zitter

got into a break of 5 in a road race on the first lap of 6. 66 miles and 6000 feet of climbing. hung in the break until the last 4 miles, took 5th after getting dropped just before the final climb. never been so happy with a road race result.

another was my first A's road race. first time i felt like i was in a real race. real attacks and counter attacks and brutal pace, not just *****footing around waiting for the sprint. felt so cool moving within the pack and attacking/following moves.

most memorable experiences were collegiate nationals rr and crit, first time in a fields over 150 and proish level racing. was pretty crazy at first seeing the field strung out and people 2 corners ahead and people still in the corners behind me

MDcatV

i raced with gsteinb once. neither of us won.

Jandro 

He didn't specify if it meant a personal win or not

In case he did mean no winning for anyone mine was:

Got 5th in one of my first road races. I was in the chase group and there was an uphill finish. I was 5 wheels back when the climb started and everyone just blew up around me. We're talking 50% reduction in speed in just a couple seconds. I was able to dodge through the carnage and drop all of them. I looked back once, saw no one was there and proceeded to gut myself trying to chase the wheel in 4th place who was 150m up the road. I almost caught him. When I crossed the line I had absolutely nothing left. I've never been that empty after a race before. It was all I could do to pedal past the finish, find a ditch and lay down in it for a while.

gsteinb

The most rewarding thing I've done in a race that didn't involve winning was telling a mouthy kid I had shoes older than him.

gsteinb

Thanks for bringing up such a dark day.

waterrockets 

Racing with a nat'l road champion ("College," if you've heard of him). Well, you know he's freaking marked, and has a few tactics to deal with it. One tactic is that he berates people to get them to work, and he's surprisingly successful with it, which is a mystery to me. Anyway, one crit, I would not get off his wheel. My plan was to shadow him off the front, and once we had a gap established, I'd pitch in -- carefully though, as he's always been a lot stronger than me.

So he takes a couple flyers without real commitment, pulls out, and wags his elbow. We don't have a gap worth considering, so he's just trying to burn me off. Finally he turns around and yells at me "You can't f-ing wheelsuck all day!"

"Watch me."

That pissed him off and he lit a roman candle sized match. When the rage stopped, we were 40s up on the pack and he wagged his elbow.

I pulled through

therhodeo

Well played. Reminds me alot of the way I pitched back in the day. Them super pissed off. Me super sh**ty grin.

Creakyknees

Winnar.

Creakyknees

Sometimes I like to try to blow up a field, especially in the weeknight crits. Surprising to me that my self-assessment of my form has little to do with whether I succeed in causing carnage. Obviously, crosswinds help and even a couple riders trading pulls help. But there are many times when this was my race report and I was happy about it.



Last year, Hotter n Hell 40+ RR, I got my teammie into the break (he didn't win so I can mention that here), got dropped as a result of my effort, clawed back on, later got dropped after doing too much work covering counter moves, found a couple guys and clawed back into contact, then in the finale go dropped yet another time, cramping, but managed to claw back and finish high in the remnants of the field. Stlll proud of that one but I ain't ever doing that race again.

therhodeo

Always my favorite thing to do in our semi-competitive group rides. Especially since we had quite a few non-pullers who liked to sprint for the city limit sprint. I'm perfectly fine with blowing myself up to see someone else OTB.

Cleave

Riding on George Mount's wheel going over the Throgs Neck Bridge during the first Apple Lap (1978?) and finishing the race (75 miles) in something like 2:50.

Oops, George won that race.

waterrockets 

Another time, at the Driveway, teammate gets off in a break of 5. One of his break mates is strong, but hasn't won a race. Teammate also hasn't won a race, and both were due. The others were randoms/middling racers.

Back in the pack, we have the series leader, and current TX elite state TT champ, EB. He attacks to chase and I sit on him. A couple weeks earlier, I went 1-2 with my teammate against this guy, from a break of 4, so he doesn't like me in his breaks, especially wheelsucking. One of his teammates is up in the break.

EB starts feeding me BS. "I saw your teammate fall off the pace around that bend up ahead" (we could barely see them occasionally). "Looks like he's out of the race if you don't help him." "My guy just attacked up there before the turn -- dropped the others."

I said, "ok, so why are you still pulling?" A few minutes later, his teammate rides backwards through our chase group. My teammate and the other strong guy were still up there working together.

EB knew he had no chance if I was with him and not working, so he brought us back to the pack. The break stayed away. He got 4th behind me though

Racer Ex 

USADA's heard of him.

MDcatV

touche

dnuzzomueller

Going OTF on lap 2 of a Crit, staying out for 32 laps, getting pulled back only after taking 6 primes, the lion's share of the cash for the entire race, and the fact that the race officials let other rides join the race late. Made my day.

waterrockets 

ZING!



Which brings me to another rewarding thing that may or may not have had anything to do with winning:
Being on a team that will lay down a pair of Cat 1 leadership (one of whom may be RX) to race for a pair of Cat 3s in a Masters race, with devastating results. There was a hell of a lot of orange in the top ten that day.

botto 

racing with CDR and another friend.

https://www.myshavedlegs.com/2010/08/...all-river.html

waterrockets 

carpediemracing 

Ha I forgot about that.

I won't mention you cramping up and hobbling around at the restaurant afterward. Oh, wait, I just did.

Jandro 

Been awhile since I read that. It was just as good the second time around.

clones2

Once I decided I was going to be a cyclist...I took 6 weeks to train for my first race which was a Cat 5 crit - 30 minutes long. I make sure to give a strong effort the first 2 laps and settle in to 8th place... 4-5 laps go by and I am fighting, scratching, and giving it everything just to hold the wheel in front of me. I look back halfway through the race and realize the 8 of us were off the front in a field of almost 40. I keep fighting the next several laps and am just ecstatic that Im going to start racing with a Top 10 finish... my legs and heart are burning and they ring the bell for the final lap. I see my wife in the crowd and she's smiling, shaking her head...like, surprised and not surprised at the same time that I've done so well my first time out.

Once the bell goes... I say "f" it. I have nothing for the sprint at this point... but I figure if I try an attack, maybe I'll catch a couple guys sleeping. I make a break for it right before the main finish line crowd. I give it 110% to attack, get off the front and everyone with the cowbells including the announcer goes nuts! :-) I had a gap of about 20 yards...got caught halfway on the last lap, and finished 6th.

I've finished better since then...but that's been the best day I've ever had on the bike.

tetonrider

Peeing off the bike the first time during a race. Very satisfying.

Racer Ex 

Finishing ahead of Pharmstrong in not one but two TT's. Yeah, I had a head start, but not that much and he never passed me. And now I can bump myself up a spot in the overall.

Just getting to race with the big boys is always cool...over the years I've raced with several Olympians, some Tour/Giro/Vuelta riders, and a bunch of pros. One of the neat things about being a master in this sport is it's not like some fantasy camp where Gaylord Perry tosses you a 30 MPH pitch to hit. These guys are still ferocious.

And I got to do NRC P/1 races in my late 40's.

But probably the most rewarding race I did is a "win" story. But a bigger win than just finishing first.

My track nats title came in a team event. One of my teammates was a hugely successful track guy then went through the wringer with some personal problems and a horrific bout of cancer, at one point spending nearly a month in ICU. This was going to be his first Nats since getting well. His original planned team came apart when one of the guys bailed on him thinking he wasn't going to be fit or fast enough. He asked me to ride with him knowing I didn't know my ass from a tea kettle. He taught me a lot about the event and track racing in general over the next couple of months. I like to win and everything, but I really wanted to repay him for his help and trust and didn't want to let him down.

Race day came and we rode a perfect race and beat the ex-teammates hand picked squad. It was one of those moments that transcended the "it's just a stupid bike race" norm. Pretty emotional for my friend, and I felt lucky to share that moment with him.

carpediemracing 

I forgot about these, but they involve some heavy losing:

https://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...kermesses.html

https://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...kermesses.html

MDcatV

you just won this thread.

to echo what Ex wrote above regarding racing against big boys being cool, for me, that's probably the neatest thing I've done in bike racing. I'm not a prolific winner. An honest assessment of myself is that i'm a pack fodder cat 2 who is in his 40s, and is probably more suited for masters racing than elite races. But, i've been in races that have had guys who currently ride for the trek development team, team sky, radioshack, garmin, others who have raced in the olympics , and more who have raced domestic pro. I've never made it to Cat 1, but have raced in (and finished) events that were formerly on the NRC and still have good payouts so the domestic pro teams will send good squads in an effort to add $$ to the season kitty - including one where i got a photo of myself in cyclingnews (even if it is just my ass. ha, ha).