BRANDON Conway’s third Blayney 2 Bathurst cycling race is certainly one he’ll remember.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Conway ended up in a thorn bush four metres below the road last weekend after a crash on a bridge sent him hurtling over the barriers.
“The crash stopped the bike, but I went over the side of the bridge,” Conway said.
Conway fell off just outside Barry as a group of riders tried to squeeze their way across a one-lane bridge following a 90-degree left-hand corner.
Unfortunately there wasn’t much room for the Port Macquarie cyclist to move as he found himself in the middle of the pack.
“It was crazy because you see a flash and you think ‘this is going to hurt a bit’,” he said.
“I ended up doing a front flip with a bit of a twist and fell down into the bushes below.
“The thorn bush I landed in was soft enough to take all the impact of my landing, but it was pretty sharp and slashed all these cuts into me so I spilled some blood.”
Luckily, the crash wasn’t enough to put him out of the race entirely.
He dragged himself back onto his bike and finished the course in 83rd position, 13 minutes behind the winner with the help of teammates Will Pender and Andrew Fell.
The crash stopped the bike, but I went over the side of the bridge.
- Port Macquarie cyclist Brandon Conway
“They’re the ones who helped me out of that thorn bush because the harder you pull against them the more they cut you,” he said.
“They got me out of there and then we pretty much rode straight back to Bathurst and finished the race.”
The teenager said he had been involved in numerous crashes throughout his career although this was his first since last year.
“I haven’t crashed in a long time; my last crash was at an Oceania event last year, so I’ve been staying upright pretty well,” he said.
The 19-year-old said he never thought of giving up and not completing the race.
I’m just slashed up a bit, but there’s nothing broken and nothing really hurts.
- Brandon Conway
“I just wanted to finish the race and I wanted to achieve something just by finishing with all of these cuts and bruises and stuff,” he said.
“I’m just slashed up a bit, but there’s nothing broken and nothing really hurts.”
The crash at Bathurst proved that in sport nothing is given – Conway won the under-23 road championship state title just over two weeks ago.
He now turns his attention to the Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic on May 12.
