometimes; Gaz had just decided to go to uni to do Primary Teaching, things were all falling into place then BANG! His parents are two of the nicest and most genuine people you could ever hope to meet, as is his brother (also a top rider). As has been previously stated in this thread, the only consolation is that he died doing something he loved. In reality though that's cold comfort.That was Garry Payne, he crashed on Mitchell's Pass between Blaxland and Emu Plains in Dec 1997, the day after his birthday. Garry was a top 5 national series competitor at the time, and was improving very quickly.
There is a small memorial where he crashed, and i must say that it is a pretty scary corner flat out, as it is j-u-s-t flat out. Many other people have crashed there before and after Garry, some quite seriously. His loss is still felt badly by many in the MTB community.
Agreed, when people show us complete disrespect and put us in danger and we get angry as a result, they think that we're all dickheads on bikes. These people make riding on roads more dangerous than it already is, and with the amount of people that get hurt they deserve to get their teeth booted in.after several incidents up here the cowboys leauge team now train at the velodrome. too many of them have had incidents while out on the road. i was about an inch off getting doored yesterday sitting at about 45km/hr on a busy as road. my life could of easily been over right than. scary shit. fuck people that don't give a shit about cyclist. each one of them deserves a serious kick in the face.
It's the street where you need it the most.IMO.I myself haven't heard of any mtb deaths without vehicles being involved. But the son of another customer of my mums hairdresser died riding his bike on the road and a truck ran over him. He had no helmet on. It's sad , and my mum uses it as an excuse for me to always wear my helmet . I know I should wear one, and I usually do, just not for street.
That was Garry Payne, he crashed on Mitchell's Pass between Blaxland and Emu Plains in Dec 1997, the day after his birthday. Garry was a top 5 national series competitor at the time, and was improving very quickly.
There is a small memorial where he crashed, and i must say that it is a pretty scary corner flat out, as it is j-u-s-t flat out. Many other people have crashed there before and after Garry, some quite seriously. His loss is still felt badly by many in the MTB community.