Road Bike Racing - Edgar Soto Memorial Stage Race

Anybody doing this event? It was great last year and looks to be even better in it's second year.

http://www.sotomemorial.org/

Planning on winning the 4s race. Should be the most fun 4 days of racing yet this season.

Planning on winning the 4s race.

You probably have a good shot at it, especially if you have a TT bike. What made you decide not to race as a 3?

--Steve

You probably have a good shot at it, especially if you have a TT bike. What made you decide not to race as a 3?

--Steve

He isn't one yet I don't think.

On Soto though, it sounds like a great race, but C4 (my club) has our omnium that weekend, so I'll be doing that. Hopefully not sucking...

Good luck in Tennessee!

I just checked the "confirmed rider list" on BikeReg and it shows 70 riders signed up for the Cat 4 stage race. It should be a strong field.

See you there.

I had looked at doing it but for a lowly 5 we don't even get to do the road race? I may still try to do it but it's not looking likely...I know some of the teams from our area, B'ham, AL, plan on having some 4's there. Good luck to those going!

You probably have a good shot at it, especially if you have a TT bike. What made you decide not to race as a 3?

Ooops. I was confusing recneps with truckin' who I'm pretty sure is going to race as a 3.

--Steve

You probably have a good shot at it, especially if you have a TT bike. What made you decide not to race as a 3?

--Steve

ill be using my road bike with clipons and a tt position, but ive been TTing pretty well this year so well see what happens. plan is to doing a strong tt then ride away from the field on the last 2.5 mile climb and gain some time, well see what happens.

**** I need to register for this.

done registered, man that was expensive.

I just registered, as a lowly Cat 5, I did the race last year as well and remember the circuit race as being brutal... of course at 200lbs I'm not a climber ...

Good luck to everyone!

If you go to the website (linked to above) and download the "race bible" it has all the courses mapped out with topo and anything else you need to know about the race.

Enjoy and good luck.

I will see you all down there too. Sorry recneps but I plan on winning the 4's :D No but seriously my goal is top ten. I just outfitted my bike with some clip on aero bars as well. I am getting the hang of them, it's not too bad. It's only a 7 mile TT. If there is a finish climb it will work in my favor even though I weigh 195 lbs :) Which reminds me if you like finish climbs you would like the Roan Groan RR on June 9th.

I'm going to predict that the 4s races are FAST. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the 4s races are tougher than the 3s races.

--Steve

I will see you all down there too. Sorry recneps but I plan on winning the 4's :D No but seriously my goal is top ten. I just outfitted my bike with some clip on aero bars as well. I am getting the hang of them, it's not too bad. It's only a 7 mile TT. If there is a finish climb it will work in my favor even though I weigh 195 lbs :) Which reminds me if you like finish climbs you would like the Roan Groan RR on June 9th.


Hoping your good at the TT I'm hoping to put some time on the field in the opening stage.


****, I really dont want to have to ride agaisnt you on that final climb. Reids going up there with me.

Cat 4 has hit 100 registered. The number of allowed to race Cat 4 has been extended to 125. If you are debating signing up, do it now because it should fill up in a matter of days.

See you there.

Im in as a 4


Even with the time cuts the CAT 4 crit is going to be dangerous with all those riders...... Be safe

anyone know why is there a cat 4 race and then a cat 4/5 race?? are the 4's going to be allowedd in the 5 field??

Planning on winning the 4s race. Should be the most fun 4 days of racing yet this season.

Everybody plans on winning dont you think?




P.S. your post made me LOL IRL. Please do tell me what your bike/team kit looks like so I can "watch out" for you lol

anyone know why is there a cat 4 race and then a cat 4/5 race?? are the 4's going to be allowedd in the 5 field??

There's an omnium version for the 4/5s who don't want to do an entire stage race.

--Steve

anyone know why is there a cat 4 race and then a cat 4/5 race?? are the 4's going to be allowedd in the 5 field??

For the Georgia Cup points series (reason for 4/5 and 4 fields).

see you all in the fours, the field is full now we have 100 strong!

Everybody plans on winning dont you think?




P.S. your post made me LOL IRL. Please do tell me what your bike/team kit looks like so I can "watch out" for you lol

Check the podium, youll find me.

Check the podium, youll find me.

Alright, boys, he's called his shot!!

--Steve

ill be using my road bike with clipons and a tt position, but ive been TTing pretty well this year so well see what happens. plan is to doing a strong tt then ride away from the field on the last 2.5 mile climb and gain some time, well see what happens.

everyone is doing this tactic. this would be my strategy if i were to be going:

crusie the tt mcewen style, losing 5 minutes to leader.

pack finish

pack finish

fourth day, take a pull on accident when the guy behind me crashes taking out a bunch of the field. i continue on the course waiting for everyone to catch up. before they catch me, a small chase group attacks, but misses a turn on the course. peloton follows the break assuming that they are on the correct course. i continue cruising. after peloton realizes that they have made an error, they turn around, ride the 15 miles back to the course and start storming at me. within 2000 meters, they have me in their sight, gaining ground fast. suddenly, a train comes and blocks the road from the peloton. two riders make it through, catch me before the line, i finish 3rd. they are later dq'ed for going under the train warning arms and get the same time as the peloton. the train is extremenly long and takes 6 minutes to pass more than making up for the time i spent doing wheelies during the tt. thus, i win the gc. duh.

lol

Did the Nashville crit over the weekend and with 50 some odd racers in the field we averaged 28MPH (according to the scoring table) until the wreck with 1 1/2 to go...

In comparison the 1,2,3 crit earlier this year averaged around the exact speed on the same course. Anybody thats "going to win" the 4's better have some serious game and luck with this field. If even half the riders from this past Sunday's crit show up and make it to our crit expect very poor cornering and wrecks galore.

I am thinking that the win is in the TT. Looking forward to this race...

yeah as always the TT winner 99% of the time wins overall. My goal is to have a good TT and stay safe. With 110+ riders in the field and a center line rule in effect dangerous stuff happens.


I object to the rider limit being raised when we wont have the whole road to work with in the circuit or road race.

yeah as always the TT winner 99% of the time wins overall. My goal is to have a good TT and stay safe. With 110+ riders in the field and a center line rule in effect dangerous stuff happens.


I object to the rider limit being raised when we wont have the whole road to work with in the circuit or road race.

Yeah im not exactly excited about the rider limit being raised, but oh well. People will definatly be lieing cheating a stealing in order to start at the front of the crit. is the crit course pretty much flat?

The number of riders in the 4's field is out of control.

Regarding the crit course. It is by no means flat. You climb up 2nd Avenue and then I'm guessing the ride down 1st Avenue will be blazing fast downhill on some nasty pavement. It will be nasty.

Be safe.

This weekend's races only had 1 wreck and it was because a guy rolled his tubular tire, not because of poor cornering.

This weekend's races only had 1 wreck and it was because a guy rolled his tubular tire, not because of poor cornering.


Hmm i believe thats not true at all, from what I understand he cut the corner in the S turn and caught his pedal and sent his bike sliding into everyone around him doing the bowling pin move to the top 10 in the cat 4 race 1.5 laps from the end.


like wfrogge said, he was there and on the outside of the guy that crashed and barely avoided going down but had to almost stop to not crash.

Metal sounds like metal regardless if it was his pedal or rim..... going through that corner the guy def took a hard inside line (where he shouldnt have) with no hole to dive into. Possible he rolled a tire but it sure looked like he clipped a pedal on the ground. The guy went sliding from my left to the right taking out a handfull of riders.

Either way he did a dive bomb into that corner on the inside while we were riding 3 wide through that S turn. A big no-no. Hell maybe the guy dive bombng into that corner took down that guy and didnt fall.... Kind of chaotic in that section for the whole race (sounds like you were there to see for yourself).

I was there but honestly I was popped off and finished well behind the main group.

First off, if you were anywhere near the crash on the last lap, you were definately smoking fast and congratulations because I'm guessing you had a pretty good finish.

I am good friends with the guy who rolled his tire and I was told he went down because of the rolled tire. Whether or not he took a bad line into that corner I have no idea. If you were there you can speak more about it than I can because all I can say is what I was told by the people involved. I would be surprised if he did because the guy is a monster at crits and a very smart cyclist. I will say that going into that corner 3 wide is asking for trouble.

Anyway, I wish you all the best of luck at the Soto and I'll see you there. I hope you all have a fun and safe time. I know a lot of people have put a ton of time and effort into making this thing happen and if you have a chance tell those people "thanks" because without them, it wouldn't be happening.

Cheers.

Yeah I was with the main field untill the accident going into lap 3. I took an outside line after the first left (after finish area) and made my way up between mid pack and the front. Soon as I merged in and we made the turn it was a mess of riders sliding in front of me. The very front guys (im guessing) took off and the back end of the pack (where I was) took off.... lol I would have been better to have stayed put :)

Considering how fast the race was and the accident I did fairly well. I had to leave and drive back home right after the race so didnt get my official placement. Im guessing 15 or so others finished ahead of me due to the incident. What supprises me is how may 4's stayed on that pack until the end. Looks like a few might need an upgrade to 3.

My goal this week is to just stay safe but race hard. I will make sure to thank everybody I see thats associated with this race cause youre right.. without them theres no way a race of this size could happen.

I'm going to predict that the 4s races are FAST. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the 4s races are tougher than the 3s races.

--Steve

Why?

I think I saw you state a similar thing for the Meadowmont crit a few weeks ago. Why would the four field be faster/harder than the three field?

More riders in the pool, sandbaggers, collegiate racers, and guys who don't race enough events to get 20 points in a year.

I could be wrong.

--Steve

Why?

I think I saw you state a similar thing for the Meadowmont crit a few weeks ago. Why would the four field be faster/harder than the three field?

Because the Nashville CAT 4 crit this past Sunday averaged 28MPH.... Gives me one clue it will be fast or at least have a fast lead group

Whereas the 3s races have faster collegiate racers, guys who have already earned their upgrades to the 3s, and generally higher fitness would somehow result in a slower race...?

Also, a race announcer stating that they were averaging 28mph is far different than someone's speedometer reading 28mph average for the race. A junior racer posted on here a while back stating that they averaged that fast at junior nationals. However, given the length of the race and the time it took, and doing some math, it was well below the average as stated by the announcers.

I've got to agree with Duke of Kent: no real reason why the four race would be faster than the three race.

28mph is blazing ass fast for a four race. I find that a bit hard to believe, but it's possible.

Look at the first day's TT results. Compare the top third of the three field to the top third of the four field. I'd be shocked if the four field's times were lower.

the guy did in fact roll his tubular off, he was in about third place and i was in about fifth or sixth, and i only had one guy to the inside of me, i guess they were three wide behind me. but anyway, i saw the guys wheel start hopping out on him and then the tubular rolled off, i tried to squeeze by on the outside but nailed him in the back and then hit the curb and my race was over.

my computer only showed us averaging about 26mph up until the crash took me out, but the race was pretty fast.

Look at the first day's TT results. Compare the top third of the three field to the top third of the four field. I'd be shocked if the four field's times were lower.

Like I said, I made a prediction and I could be wrong, but I could cite several examples of races (TTs and road races) where the 4s field was faster than the 3s. For example take a look at these recent TT results (http://carolinatt.org/v3/assets/uploads2006/May%202%20Official%20by%20Cat%20May%2010%20web%20posting.pdf).

--Steve

There is a great write up in today's (5/22) Nashville City Paper on the Soto. Check it out:

http://www.nashvillecyclist.com/pages/newsarticles/SOTO%20STORY%202007.pdf

Like I said, I made a prediction and I could be wrong, but I could cite several examples of races (TTs and road races) where the 4s field was faster than the 3s. For example take a look at these recent TT results (http://carolinatt.org/v3/assets/uploads2006/May%202%20Official%20by%20Cat%20May%2010%20web%20posting.pdf).

--Steve

You cant honestly use those results, I mean you do have guys like me and you who could be almost competitive in the 3s TT but a lot of those 4s are guys who just like TTing, and that pretty much all they do so they never get the points to upgrade.

I heard people who rode last year that the competition was not stiff and most riders from the area were in fact slow, again thats only what someone else said.

I also dont believe the crit is going to be 28mph avg, i would guess more in the 24-25 range.

There is a great write up in today's (5/22) Nashville City Paper on the Soto. Check it out:

http://www.nashvillecyclist.com/pages/newsarticles/SOTO%20STORY%202007.pdf
Ha HA I like how they appeal to the NASCAR fans, "human powered NASCAR", and "down hill corners have the most carnage".

Yikes :eek:

Ha HA I like how they appeal to the NASCAR fans, "human powered NASCAR", and "down hill corners have the most carnage".

Yikes :eek:

Ever do a speedway crit? It IS NASCAR on bikes.

Hard to do donuts on the infield though...

You cant honestly use those results, I mean you do have guys like me and you who could be almost competitive in the 3s TT but a lot of those 4s are guys who just like TTing, and that pretty much all they do so they never get the points to upgrade.

I heard people who rode last year that the competition was not stiff and most riders from the area were in fact slow, again thats only what someone else said.

I also dont believe the crit is going to be 28mph avg, i would guess more in the 24-25 range.


LOL... take off your rose colored glasses cause its going to be a hard/fast weekend for the 4s but hey no big deal.... youre going to be on the podium right?

LOL... take off your rose colored glasses cause its going to be a hard/fast weekend for the 4s but hey no big deal.... youre going to be on the podium right?

I mean I ride with clear glasses.

me too

Like I said, I made a prediction and I could be wrong, but I could cite several examples of races (TTs and road races) where the 4s field was faster than the 3s. For example take a look at these recent TT results (http://carolinatt.org/v3/assets/uploads2006/May%202%20Official%20by%20Cat%20May%2010%20web%20posting.pdf).

--Steve

Yeah, I don't know that those results are quite fair. I'm not saying that they're not, just not sure.

Take a look at the first days results in the Ed Soto TT. I bet there will be a pretty clear difference between the top part of the three field and the top part of the four field.