Opinion: Rider Safety And Media Coverage

Image credit: Wally Kilburg

NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

Today I am going to dive into the subject of media coverage of gravel events. As my long-time disclaimer above indicates, this is my opinion. But first, I want to get into the most recent incident of interference of media in a cycling event on gravel. This was an incident where no one was injured, thankfully, and one of the affected riders, the leader at the time, won the event. So the rider's final placing was not negatively affected. However; things could have very easily gone the wrong way. 

You may have already seen the evidence posted on Instagram or Facebook. It happened last weekend at Mid-South. There were two riders affected in the women's Pro field who were off the front slightly from a larger chase group. From the video I saw, the two leaders, Paige Onweller and Sofia Gomez Villifane, were about to enter a 90° left hand turn when a side-by-side ATV came up from behind them at a higher rate of speed than the two riders. The ATV split the two riders, nearly hitting Villifane, and then over correcting and almost hitting Onweller. Audio from the clip revealed a bit of angry and fearful yelling from one of the riders. 

From another social media post by @ministerofgravel on Instagram, commenters identified the offending ATV as being driven by people from Orange Seal (or the vehicle was sponsored by the brand) , a brand which sells tubeless sealant products. Commenters also pointed to this same ATV causing issues the day previous during Mid-South's running event and on the course for the cycling event elsewhere on Saturday. These accusations are not verified, as far as I can find, but these comments are noteworthy and interesting in light of the video evidence from the near-miss of the two Pro women riders. 

A still from the video posted on Instagram. (Image credit @colinsigers)

This unfortunate incident is not alone in cycling. I read about near-misses and collisions between media motos and Pro road racers every single year. Team cars are also involved in many incidents and seem to be a year after year issue within Pro cycling. 

So, why do event organizers allow these vehicles and the people who drive them out on courses. Drivers which endanger riders and often interfere with the racing action, at the least, and cause injury and death at the worst? 

Well, it has something to do with money, doesn't it? We have to have media coverage and team support during events or..... Or what? We cannot race? This seems out of whack to me. Riders are human beings. We should be willing to sacrifice convenience and marketing opportunities to provide these riders - professionals or not -  with conditions on course not being affected by cars, motorcycles, or ATV's. 

Specifically to gravel events, I would posit that there be no vehicles on course besides the race director's vehicle. None. Zero. Observers should be stationed at critical points to make sure the riders are safe, not cheating,and to quickly address emergency situations. Media can be parked along side the road with cameras and can be allowed to travel to different points along the course, if possible, along roads/trails not on course. If this is not possible for media. too bad. Really. The whole media coverage of gravel events during the race is unnecessary. 

Mid-South's statement regarding the incident. (Click to embiggen)

I know that is unrealistic, so if we have to indulge ourselves in videography of gravel cycling events, then perhaps a bit of drone action is okay. I'm not a big fan of this, and the weather would probably play into whether this is a feasible solution for most cases. But moving vehicles, be they ATV's or whatever, cruising alongside Pro riders going all-out to win and make money, gain/maintain sponsorships is not a good mix.We see the outcome go negative all too often. 

The other point I'd like to make concerning this would be environmental. Gravel often times equals dust. Vehicles kick up a ton of dust when going down gravel roads. Obvious, right? Most people do not want to breath the particulate matter from gravel dust, do they? I would suggest they do not. Especially Pro athletes who train diligently to squeeze out every ounce of effort during a race. Certainly they do not like to breath in dust, do they? And besides, it makes it harder to see. Right? 

So, again, why do we put cars, trucks, ATV's and motos on courses with riders? All riders deserve good air, not dust-filled air from course vehicles. It's bad enough at times just being around other riders and dealing with the dust coming off the bicycles. Do we really need to add to this? 

And while we're at it, can we quit spewing champagne in rider's eyes the second they cross the finish line? Let those guys and gals do that on the podium. They earned the right.  

There has to be a better way. Gravel event directors should be searching for solutions, not waiting, hoping everything will work out because "this is how races are produced". Even sponsors should want this. I mean, look at the ATV which interfered with the two women riders at Mid-South. I'm sure that is PR that the company who was responsible for the incident would rather not have out there. Maybe doing the same thing over and over again is not the best plan. 

I also will say this to close out my thoughts. Many of you may not know I used to put on a gravel event because the last time I did so was seven years ago. But I understand the challenges behind the scenes and I know what racing on gravel roads is like from both sides - as an event director and a participant - so I feel as though my opinions are not just random ranting. I just honestly don't understand why we think gravel racing has to be the way it is, because it clearly doesn't work like it should on this level as seen at Mid-South and other events on gravel. The default event production methods are not the only way to do events on gravel. Events on gravel do not have to be live streamed. We went many years without live streamed gravel events and the segment grew and got along without it just fine. 

And I get it. Money talks. My ideas are probably not going to see the light of day at any "big time" gravel event. But I'm not going to sit here and let it go either. That's my take. Hopefully for the riders the event directors will find better ways to do things in the future for the good of all riders on gravel.