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Who is this high flyer, and what happened?

By now, most of you have seen this infamous barrier crash video, taken during the Singlespeed Shoot Out at StarCrossed 2011. Joey Mullan, one of our helpers here at Cyclocross Magazine, is, as you may know, the Joey from the video. We wanted to hear from the horse’s mouth that Joey was, in fact, OK (as the Twitter hashtag has been asking all day). So check out the video if you haven’t already, and then read Joey’s version of events.

by Joey Mullan

There have been a lot of questions asked and many things assumed about my “incident.” Allow me to set the record straight. My name is Joey Mullan, and I crashed on my bike. As for the intensity of the crash, wow! I have raced singlespeed cyclocross for the past three seasons, this being my fourth. I don’t consider myself a roadie, a mountain biker or a BMX kid. I do it all, but I consider myself a cyclocrosser, 100%.

Joey hit the ground hard, but he's OK! © Craig Fowler

So the story goes like this:

The event was the Single Speed Shoot Out at StarCrossed, presented by MFG, and up for grabs was a huge cash prize. I was stoked because, hey, I am a pretty fast racer and short track racing is a forte I pride myself on. It was the first heat in the third group, eight people are lined up clipped in, with people holding the saddles of our bikes so everyone could get the best start possible. My holder was Ben Storrar, third place Cat 3 champion of that day from Old Town Bicycle. We had to start on “go” and I went hard; within seconds, I got the holeshot and then it was into the first full 180 corner. (This is where you can watch the video if you haven’t already, and see what happened.)

As I was quoted by Byron Dl from bikehugger.com (see Byron’s photos), “I went into the barriers like regular, fast and ready to make a quick touch down then back on the bike. It was different though, having just a solo barrier, and I didn’t anticipate it and I reacted too late. As for the fall, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t as explosive as the video shows it, but that was just my perspective, not what was captured.”

I landed square on my sacrum and it literally shocked my body. You can see me try to roll up and get back on my feet then collapse back onto the ground. That’s when I started to writhe around. Paramedics were called in over the loudspeaker and then the questions starting rolling in. My name, where I’m at, etc. They told me to stay down and they were getting a backboard. My response: “I’ve been hurt before, but I can walk away from this.” I got up and just walked away … after checking the true-ness of my wheels on my bike of course. I love my bike, and had to inspect her too. My dad, who was around for all the days events, helped me back to the car.

It’s a big pill to swallow, I tell people, as this story is being posted everywhere. You get people who critique your riding style, those who ask about your well being, and those who cheer for you in something like this. You know what I think? I think this is awesome! I messed up, but at least people know who Joey Mullan is.

We’re also glad Joey is OK, since he’s a huge part of the crew that makes Cyclocross Magazine possible.

And rest be assured, Joey wasn’t the only one to come into the barriers so hot. Here’s a helmet cam perspective of someone else doing the exact same thing, albeit with less flight: