Motorcycle Stalls in Brooklyn Bicycle Race, Ends in Heinous Pileup

They always say "don't bring a knife to a gun fight," but they rarely say "don't bring a gun to a knife fight." Well that's exactly what happened last night at the 30k Red Hook Crit bicycle race finals as a pace motorcycle (the gun here) stalled in a particularly tight corridor, causing a bottleneck that eventually ended in a vicious-looking bicycle (knife) pileup.

The whole dramatic incident happened right at the beginning of the race, as the 85 fixie riders started to build a head of steam around a corner. Some managed able to dodge the pace motorcycle, but it only took one fuck up to turn over the rest of the batch. Brutal looking stuff. Cycling reporter Daniel McMahon reported that seven riders were taken to the hospital for treatment.

Here's a perspective from a bike that caught the tail end of the crash:

With all the recent controversy about putting small motors in racing bicycles, there's a bit of a flaw: getting motors to work in the first place. Seems like the old fashioned pedal-route is most reliable.

[h/t Deadspin]