Drama and Tragedy at the McDowell
Meltdown (MBAA #3) race
NEW* The entire story (scroll down)
Dear listeners,
In this letter I mean to reach out to many of the categories involved
in Mountain biking racing; Supporters, Race organizers, Spectators,
Sponsors, Fellow competitors, Emergency personnel, and last but
not least the Victims. This past weekend was certainly filled with
events. Therefore the need for such an extended look-back.
I will start off by reporting how I felt during the race…I felt
very good! In fact I raced so well that for most of the race I was
in 2nd position. I remained in 2nd position and crossed the finish
line delighted but a little tired. My performance proved that the
Hedgehog Hustle (MBAA #3) race was not a coincident. I am on my
way to do a strong come-back!
After the race, I proceeded to do my warm-down and then taking
a well earned shower. Everything about this weekend seemed to have
turned splendid. But I felt a big concern while showering: there
had been a rider on the course who had crashed badly. This particular
Expert category rider was at the side of the course aided by Emergency
Personnel. The rider seemed to be in good hands. When we passed
by, one of the Emergency personnel was showing hand signs as to
slow down the Pro field. Everyone including myself seemed to be
extra careful and in my opinion we passed smoothly and in a safe
manner. I felt bad as I always do when I see that someone else has
crashed. I have myself been picked up by Emergency personnel and
been injured badly before.
But the race had to go on... And so off we went. Each of the riders
probably trying to wipe the crash picture away in our mind, as we
continued the risky way towards the finish line.
I did not expect to see the rider still at the emergency spot when
we passed by on our second and last lap. This had to be c. 30-45min
later. Apparently the rider was severely injured. The Emergency
personnel was still at the spot when I approached the critical area.
The wind was strongly blowing in my face. My bike was jumping up
and down on the trail. There was a helicopter somewhere close in
the proximity, but I didn't dare to move my sight off the narrow
trail. The various noises; wind, bike, helicopter, wouldn't have
made it possible for me to hear any human voices, should there have
been some. I kept my sight locked on the trail. Suddenly an Emergency
personnel appeared in front of me. He was standing in the middle
of the trail and was waving me to slow down with the same hand movement
he had done on the previous lap. I interpreted the up&down hands
from shoulder height to waist movement as to slow down. I slowed
down my speed so I felt comfortable in being able to stop or yield
at any time. Apparently my interpretation was wrong. After the awards
presentation I found out that the Emergency personnel had wanted
me to bring my bike to a complete stop. This was when I realized
I had been DISQAULIFIED! If only the Emergency personnel had been
trained in how to run a race. Or at least showed me a stronger sign
to stop. Two crossed hands would have done the deed. Or even a static
reached out hand like the police directing traffic use. If only,
I thought to myself…
The winner of the race somehow was able to pass by and not be disqualified?
I was only a minute behind him? I tried to cure my disappointment
by using humor. -"Blame it on the Finn", I said out loud! It helped
for a while but I realized this incident could only be usefully
addressed and hopefully resolved with a constructive letter.
I strongly regret I jeopardized the rescue. I must have scared
the heck out of that Emergency personnel who was trying to stop
me. I was told that he literally had to jump off the trail to save
his life. I apologize for that, but people should be aware of how
fast Pro riders travel on the trails during a race. Would there
have been a strong enough visual sign to stop, I could have stopped
on a dime. It is for an apparent reason that they use colored flags
in auto car racing and many other sports.
I shouldn't also forget to apologize to the helicopter pilot who
was forced to repeat his landing procedure. It hit me hard when
I realized that just because I happened to be in the wrong place
at the wrong time, my presence could have made a difference in the
injured persons ability to recover. Unfortunately, I had no previous
helicopter safety knowledge.
A very important purpose of this letter is to start a conversation
about course safety. Some races are better equipped than others.
It seems like the Arizona State Championships Series that is arranged
by Event Promotions Inc. needs improvements. Thinking about the
race afterwards, I realized that there didn't seem to be any course
marshals throughout the course (not counting those located at the
start area). Considering a race loop is 8 miles long in the middle
of the desert it would seem reasonable to have one marshal every
mile or so, equipped with a radio. This would enable quicker and
more efficient communication and hence speed up the Emergency Rescue
process. The marshals could even be equipped with flags such as
a yellow one for slow down, and a red one for a complete stop. There
might not be rules such as these in NORBA but after this emergency
maybe it would be time for NORBA to reconsider their safety rules.
It is a big shame that incidents such as these can ruin the spirit
of a race. My brief experience with the Arizona State series has
otherwise been positive. I think the Promoters do a very good job
in creating a compelling atmosphere. Would it be for better safety
and better announcing, I would give the Promoters a very high grade.
But a lack of safety measures, such as mentioned in this letter,
is a tremendous minus.
What does it all come down to? Who is the real victim of this story.
Of course I would like to think it was me. But that would be completely
naive. Yes, I feel I was treated extremely unfairly. Yes, I could
have used the money to pay my late rent. Despite my financial difficulties,
I had told my friends that I had decided to send the injured rider
a portion of my check (this was before I realized I wasn't going
to stand on the podium). So what is the mature and responsible way
of thought?
It is to learn from the mistakes made at this race. It is to make
changes that will prevent instances like these to occur again. It
is to support the injured rider with whatever you as an individual,
or a team, are capable of doing.
In my own effort to support the injured rider, I would like to
apologize for unintentionally jeopardizing his rescue. I would like
to wish him a fast healing time and I hope to see him out on the
trails soon again.
To the Race promoters and NORBA officials I would like to request
a more constructive response regarding this incident. I would also
like to ask the officials to reconsider my disqualification. In
my opinion the disqualification decision was very arbitrary. I stayed
at the race site for about 20min until I headed for my warm-down
and to take a shower. My name was never announced until after I
had left. It was a great flaw that the NORBA officials didn't consult
my point of view. The decision must have relied strongly on the
frustrated Emergency personnel's opinions, since no promoter or
official was at the spot. It is beyond my understanding why the
winner wasn't disqualified but I was. The hand signals of the Emergency
personnel were difficult to interpret. He must have made some changes
in his behavior to stop the rest of the riders after two of us Pro
riders had managed to slide through. I don't blame the Emergency
personnel for this. His main skills are to save people and not run
a race. In my opinion there are too many unsupported reasons to
why I should have been disqualified. Therefore I would like to request
that my second place would be reinstated.
Sincerely,
Thomas Nordstrom
*******************************
The Officials Response in bold will follow
*******************************
Thomas,
Thanks for
your letter. By the way, this race was race #4.As
both the promoter and a NORBA Official (Susan
Bookspan was the Head Official at the race), I
will answer your letter piece by piece.
You quote
will be first and my response will follow, in case your computer
doesn't distinguish between bold and regular typeface.
Susan has
read and agrees with the following answer.
--------
The wind was
strongly blowing in my face. My bike was jumping up and down on
the trail. There was a helicopter somewhere close in the proximity,
but I didn't dare to move my sight off the narrow trail.The various
noises; wind, bike, helicopter, wouldn't have made it possible for
me to hear any human voices, should there have been some. I kept
my sight locked on the trail.Suddenly an Emergency personnel appeared
in front of me. He was standing in the middle of the trail and was
waving me to slow down with the same hand movement he had done on
the previous lap. I interpreted the up&down hands from shoulder
height to waist movement as to slow down. I slowed down my speed
so I felt comfortable in being able to stop or yield at any time.
Apparently my interpretation was wrong. After the awards presentation
I found out that the Emergency personnel had wanted me to bring
my bike to a complete stop. This was when I realized I had been
DISQUALIFIED! If only the Emergency personnel had been trained in
how to run a race. Or at least showed me a stronger sign to stop.
Two crossed hands would have done the deed. Or
even a static reached out hand like the police directing
traffic use. If only, I thought to myself!
You stated
that you knew there was a problem in that same area when you passed
by 30-40 minutes earlier so it was not a complete surprise to you
that they were there.
You also
knew a helicopter was very close and that a rescue imminent.
You seem
to skip a couple of other facts in this
retelling of the story.
1. As a Pro
rider you know very well that the NORBA
rule is that once complete results are posted,
riders are given 15 minutes to protest the results.
2. If, for
some unknown reason, you did not know there was to be a protest
period following the results posting, you should have
listened to BOTH Susan and myself when
we were doing the starting line announcements.
We BOTH stated
(as we always do) that it is the rider's personal responsibility
to check the
posted results during the protest period as
results are official afterwards.
3. We (I)
announced over the sound system (which covers hundreds of yards
of area with sound) repeatedly BEFORE the protest period for you
come to the announcing area to see Susan and myself.
4. You never
came forward to see us nor did you actually look at the posted results
or attend
the protest period. Your name was listed
as DQ on the results throughout this period until the award ceremony
started.
5. NORBA
and MBAA rules are very direct which
say you must check the results during the
protest period. After that time the results are
official.
The winner of the race somehow was able to pass by and not be disqualified?
I was only a minute behind him?
Thomas, let's
be serious about this. You say you were only a minute behind the
leader. The reports I had say about the same thing. One minute would
put you approx. 1/4 milebehind the leader. The rescue personnel
would have liked the chopper to have landed in an other area off
the trail (race course) but the pilot decided for whatever reason
to land on the course. I can not nor will not second guess the pilot
for
his decision.
All the rest
of the Pro field were stopped (approx. 6:30 minutes).
I strongly regret I jeopardized the rescue. I must have scared the
heck out of that Emergency personnel who was trying to stop me.
I was told that he literally had to jump off the trail to save his
life. I apologize for that, but people should be aware of how fast
Pro riders travel on the trails during a race. Would there have
been a strong enough visual sign to stop, I could have stopped on
a dime. It is for an apparent reason that they use colored flags
in auto car racing and many other sports.
I shouldn't
also forget to apologize to the helicopter pilot who was forced
to repeat his landing procedure. It hit me hard when I realized
that just because I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong
time, my presence could have made a difference in the injured persons
ability to recover. Unfortunately, I
had no previous helicopter safety knowledge.
We all appreciate
your apology and I will pass it on to the rescue personnel. Katchina
Rescue, which is made up of qualified EMT's and Paramedics have
been doing this for us for over 10 years now and are used not only
for our Series, but were used for Cactus Cup, mountain rescue events,
motorcycle races and other outside venue events that necessitate
outdoor rescues in difficult terrain. They
know how to proceed with a rescue and
stop either riders or vehicles.
Their "real"
job is to help rescue people 40+
hours a week.
A very important
purpose of this letter is to start a conversation about course safety.
Some races are better equipped than others. It seems like the Arizona
State Championships Series that is arranged by Event Promotions
Inc. needs improvements. Thinking about the race afterwards, I realized
that there didn't seem to be any course marshals throughout the
course (not counting those located at the start area). Considering
a race loop is 8 miles long in the middle of the desert it would
seem reasonable to have one marshal every mile or so, equipped with
a radio. This would enable quicker and more efficient communication
and hence speed up the Emergency Rescue process. The marshals could
even be equipped with flags such as a yellow one for slow down,
and a red one for a complete stop. There might not be rules such
as these in NORBA but after this
emergency maybe it would be time for NORBA to reconsider their safety
rules.
It is a big
shame that incidents such as these can ruin the spirit of a race.
My brief experience with the Arizona State series has otherwise
been positive.
I think the Promoters do a very good job
in creating a compelling atmosphere.
Would it be
for better safety and better announcing, I would give the Promoters
a very high grade. But
a lack of safety measures, such as mentioned in
this letter, is a tremendous minus.
You are correct that we have been promoting and producing these
events as well as producing other mountain bike events for 10 years.
NEVER had any riders ignored a rescue personnel's signal
to stop before.
It is time
for you to accept the responsibility of your actions. We have Katchina
Rescue personnel at all areas of the course that we feel could have
a significant possibility of injury (as that this location) and
they
are in radio contact with their headquarters as
well as CEP.
To the Race
promoters and NORBA officials I would like to request a more constructive
response regarding this incident. I would also like to ask the officials
to reconsider my disqualification. In my opinion the disqualification
decision was very arbitrary. I stayed
at the race site for about 20min until I headed for
my warm-down and to take a shower. My name was never announced
until after I had left. It was a great flaw that
the NORBA officials didn't consult my point of view.
The decision
must have relied strongly on the frustrated Emergency personnel's
opinions, since no promoter or official was at the spot. It is beyond
my understanding why the winner wasn't disqualified but I was. The
hand signals of the Emergency personnel were difficult to interpret.
He must have made some changes in his behavior to stop the rest
of the riders after two of us Pro riders had managed to slide through.
I don't blame the Emergency personnel for this. His main skills
are to save people and not run a race. In my opinion there are too
many unsupported reasons to why I should have been disqualified.
Therefore I would like to request that
my second place would be reinstated.
As I said
before, ignorance of the rules is not an excuse. There is no reason
whatsoever that you did not know that the results would be posted
and that you needed to be there in case of a scoring error or any
other reason to protest. Susan, the head NORBA Official announced
that to your wave at the start line and I, both as the promoter
and head timer, as well as another NORBA Official, announced the
above information to
ALL of the waves who started that weekend as
I always do.
The rescue
personnel did not return from the site of the injury until after
you had departed the area and before we had posted the results.
Again, as
I stated before, we discussed the situation with them and immediately
announced for you to meet with both Susan and myself at announcing.
We waited and continued announcing for you for at least 20 minutes
to no avail. We had no idea where you were and therefore started
the awards without speaking to you first. You didn't read the results
board at all as you did not come forward until after the Pro awards
were given out. The board clearly stated you were
DQ'ed from 2nd place and had stated that
for the entire protest period as well as afterward
thru the awards.
Your refusal
to heed the command of safety personnel combined with the risk you
put upon the helicopter personnel and the delay in landing the chopper
you forced by being in the way all combined to move us to agree
to DQ you from the results of the event and therefore the subsequent
loss of placement and purse. Your actions could have resulted in
tragedy. The delay you forced could have made the difference in
life or death as well as possible injury to yourself if the pilot
had not seen you at the last moment and aborted his landing procedure.
You helped perpetuate the wrong impression to outside agencies that
mountain bike riders don't care about anyone or anything
except themselves.
Therefore,
the decision of your disqualification stands.
Jason Kornetsky
CEP Head of Timing and Scoring
NORBA Official
in conjunction
with ,
Susan Bookspan
NORBA Head Official
*******************************
My
final thoughts and response to the
Officials
below
*******************************
Jason,
My response will be very short since your tone doesn't seem to have
changed since I talked to you after the awards. I was hoping to
get a more constructive response from you. Clearly my disqualification
was not the only reason to why I decided to write a letter. I think
it is a shame that you don't touch upon the safety inquiries at
all.
I also think that it is a tremendous shame that you seem to be completely
content with the Race Organization as it is. In my opinion, change
is the only thing that should remain constant. It was also saddening
that you ended your response the way you did. By saying that I have
only perpetuated to outside agencies that mountainbikers only care
about anyone or anything except for themselves, you state that you
in the first place don't think mountain bikers are very considerate
individuals. I have to disagree with you. In my many years of mountainbiking
and worldwide travelling, I have only found mountain bikers to be
very considerate and responsible. For instance, the College Cycling
Team(Lindsey Wilson College) that I attended on a mountain biking
scholarship, had the best of reputation for it's Sportsmanship and
good Citizenship.
If this is how you feel about mountainbikers and the growth of the
sport maybe you should consider changing field?
From now on I will be more careful as to knowing the exact NORBA
rules and following them. I don't have a NORBA membership since
I have a foreign citizenship but I have inquired about the complete
NORBA rulebook. I have understood that it should be fully available
on NORBA's website in 2-3 weeks. I clearly understand that it was
a big mistake of me to leave until I had seen the results. You stated
that both of you and Susan did announce the rules. That is true
and it was a neglect of my part not to listen. I lost the interest
when you had lost the current standing of the top 5 pros for the
start line up. That was one of my point as to the announcing. Please
try to be more careful about getting the right information out.
The top 5 people would have earned to be called up by their own
name. I would also welcome future announcing, that states riders
names as they pass to go on a new lap. I think it would be much
more interesting for the spectators to follow the race. My friend's
wife was attending her first race as a spectator and did not know
at all what was going on. She actually said that she was happy I
happened to slip by the helicopter. They would have been worried
to death otherwise. It would have been great if you would have announced
the situation so that everyone wouldn't have had been scared of
their loved ones.
I have one more suggestion to make. This regards the court marshall
increase on the race court. I got the idea that perhaps the Race
Organizers could contact a local bike team for each race and ask
them to marshall in return for a few free race entry fees? In my
opinion, common sense and knowledge about the sport would go a long
ways for the court marshalls . This should also be more cost effective
than hiring people specifically for a task.
I also thought that your letter didn't understand the point of a
racer at all. How is your mountain biking going by the way? When
did you ride last yourself?
In regards to the disqualification I have one more request. The
official results seems to be posted online now. In both the unofficial
results (posted earlier) and the now posted official results it
doesn't state that I was disqualified. Would you please change this
error? Thomas Nordstrom does not DNF. Thank you!
I would also like to know if you have talked to the injured person
about releasing his contact information. I would still like to send
him a card.
Sincerely,
Thomas Nordstrom
P.S Thank you so much for correcting me on my misstake as to name
the right number for the race! You're right, it was #4, Muy importante!
Conclusion
and final letter to the race Organizers, April 4th 2002
Dear
Jason and everyone else that has been involved in this matter,
I would like to take a brief time to correct myself and some misunderstandings.
First of all I would like to apologize for the slightly undertone
response letter I send out recently. I did receive a phonecall from
Jason Kornetsky on Saturday evening and we managed to solve our
differences of thought.
It
appeared that some of the negative comprehensions derived from cultural
differences. On my own part I really took offense about what Jason
said about how mountainbikers seem to have a bad reputation within
outside agencies from the very beginning. I comprehended the word
" perpetuate" as a negative, since my own opinion about cyclist
in general is extremely good. I didn't consider the fact that it
is true that cyclist aren't very respected by many other groups
of people in the USA. In fact I have a single and very bad experience
myself with a person severely suffering from "Bike hatred". I met
this person when I got hit by a car in Flagstafff in 1997.
It
is unfortunate that the public (generalization) in many cases don't
think well about cyclists (and dare I say pedestrians). That is
not the case in Finland and therefore the misinterpretation on my
part. In Finland people are very respected for opting to use another
means of transportation than a motorized vehicle . People in cars
and other motorized vehicles take cyclist and pedestrians in consideration
very much more then they do in the USA. Non-motorized traffic users
are also taken in much better consideration at the urban planning
stage. This means less aggravation in the very beginning when everyone
has their own safe zone to travel on.
I
wish that things will change towards a more positive way in this
country. Obviously the resources are there. Great climate, a thriving
bicycle industry, financial stability, and people who CAN change
this unfortunate interpretation about bicyclists.
I
have taken my own initiative in trying to change the relationship
between cyclists and "outside agencies". Some friends of mine and
myself are starting a Cycling Association in Flagstaff. It's motto
is to increase bicycling awareness in every form. The Association
is still under construction and we will have a website up within
the next week at the URL address: http://www.flagstaffbiking.org.
If you have any opinions or recommendations about the Association
please contact us.
I
also talked with Jason about the possibility of trying to increase
the numbers of volunteers at the MBAA races. I plan to volunteer
myself at the race in Flagstaff.
If
you have any questions or comments please get in touch with me by
e-mail or phone. Thank you very much!
Happy
and safe riding!
Thomas
Unofficial
Results in Text format
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