Head over handlebars: a brief history of Beer Bike accidents
In the first heat of the women’s race in this year’s Beer Bike, Melissa Geng said she was biking faster than she ever had, adrenaline pumping through her veins. All was going well, until she crashed into the fence of the alumni viewing area at the turn of her second lap.
“I had the biggest bruise I’ve ever seen on my right leg, as well as abrasions here and there,” wrote Geng, a McMurtry College sophomore, in an email to the Thresher. “Thankfully, nothing [was] broken, and I’m doing OK now.”
Before the day was cut short by weather concerns, viewers saw two separate accidents in the first undergraduate heat. However, crashes like these are nothing new.
Since its founding in 1957, Beer Bike has brought Rice students together in a mix of racing, revelry and rivalry. Not only have the races fueled college pride, they’ve also left a trail of accidents and injuries, shaping the competition’s traditions and safety measures over the decades.
In the 1960s, the race took place on the Inner Loop, where bikers navigated sharp turns by Wiess College and the tennis courts. According to an April 2000 issue of the Thresher, falls were common on this difficult corner, which led organizers to move the race to the stadium parking lot in 1968.
The new oval-shaped track still had one section that turned into a right angle, which a May 1968 issue of the Thresher described as “for the entertainment of those who enjoy thrills and spills.” After a crash in the first race on the new track, the 90-degree turn never returned.
In other races in the 1970s and 1980s, bikers fought through pain to finish. An April 1973 edition of the Thresher highlighted Gary Mee ’74, a Will Rice College biker who suffered several cuts and scrapes on his arm and knees in a crash. Mee finished the lap despite his wobbly knees and managed a 2.3-second beer chug afterward.
In the 1985 race, Randall Terrell ’86, another Will Rice biker, clipped a rider’s back tire while drafting close behind. He said he was preparing to pass the two bikers ahead when he crashed.
“My bike went flying six or eight feet in the air, and I was down and skidding,” Terrell said. “The guy behind me managed to jump his bike over me as I’m lying on the ground, and he kept racing.”
The crash left Terrell with open wounds over the left side of his body.
Other accidents were caused by equipment failures, like in 1993, when a tire on Jonathan Gunn ‘94’s bike popped as he went around a turn.
“It sounded like a gunshot went off,” said Gunn, a Hanszen College biker. “I went straight down and had immense amounts of road rash.”
Renee Wrysinski, the logistics manager at Rice Bikes, said all bikes in the undergraduate student races must now pass a safety certification by Rice Bikes before competing.
“While we inspect all parts of the bike, we place the highest priority on their ability to shift and brake safely, as these are the aspects that are most critical for preventing crashes during a race,” wrote Wrysinski, a Duncan College junior, in an email to the Thresher.
One accident escalated because the race continued after a crash. A March 2004 issue of the Thresher recounted the aftermath of a Hanszen biker crashing into the area where pit crew members wait to stop bikers at the finish line and losing consciousness. As the injured biker remained on the ground, the race went on. A biker also collided with an EMT, bruising the worker and complicating treatment.
After the incident, race rules were updated to require a pause if an injured biker cannot leave the track on their own.
In 2022, Lauren Hurt ’24, a Sid Richardson College biker, suffered a concussion and severe facial injuries in a crash with two other bikers. Hurt said the track was repaved days before the race, leaving it slick and unsafe.
“If it was bad enough that you couldn't perform [biker] certifications on the track two days beforehand, why would you have a big race there?” said Hurt, now a graduate student at Rice.
Since Hurt’s crash, organizers have made several changes: splitting the races into two heats, renovating the track and requiring bikers to log at least five hours of track practice.
“I think the reforms are good, but if we're going to prevent significant harm from coming to students, we need to make the riders more aware of the risks beforehand,” Hurt said. “I love the culture of Beer Bike, but sometimes the danger of the race gets buried under the fun.”
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