Bike Throws, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

For some reason on my ride to work this morning I started thinking about people throwing really expensive bikes. I'm not really sure what prompted this, but it made me laugh. I started out thinking about Dave Millar tossing his bike in the Giro when his chain snapped. That made me remember Norman Stadler's meltdown after a flat tire at Kona a few years ago. Then I sort of wondered just how pissed I'd have to be in a bike race to actually throw my bike. The answer I came up with was pretty immeasurable because unlike both of these guys, I don't have Felt and Kuota on speed dial to ship me a new one. I got distracted earlier and wrote the stupid rant that is directly below this one. Instead, this is what I should have concentrated my efforts on. Here's the videos with a bit more explanation.

This was in the Giro a few years ago and David Millar was still hunting for a personal win to show everybody he could win clean. I really like Millar regardless of the irony of his anti-doping pilgrimage. He's in the front group and the winner is clearly coming out of this group. He said repeatedly he had good legs and was absolutely sure he was going to win. You know, they always say that. But, if you're in that position and your chain snaps with 1km to go, I'm pretty sure tossing the bike is justified.



While the bike toss in the next clip isn't actually captured, the meltdown from his inability to change a flat is hilarious! The situation is a bit different. Norman Stadler's entire strategy revolves around mounting a huge lead on the bike because he can't really run. You'd think that the possibility of a flat during a 112 mile ride is high enough that he'd have figured out how to take care of this before the big day. I've seen plenty of Ironman videos to know that other people have fixed flats and gone on to win. "ZEE TYRE!"



The term "bike throw" is actually used all the time in cycling. It's an action taken by sprinters that are close to each other and so they "throw" their bike at the line to try and get there before the other guy. I've always wondered if this is really effective but enough people do it, so it must be.

Here's a properly executed bike throw. It's actually a great example as these Cavendish and Husholvd are joking around, (It's the top of Mt. Ventoux and the winners have already showered by the time these two guys "sprint" for the line.) going slow and both of them actually throw their bikes at the line. It's quick, so pay attention:



And then there's this little gem I saw the other day. This is not a properly executed bike throw:



And, to answer his question, yes, there's nothing in the rules that say you actually have to cross the finish line on your bike. You both just have to cross the line. Tough win!