Originally Posted by TimJ
So can I expand my question a bit? Re: the pit. If you flat, or bust something, is it worth the bother to run to the pit and get new wheels, for example, or is the race pretty much lost for you? It seems like if you were a ways away from the pit and so had to run... I dunno, a 1/2 mile of course to get there, so much time would pass it'd probably be pointless.
It's definitely worth it. You paid to race so you may as well race. Plus if you are neck and neck with some one you never know what kind of bad luck they are going to run into either. So you run to the pit and get set up loose a lot of ground but then he may flat or crash too. Having a pit bike of course is the better set up. In that case you may for example crush a deraillure but still manage to pedal into the pit.
At nationals last year I saw a pro racer twist his bars down on the first 1/2 lap and go into the pit for a bike change and he hardly lost a placing. I was working the pit for a friend at the time and when you have mechanics you can actually hand off a bike in full motion such that the rider does a quick mount and dismount in the pit and pops back into the field as he exits the pit.