Road Bike Racing - Stanford Collegiate Race

Has anyone ridden the RR course? It looks like a hillclimb followed by a descent (at least in C's -- the B's and A's get to do a little more up/down before the descent). Is it as bad as it looks, and how is the pavement?

thanks

The profile doesnt look bad at all, average gradient isnt even over 2%. I dont know how the pavement is but i dont think the climbing will be any worse than what was at Boulevard or UCLA.

Yeah, I don't think it will be to tough a course. The profile looks intimidating at first, but in reality I don't think it will be very hard. The C's do 1300ft of climbing over 18 miles. Thats nothing.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x220/esammuli/StanfordRoadRace.jpg

On the other hand, this will be my first A's race....

Yeah, I don't think it will be to tough a course. The profile looks intimidating at first, but in reality I don't think it will be very hard. The C's do 1300ft of climbing over 18 miles. Thats nothing.


The flyer says 2000' of climbing before the Men's C/Women's B turnaround atop Panoche pass. Looks like there are some roller type hills along the way from the elevation profile.

OK, I was just looking at the net gain. Still, even 2000' over 18 miles is not very much.

the countdown begins. Who's psyched?

I haven't raced in 2 weeks. Time to get my ***** back in the game!

the countdown begins. Who's psyched?


Im totally psyched. This will be my first B's race, definately excited about doin a race that has some actual mileage. Good luck all.

well crap. A stanford guy got hurt pretty badly on a NEUTRAL LAP near the end of the Ds crit.

well crap. A stanford guy got hurt pretty badly on a NEUTRAL LAP near the end of the Ds crit.

Ya what was up with that? I believe there was at least one crash in every race except women's A's. Esammuli, you crashed out no?, i think i saw you with some road rash on your back, you ok?

Two of our guys went down pretty bad in the D's with a lap to go, both cracked their helmets, and one seperated his arm. Man am i glad i upgraded and got out of C's/D's.

Today was amazingly crash heavy. I'm getting sick of having the wheel I'm on going down right in front of me on perfectly straight roads.
I don't get it, iirc there were no crashes at red trolley, and it was raining there! Why were people going down so damn often today?

Yeah, I went down hard on corner 2. Landed hard on my lower back and hip. I ended up with road rash all over my back, shoulders and arms. I also scraped the bridge of my nose and upper lip. Luckily I didn't didn't get hurt. I'll be sore for a while, but nothing serious. I'll be back riding on Tuesday.

Edit: Just looked at my powertap data. I hit the ground at 28 mph.

looked at my powertap data. I hit the ground at 28 mph.

ouch

joe, I was right beside/behind the wreck in D's. iirc, a calpoly guy was riding pretty squirrely and he and the guy next to him hit each other pretty hard from the side. I actually knocked his front wheel out of my way with my bike as I managed to not wreck. This happened about the time the bell was rung -- maybe someone got a little excited about the finish too early?

They stopped the race 100m from the finish when me about most of the stanford (may have been some ucsc/santa clara in there) team were sprinting for the finish. We roll around for a neutral lap, in which it seemed like people were trying to get good position. Then it got bad. I only saw it out of the corner of my eye, but a stanford rider who had won the RR the day before (and a really nice guy, I have to say after talking to him a few times) was on the inside of the third turn. It looked to me like he got cut off, some people were claiming something to the effect of "stupid D racer" (you know who you are, but I'd keep it down if I were you), but he got his wheels taken out from the combination of gutter->pavement transition and the curb and went full on into a light pole. He was hurt badly. I don't think there were any head wounds other than a bit of a split on his nose, but his left arm was snapped halfway down the forearm, and he was saying that his hip and shoulder hurt him. Props to the med staff for getting there quickly, and to the guys who called 911 right away. Also, the girl from stanford who was talking to him while he was on the ground did a great job.

Right after that the C's crashed out 6 guys after one lap as they were coming back to the finish for the first time. I had to leave early, so I didn't see the rest of the races but I guess it didn't get any better...

Ya we had a lot of guys out there that were doin their first race, and obviously should have had a few more group rides under their belt. I think this was true for a lot of riders and combining this with a narrow crit course just caused a lot of crashes i guess.

Ya we had a lot of guys out there that were doin their first race, and obviously should have had a few more group rides under their belt. I think this was true for a lot of riders and combining this with a narrow crit course just caused a lot of crashes i guess.

I'm in agreement. I wasn't trying to blame anyone -- for every wreck there are like 10 stupid mistakes other people make and get away with.

Ok so aside from the crashes how'd you all do? In the RR i missed the break and spent half the race chasin them down, didnt catch them and got tenth place.

I wasnt near the crash in my race in the crit and got seventh place that day. Those were my first two B's races so im happy with the results.

Held on for for the first half of the race, popped on an acceleration after the turnaround. Came in solo for 18th. Damn the A's are hard.

Got dropped at the turnaround in the road race and chased back on solo for about 8 miles, then finally got caught by two or three more guys. Managed to bridge up to the lead group, who had slowed down quite a bit, with 8 or so miles to go. Was in terrible position in what I thought was 1/4 mile left, but somehow managed to get myself up to the front for the sprint. That sprint lane was WAY too narrow, I don't think anybody was able to go as hard as they wanted to. My teammate took second, i took third, another teammate took fifth. The road course was quite fun, my only problem with it was the sprint being much too narrow.
Would have been an awesome weekend for me if not for getting crashed out in the crit.

Got dropped at the turnaround in the road race and chased back on solo for about 8 miles, then finally got caught by two or three more guys. Managed to bridge up to the lead group, who had slowed down quite a bit, with 8 or so miles to go. Was in terrible position in what I thought was 1/4 mile left, but somehow managed to get myself up to the front for the sprint. That sprint lane was WAY too narrow, I don't think anybody was able to go as hard as they wanted to. My teammate took second, i took third, another teammate took fifth. The road course was quite fun, my only problem with it was the sprint being much too narrow.
Would have been an awesome weekend for me if not for getting crashed out in the crit.


Good job! You doing the TT tonight?

Obviously yesterday was not my race ever.


http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x220/esammuli/IMG_0189.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x220/esammuli/IMG_0190.jpg

My helmet probably save my life. It was cracked in about 5 different places.

tecaderm(sp?) rocks.

I think its Tegaderm. The stuff works really well. I've been using it for a few years now and haven't found anything better for road rash.

Good job! You doing the TT tonight?

Hopefully I will next time, I really wanted to be able to show up today. Both my wheels are out of true, and I have a huge amount of schoolwork due in the next few days. Oh, and it kind of hurts to ride.

Hopefully I will next time, I really wanted to be able to show up today. Both my wheels are out of true, and I have a huge amount of schoolwork due in the next few days. Oh, and it kind of hurts to ride.

From the crash in the crit?

From the crash in the crit?

yup. I'm wondering if its time to get out of Cat 5 / C's racing just to avoid sketchy riders.

yup. I'm wondering if its time to get out of Cat 5 / C's racing just to avoid sketchy riders.

I raced in the WCCC MC's for 2 years and I really don't think theres anything inherently dangerous about the field. It would be better to do your time in the C's rather than trying to move up as quickly as possible and make yourself the least experienced rider in a faster, more experienced field. That makes for a much more dangerous situation.

I have no idea about your experience level in particular so don't take it personally -- it's just a general response. I'm just not a fan of everyone trying to escape the 5's/C's as quickly as possible. Theres a lot to learn in bike racing and it takes time.

I raced D's for my first "real" races (not counting early birds). 3rd in the RR, would have been 5th in the crit if they hadn't stopped us in the finish. 41 guys in the field, but I'm thinking about 15+ of them didn't have the fitness to actually race. I agree that the lane for the sprint was small, and I almost went over the line, but it was really exciting to actually finish in a sprint (and I damn near pulled my hamstring).

I think i'd rather race C's mostly because I feel my results are meaningless at the bottom (if not still meaningless in C's but I don't have room to talk yet). SC here we come -- and it's going to be UGLY.

this is an ancient bump, but I was talking about the race the other day and was hoping someone knew where the pictures from it might be. Google is useless

this is an ancient bump, but I was talking about the race the other day and was hoping someone knew where the pictures from it might be. Google is useless

I don't know, but if anyone has pictures of the sprint in the C's road race I would be very happy to see them.

We have some photos from the race available on our site: http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/cycling/photos.htm