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    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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    44 Comments

    1. Claude Schweizer on

      so lookking forward to oneday finally buy one of ur purple/blue/green sweaters or hoodies of ur prayforspeed series. love it and it's so nostalgic for me allready. don't take it off ur shop!:)

    5. Steve Varga on

      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.

    6. Road Thrill Cycling on

      Hard to watch 🫣 Hope he wasn't in too bad of a shape… From the outside it looks like the radius of the curve he tried to force the bike into was just too much for the speed he was at. I've been close before and I had to decide between pulling too harsh of a curve through a combination of braking and steering (potentially slipping like he did) or run a larger radius and hope for the best. Every time I decided for the latter and was lucky but so close, except once. Almost exited the road towards the other side. However that one time I did, drove into a ditch and flew over the handle bars. Luckily at 30kph only, nothing happened except my front wheel was toast.

    9. Glenn on

      epic descent – why we ride – that hairpin was BITING HARD right with an unnatural kink at the apex – he hit it too hot and the line he was following was too straight over an exaggerated right elbow hooker – you could see it coming – so not surprised – he likely took that line anticipating the oncoming traffic as well – when you are on your bike it NEVER looks or feels "scary" – the GoPro footage makes it look WORSE than it is – passing cars on the hairpin is sort of Russian Roulette – I would not recommend that – why risk it ? – you will make that pass 99/100 without incident but let's say you wash like that WITH a car there – the driver will NOT see you and likely drive OVER you – sure it makes great video but you have to ride for another day not die for the Likes on a video – you can see how VULNERABLE that guy was when he went down WITH a car approaching – sprawled in the WRONG lane – that oncoming car would have likely – possibly – killed him – so sometimes you have to suck up a little bit of the adrenaline rush to be SAFE – this is not the TdF and while I appreciate it is YOUR life – take a second to THINK about the driver who drives over you – you are NOT the only VICTIM – RIDE SAFE(R) should always be fore front in your mind even though you will take a thousand risks on ANY descent

    15. Roberto01GM on

      I like your videos, but too much traffic, motorbikes parked on pull offs, people on side of road, few of them expecting this rate of speed from a cyclist, to descend like this. Glad you got up fine, but there could be someone's mum crossing the road to snap a selfie. Better to do these at a far less busy time (or on a closed road) because you put pedestrians at danger, not just yourself.

    17. Aaron Wilson on

      Glad he was ok. Love the praying hands sticker eh? Man that angle really shows how much you have to handle that bike at those speeds with the imperfections in those roads.

    20. Peter C on

      "I don't know what happened,.." That there, my friends, is a cry call of someone who is eventually destined for even worse outcomes. I fell sorry for the innocent bystanders that will get hurt one day.

    22. drop baran on

      I’m so frustrated falling like that by now that I strongly prefer 40+ mm slicks over any 28 mm-ish road tyres for descending. They let you be much more confident in corners with wet or bad asphalt, off-camber, winding-up curvature, etc. Luckily, there are now fast compound rubbers with progressive widths

    25. Max Mustermann on

      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.

    31. CycoWarriorx on

      The mere fact that as soon as the video starts my own adrenaline is already ramping up… 😬… even overcooking that turn, this was still an amazing descent… I hope he’s ok… 🙌🏽

    33. Timothy Skattum on

      I’m so sorry Taylor.
      We didn’t get to the moon without a few giant steps before that final big one though.
      It’s all part of the experience that keeps us humble.
      Love this you guys!!!

    38. Robert Lee on

      The lack of adequate superelevation, sight distance, and posted speed limts make this road quiet dangerous to be traveling at 50+ MPH. I used to ride my bike with my teammates when I was young. Over 50 MPH is plenty fast on a bike. Stay safe and healthy.

    39. Winston on

      never touch the brakes on a bend and secondly if there’s no oncoming traffic take it as wide as possible that being said I had a similar fall when I was just starting now I’ve learnt my lesson

    44. Gerald Guevara on

      I played it at 0.25 speed. You did a pedal strike because you put your right foot down during that turn. I think you instinctively wanted to put down more power. If you kept you're right foot up, you'd probably make it.

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