I understand that there’s an innate urge to drive into inflatable things you may see on the road: those wavy-arm tube guys, giant inflatable animals, and so on, but, generally, it’s best avoided. Sometimes, though, those smug inflatables get what’s coming to them, like what happened to the finish line of the 2018 Women’s Tour Down Under cycling race in Australia.
First, I want to mention that nobody was hurt and the finish line was re-erected with minimal difficulty, so you can enjoy this with a clear conscience:
Oops.
The truck was part of traffic that was being moved through that section of the road/race course just before the end of the opening stage of the race. You really can’t blame the truck driver too much, since the height of his load of hay bales was likely based to allow for clearance of permanent structures like bridges and overpasses, not temporary structures like cycling race inflatable finish-line gantries.
The inflatable finish line was dragged down the road a bit, and looked pretty pathetic after the incident:
Luckily, inflatable things can absorb all kinds of abuse! Just ask the dolphin-shaped pool toy that served as my high school girlfriend.
On second thought, don’t do that.
The finish line was back in place by the time Annette Edmondson, an Australian cyclist, crossed the finish to win the opening stage.
(Thanks, Nolan!)