The Red Hook Crit - a fiercely competitive fixed gear bike race - took place in Brooklyn last night.
The early moments saw absolute chaos as the lead-out motorbike stalled during the narrow opening stages of the race.
Riders had just set out when the bike found itself unable to move, smack bang in the middle of the narrow road. As it's a fixed gear race, bikes do not have brakes which further exacerbated the chaos.
Riders at the head of the group had a bit of room to manoeuvre and so were able to avoid the bike, those who came after had no chance.
It was a pile-up of epic proportions.
So this happened at the bicycle race in Brooklyn tonight when the motorpace motorcycle stalled... pic.twitter.com/vrOrFbmrhV
— Aaron Stewart-Ahn (@somebadideas) May 1, 2016
Seven riders were taken to hospital with injuries. The race also required two restarts before getting underway.
EMS: 7 Red Hook Crit racers taken by ambulance to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
— daniel mcmahon (@cyclingreporter) May 1, 2016
This was the view from one of the bikes involved in the crash.
