Cyclist crashes and avoids 30-foot drop by hanging on to bridge for dear life

A crash during Saturday’s Santa Barbara Road Race almost left one cyclist tumbling off a bridge. In the race’s sprint finish, one racer fell to the ground, causing a domino effect of other racers to tumble with him. One of the racers, Mike Allec, was riding too close to the side of the bridge, and when he made contact with the downed riders, his body rolled onto the barrier. He eventually caught himself hanging on the side, while his bike flew and fell 30 feet below him.

Here’s what Allec’s team had to say about the incident on Facebook:

This weekend at the Santa Barbara Road Race our team rider and manager Mike Allec was involved in a spectacular crash in the final sprint that left him hanging off of a bridge above a ravine (30ft below). We are very thankful for the outpouring support from many who were there and more importantly those that helped him off of the bridge.

Words cannot express the gratitude for him being able to walk away from this with road rash, this could have ended much much worse.

Thank you Peter Aquino for the video and to all of the personnel on site including local emergency crews.

And here’s where Allec’s bike landed, which shows just how bad things could have gone for him:

(via Deadspin)