Blood Sacrifice - Crash on the Nufenenpass (west) | Switzerland raw runs [#10]

Our 10th and final descent of the Switzerland trip. This one did not go to plan, we came so close to nailing them all but sometimes the ground reminds you of how close it's always been to you.
One another day, maybe with a bit more warmth he might have gotten away with that corner, but we were pushing the limits this day and found them. It is interesting to hear Taylor say he felt he was taking it cautiously enough. From personal experience I know what he is talking about. He'd just cleared at least 20 epic descents in the Alps over the last few weeks (our trip and a week of racing in the Alps before that). Riding at this speed started to feel safe and normal.
A world class descender walks a mighty fine line of being confident enough to ride this fast, but also fearful enough to know how much to hold back. This line is one I don't think anyone will walk without tripping off.

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[danielakerman]

That was terrifying. The road surface, the oncoming traffic, the questionable lines and corner entry speeds… if you misjudge the entry to one of those corners and run just a little wide, it’s lights out.

If you’re not a pro racer, leave yourself a little margin, people. It’s better to live to ride another day than ride on the edge until you go over it…

[pietrozala]

I was exactly thinking "he's comin in pretty fast in this corn... yup😅" stay safe out there, i never have gotten more scary overtakes than climbing Nufenen, don't let it get to you on the way down. Laser focused and lightning fast

[artursudnik]

I had a terrible crash this September when descending a funny small descent near Kraków in Poland. It was caused by oil spilled on the road. It feels like entering the ice. A nightmare. I have broken a few bones. Luckily, nothing too serious, so I had a break from any activities for about 6 weeks. Keep in mind these kinds of unpredictable things can also happen!

[twraven]

At 72 years of age and many years of riding, there is a limit on the number of times your body will absorb accidents like this. At 71 I retired to Zwift.

[MaxMustermann-nduy]

I was on the Grimsel, just one pass further north on a day, when a female cyclist died. She apparently slipped in a curve at the entrance of a tunnel than I know by heart and a motorbike coming the other direction ran over her. I didn't witness the crash, but I waved at her a bit earlier, when I went up and she came down. I have seen a guy flying over the rail at the other side of the Nufenen, the seconds braking not to run into his bike, praying that he at least moves (he fell approx. 10m down), calling the ambulance were the longest in my life. I have also seen the jersey of Roger Nachbur at the Oberalp two weeks after his crash (which I know, was not his fault), I went this summer through the curve at the south of the Albula, one of my favourite passes, just weeks after Gino Mäder.

Now, I have crashed too, but you are putting your life at risk, and you entice others to do the same thing. And you give cyclists a bad reputation.

[tarmaccio]

Following these videos for quite a while now and over time they got more and more silly and we've gotten to a point where there is hardly any respect to other road users or corners you can't see through anymore. You're just sending it no matter what's coming. I get it, thrill and adrenaline are a hell of a drug and you will need more and more over time to satisfy your brain but when is it enough?

[kaa]

No comment...an old friend died after 2 weeks coma after having crashed alone on the Ventoux last summer...he was a very good rider, downhill included...on open roads that' s quite foolish because of the threat of incoming cars : on closed roads racers don't have to keep right when ngetting out of the curve !

[RobertJWaid]

Thanks for the reminder that even the best go down sometimes. Glad that everyone is OK.

[Halifauxer]

He was saying how he grabbed to much brake which caused the low-side crash. And while that's possible, I think he honestly just asked too much of his tires in the grip department. He had one hell of a lean angle, and you can see the rear tire start to let go right before the front tire gives up. It happens, hope he heals up quick!

Edit: Actually this is somewhat wrong. He loses the front tire first, and then the whole bike goes down.

[stevevarga]

Check out the shape of the turn from the video 30 seconds ahead. You can clearly see the radius tightens very dramatically and that’s something that catches people out a lot. The entrance to the turn shows a gradual arc while the latter half is significantly tighter. These are the most dangerous corners when you’re riding aggressively.

[Nubulis]

These guys are gonna be the founders of aero wheel chairs

[geoffharris]

Thanks for sharing this. I crashed 2 years ago in almost the exact same mechanism of crash. Broken collar bone, shoulder blade and punctured lung. I hope your friend got off a lot easier. I thought the same thing at the time that I slid out or grabbed a bit too much brake. However it's caused by being leaned over to near maximum and then giving a tiny amount of additional steering input. The front fork hits the point where it has negative effective trail and tries to pivot around to the inside of the turn. You can see in slow mo the front wheel binds and further turns right rapidly. At that point wheel stops spinning and starts skidding and then you splat hard to the inside of the turn. It made me realize how close I come to this pivot point all the time on a fast decent in sharp corners. Be careful out there as once you hit this pivot point it is impossible to recover and happens nearly instantly. Super fun to see such a beautiful decent taken with such grace.

[HeartShapedBox]

Hate to say it - and I know this will make me sound like an a-hole (but it's really just meant for future safety), but that crash looked fairly inevitable. There was clearly a bit of sand (or similar) on the corners, your inside knee dropped in way too far, your weight was a long way forward. There's a reason we can't push limits on road bikes, and this is it in a nutshell. I had a similar crash in the French Alps and still don't know what caused it (most of the above I would guess) and I learnt from it (in terms of speed and risk). Hope you do too.

[antiquetoy]

The epitome of "Men will do everything before going to therapy". Love it. Stay safe.

[onplay]

I hope he's ok. It was good there weren't any cars when he crashed.

I have to get back another Bike Trainer. I got rid of my previous one when I moved into another apartment and I thought I would never get back into my Roadie ever again. I recently got back into it again and have been consistently riding on the weekends for the past 5 months then lost 33 lbs. Now that I've discovered this channel I need another bike trainer and turn this channel on so I can feel like I'm part of the ride outdoors in case of unprecedented events I can't go. I leave this channel on while I'm doing chores inside the house because it's very therapeutic to me. I love the sounds of the tires making contact on the ground, the sound of the wind, and the noise it makes when changing gears!

[the_feature_selector]

Way to pass those cars on blind corners without a care ofof other’s safety. 👏

[hughjanus]

The red hatchback driver must have though "bloody donors", when you passed him at 3:20. Then at 5:53 I'm sure he thought "I knew it". Hope the fella was OK and is back to riding already.

[JStockinger]

He totally miss judged that turn! Turned in to early. Too much excitement got the best of him. Hope he's not hurt to bad? Stay safe guys!

[nurialco]

5:47 it happens man keep going thats the soul

[rogereheadbyrne]

Really felt for Taylor then! Hope hes recovered now! 25mph wipeouts are not fun! Great finish by you though Safa, What an Amazing Place i can see why you keep going back as its mesmerising to View! Great Video 🔥🔥🔥🤘😎🤘