Originally Posted by
gsteinb
how the heck did you do that?
The shop owner was in the race with me, and we get a team deal with Felt.
Originally Posted by
shovelhd
I'm not a big AR fan, but you definitely picked a great brand.
I've heard great things about the 2014 AR, so I decided to give it a shot.
Originally Posted by
Silvercivic27
Should have bought a second bike instead of a bunch of cameras.
Probably, but then you wouldn't have seen my impressive bike handling skills.
Originally Posted by
therhodeo
I'm guessing a sprint speed of at least 40mph.
Wish I could hit 40mph without help. My fastest sprint on a flat with no wind was 37mph. Typically it's around 34-35mph.
Originally Posted by
EventServices
A little late in the game to mention this, but that never stopped me before:
Was that really the shape of the course, or were you just being funny?
Yes.
Originally Posted by
fiataccompli
My very first race (after years of riding with the last several being riding with the local racing crowd on a lot of their training rides..so quite used to group riding, dynamics, cornering, etc.) was a local series Cat4/5 crit race. On the last lap, I was sure I was poising myself for an impressive jump to the finish sprint as I went into a corner & was promptly taken out when the rider in front of me went down (taking me & another rider out). apparently the sound of my carbon bar cracking resonated through the park where the race was held and my 14 year old son came over in short order ready to kick someone's butt for taking his dad out of the race (others, I'm told were sickened by what they thought was the resonance of a broken bone across the park). I had to spend a bit of time convincing him that my (not "the") crash was my own fault and it was an inherent risk of racing. I knew the guy I was drafting was leaning his bike too much in the corners, but he had the line and his draft was where I thought I needed to be at that point so I took the risk. In that case, I lost. I came back the next week and snagged a 2 or 3 finish, complete with ugly & bloody knees and a big grin on my face. Later, the guy who wrecked did apologize and actually told me he thought I was really mad about it. I told him not to think about it again (but not to corner like you're on a motorcycle either) and since then we've become good friends and teammates. None of that's to say it didn't suck. Sorry to hear the OPs experience was more unpleasant.
When it comes down to it, I'm solely responsible for protecting myself in a bike race. A bicycle can be replaced, and road rash will heal. If I learned how to avoid a similar situation in the future, that was a reasonable price to pay.