"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Was crashed twice tonight

In the weekly ride at PIR tonight, one guy ran into me twice. Not intentional by any means, but the guy couldn't hold his line. First time was on the first lap. He ran into me and I went off the course. Foot came out of the pedal but I didn't go down. Then on the second lap there was a wreck on the front stretch that I think he overlapped wheels with somebody and a few people went down. Then on the 3rd lap I thought I was clear of him and out of the corner of my eye I saw somebody makingthat I avoided bee line towards me. Off the course I went and over the bars I went. Somehow I pulled my tricep but other than that the bike and I made it out OK.

I'd be a little put out by a rider like that! :mad:

Did you say anything to him? I would have said something to him after the 2nd crash. I would also make damn sure I rode in front of him from now on.

It's a tough call cause you don;t want to discourage people from coming out and racing but people need to know how to handle a bike and be comfortable in big packs. A sketchy rider puts a lot of people in danger

Did you say anything to him? I would have said something to him after the 2nd crash. I would also make damn sure I rode in front of him from now on.

It's a tough call cause you don;t want to discourage people from coming out and racing but people need to know how to handle a bike and be comfortable in big packs. A sketchy rider puts a lot of people in danger

I have absolutely no qualms with discouraging a squirrely rider from racing.

I have absolutely no qualms with discouraging a squirrely rider from racing.

Welcome back!

Welcome back!

thanks, but for how long? ;)

thanks, but for how long? ;)
As long as it takes. :D

As long as it takes. :D

Which is not very long, considering how many prudes are in Road Cycling. ;)

Man I thought you were gone for good. Welcome back.

Man I thought you were gone for good. Welcome back.

Not yet. ;)

was he seventeen w. an oregon cycling jersey? i'll never forget that guy who took me out.

if you can hang with the masters on monday, it's not as squirelly.

was he seventeen w. an oregon cycling jersey? i'll never forget that guy who took me out.

if you can hang with the masters on monday, it's not as squirelly.


Nope. A big guy with a Motorola jersey on.

I shouted at a guy 2 weekends ago to hold his line or go to the back. Thankfully he was dropped minutes later.

Did I see gonesh9 go down in that first crash, too? It was either him or his teammate.

Even the 3/4 race last night was sketchy. Granted, that huge headwind on the straight wasn't helping much. There was a lot of bumping and grinding going on. I must have had my wheel chopped three or four times.

It seems like staying upright is awfully tough at the PIR races this year. Monday night's masters races had three riders taken away in ambulances. One of them fractured his skull. I think that was caused by the groove in the finishing straight.

Last week in the P123s a crash took out 4 or 5 riders. One with a broken clavical and collapsed lung.

I guess it is always a little dangerous at PIR with the big fields and fast races, but it seems pretty bad this spring.

I believe last nights P123s went without a crash.

Ride safe out there.

Hey Jon, was that you who stopped by to talk to Candi or was it you that needed cleaning up with the road rash? I was the one leaning against the OBRA truck chatting with Mike wearing the Capitol Subaru kit. If the guy shows up again, might be good to chat with him (if Candi hasn't already)- do it nicely and say hey, make sure you hold your line and you check before you change it. Use it as an educational experience- we want to keep as many folks racing as possible.

The 1/2/3 race was pretty clean. Only one time that got kinda weird. 3/4 race got kinda sketchy?

Yo C- nice result last night. You guys went left on the finish, I went right. Whoops- I didn't want to cut across some lines to get back in the line.
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minor edit

Yo C- nice result last night. You guys went left on the finish, I went right. Whoops- I didn't want to cut across some lines to get back in the line.
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minor edit


Thanks. I think the TA guy that took the bunch sprint went up the right side - that would have been a nice wheel to be on.

I was a little disappointed in how the race played out because I wanted to get a good sprint workout going for all the hot spot points (and probably getting none of them). At any rate, it was still a good workout trying to get a chase going, and we all stayed upright, so no complaints.

It seems like most the problems happen in or right after the corner on the east side of the track where people really seem to have problems holding their line. At this point I have redefined success at PIR as not getting injured or damaging my bike as opposed to scoring a lot of points. I hope the rest of the season is safer.

One guy at a local training crit tonight fell back and then decided that he was gonna get to the front at any cost, attacked into a corner along the inside, locked his brakes and took out a line of bikers.

Did I see gonesh9 go down in that first crash, too? It was either him or his teammate.

Even the 3/4 race last night was sketchy. Granted, that huge headwind on the straight wasn't helping much. There was a lot of bumping and grinding going on. I must have had my wheel chopped three or four times.

Yeah, I went down last night- There was a crash in front of me with 2 guys down on the first lap, and I was able to react quick enough to pick a line to go around them. Just as I was about to pass a guy hit me from behind and plowed me into them. I got up, pulled my chain back on, and tried to catch up to the pack, but they were long gone by then. I rode alone for another 3 laps, time-trialing through absurd headwind, and passed a bunch of guys that kept getting dropped from the pack. Then as I passed one guy he told me it looked like my wheel was about to fall off, so I pulled off. Turned out it was super wobbly, out of true. Took it in to the shop today and they said it was too funked to fix....looks like another wheel build. Anyways, other than a hefty strawberry on my hip me and the bike are alright.

I am getting tired of the CAT5 races, people just don't seem to know how to handle their bikes.

Hey Jon, was that you who stopped by to talk to Candi or was it you that needed cleaning up with the road rash? I was the one leaning against the OBRA truck chatting with Mike wearing the Capitol Subaru kit. If the guy shows up again, might be good to chat with him (if Candi hasn't already)- do it nicely and say hey, make sure you hold your line and you check before you change it. Use it as an educational experience- we want to keep as many folks racing as possible.

The 1/2/3 race was pretty clean. Only one time that got kinda weird. 3/4 race got kinda sketchy?


I stopped and talked to Candi. I didn't have any rash as I hit the grass and pulled a muscle in my arm. I didn't talk to him last night because I was too mad. But next week I'd be able to calmly talk to him.

Sorry to hear that guys, I felt the same way last year, the first few races at PIR were tense, for me and for the other inexperienced riders.
On the other hand is a great training for when you race Mt. Tabor with 80 others 4/5 or a real crit like the one in Gresham with 90° turns, after those going back to PIR seems a lot easier, but it is racing and not a ride, and unfortunately the guy next, in front or behind you might be more dangerous than on a regular ride.
A good one coming up is the Swan Island, let me know if you want to go there and pre-ride it.
Ciao
Paolo

Thanks. I think the TA guy that took the bunch sprint went up the right side - that would have been a nice wheel to be on.

I was a little disappointed in how the race played out because I wanted to get a good sprint workout going for all the hot spot points (and probably getting none of them). At any rate, it was still a good workout trying to get a chase going, and we all stayed upright, so no complaints.

Oh jeesh. Spencer went up the right side? So I gave the leadout to those guys? I was powering up the right side until about 10 yards before the line. That was a pain going into the headwind.

I got a great workout- I went over my theoretical max hr. Bridged a couple of large gaps.


I stopped and talked to Candi. I didn't have any rash as I hit the grass and pulled a muscle in my arm. I didn't talk to him last night because I was too mad. But next week I'd be able to calmly talk to him.

Good man. Sorry to hear about the pulled muscle- that sucks.


Sorry to hear that guys, I felt the same way last year, the first few races at PIR were tense, for me and for the other inexperienced riders.
On the other hand is a great training for when you race Mt. Tabor with 80 others 4/5 or a real crit like the one in Gresham with 90° turns, after those going back to PIR seems a lot easier, but it is racing and not a ride, and unfortunately the guy next, in front or behind you might be more dangerous than on a regular ride.
A good one coming up is the Swan Island, let me know if you want to go there and pre-ride it.
Ciao
Paolo

Corner 1 at Gresham is the only pain in the rear. The last corner can be dangerous like it was last year with the Senior Men field. One of the Pro/1/2 guys dove to the inside when he shouldn't have. I watched bikes fly far into the air.

PIR is a great training venue though. Wide open. I just posted a Do's and Don'ts of pack riding post on the obra3 & obra 6 blog. (Mandy, Suz and Sal had great suggestions- For those unfamiliar with them Mandy is a Pro Rider from Team TargetTraining, Suz is the top woman from Washington and Sal is the Executive Director of OBRA) There's also q&a about cornering in packs in both too.

Don't forget Table Rock and the Yreka Crit!

I am getting tired of the CAT5 races, people just don't seem to know how to handle their bikes.

That's why they are CAT V's....but I understand your point. It should not be too difficult to pick a line, ride it, and make sure you check around before you dart off in a different direction.

Oh jeesh. Spencer went up the right side? So I gave the leadout to those guys? I was powering up the right side until about 10 yards before the line. That was a pain going into the headwind.



Yeah, the rest of us were all on the mid to left side (at least places 2-5 in the sprint) and Spencer came flying out of nowhere to take it on the far right. I guess I should be looking for your wheel next time! Kudos to Spencer for kicking out a really fast finish into that wind.

Good for him. Yah, no kidding, that was some fierce wind. Or I'll be on yours. :)