i had hoped to stop and race on my way home from ventura, but i was falling asleep at the wheel. so i stopped, grabbed a red bull and a popscicle, and just kept on driving til i got home.

Hi,

Been on business travel the past two weeks so I'm looking forward to racing tonight. Who else is in?

Hi,

Been on business travel the past two weeks so I'm looking forward to racing tonight. Who else is in?

Pending work this afternoon and traffic I am in. It has been a little crazy at ELDO the last couple of weeks. The Pace and nervous energy have increased.

You can almost smell the tension on the warm-up lap.

Roubaix will be on VS. next Sunday. See if Chet Bearclaw can get his hands on the executives over at VS. for not broadcasting the race live today on TV. I'll understand if he's off somewhere re-inventing the English language.

Yeah, Chet Bearclaw is also enjoying his new hobby of Shark Fishing with his bare hands. So far he has caught 6 great whites.

Not a good night. Does anyone have an update on the La Grange rider that went down at the end?

Yeah. Last update was at 11:30 pm last night... Nai (the rider) ended up with a broken shoulder blade, broken collarbone, and some broken ribs. Was going to spend the night in the hospital and they weren't sure if he was going to require surgery. Absolutely terrible.

Not a good night. Does anyone have an update on the La Grange rider that went down at the end?

I didn't know/hear of anyone going down. I was in the Masters which had a few sketchy moments but fairly safe.

YNai (the rider) ended up with a broken shoulder blade, broken collarbone, and some broken ribs. Was going to spend the night in the hospital and they weren't sure if he was going to require surgery. Absolutely terrible.

Really sorry to hear that...been there. He should make sure that his doc prescribes Ambien or something similar. It is really difficult to get to sleep with a broken scapula (shoulder blade) because every position hurts. For two weeks I slept upright in a leather chair until my buddy gave me the Ambien tip.

Not a good night. Does anyone have an update on the La Grange rider that went down at the end?

Hi,

I figured something happened in the 4/5 race as Chris and Vera weren't at the parking lot to collect race numbers and I saw a fire engine going in as I was riding out of the park.

A lot of people in the Master pack did make it a bit sketchy at times. Unfortunately for me, I was off my game and couldn't get back in after I attacked going into the 2nd prime sprint. I sat out a lap and sat at the back of the pack for the remainder of the race. :( This hasn't happened to me in a very long time. Oh well.

Hey Cleave!

It was nice to finally have met you last nite! I was the one who pinned on your number.

I guess it was a good thing that I bailed out of the 4/5 race. While we were being passed by the 1/2/3's there was a rider who had hit the curb on the left side right before the duck pond. He was figiting with his water bottle before he went down. Luckily no one else was involve. The guy looked okay, but his Zipps took a hard hit!

On another note, has anyone ever had one of those days were you just weren't motivated to ride? I dropped out because I thought that I had a flat and then I just loss the motivation to ride..

Hey Cleave!

It was nice to finally have met you last nite! I was the one who pinned on your number.

I guess it was a good thing that I bailed out of the 4/5 race. While we were being passed by the 1/2/3's there was a rider who had hit the curb on the left side right before the duck pond. He was figiting with his water bottle before he went down. Luckily no one else was involve. The guy looked okay, but his Zipps took a hard hit!

On another note, has anyone ever had one of those days were you just weren't motivated to ride? I dropped out because I thought that I had a flat and then I just loss the motivation to ride..
yes...that was yesterday for me. I didn't even show up to eldo. Sounds like it was a good choice though, considering there was at least 1 bad crash in the 4/5's. I haven't been motivated to ride for the past few days, but I'll be out at Sand Canyon tonight hoping to get my ass back in gear.

On another note, has anyone ever had one of those days were you just weren't motivated to ride? I dropped out because I thought that I had a flat and then I just loss the motivation to ride..

I'm on my third one in a row. I sure have had plenty of motivation to eat, though!

Hey Cleave!

It was nice to finally have met you last nite! I was the one who pinned on your number.

I guess it was a good thing that I bailed out of the 4/5 race. While we were being passed by the 1/2/3's there was a rider who had hit the curb on the left side right before the duck pond. He was figiting with his water bottle before he went down. Luckily no one else was involve. The guy looked okay, but his Zipps took a hard hit!

On another note, has anyone ever had one of those days were you just weren't motivated to ride? I dropped out because I thought that I had a flat and then I just loss the motivation to ride..

Hi,

Glad to have met you too and thanks for helping me with my number. I wish my problem last night was a lack of motivation. :o

Any new updates on Nai?

Any new updates on Nai?

He has a broken clavicle, shoulder blade and a couple ribs. Luckily he didn't need to get surgery which was a big bonus, but he'll be in a sling for about 6 weeks then start physical therapy to try and get things worked out. His season is pretty much dunzo because he's getting married in August as well. It sucks seeing such a great go down like that.

Hi,

Hope that tonight is fast and safe. I'll be there as long as I can get my bike back together in time. :D

See ya.

but where do i go after the race? the lights go out and i'm stuck in long beach. in the dark. alone. with no lights.
and say i did have lights. i'd still have to ride on the 5 going south through base. that would be terrible.
i mean..what am i? a RAAM rider? no. just a lowly cat4 racer. riding home from long beach after a one hour crit.

actually aren't you a RAAM racer now?

Hi,

Hope that tonight is fast and safe. I'll be there as long as I can get my bike back together in time. :D

See ya.

nope...the 4/5's are screwed

What happened?

Hi,

Yeah, it will be interesting to see if Chris keeps his "word" on penalizing the 4/5s. I don't know how it happened but the 4/5 field crashed on the back straight and one of the riders needed medical attention. I have seen Chris and Vera stop the races early because of emergency vehicles on the course but tonight was a little different because we had a final sprint at the 45 minute mark (instead of 60 minutes).

Hope the rider wasn't hurt too badly but it seems like the 4/5s will not be racing for points for a month.

Personally, I can't see why it is so hard to protect your front wheel and ride with a bit of caution because IT'S JUST ELDO!

What happened?

details are sketchy, but I heard that there were some riders at the back of the 4/5's, possibly riders that had fallen off pace and were trying to catch back up. Apparently one guy got blinded by the sun and just ran into another rider. Thats it....they just ran into each other on a straightaway. This happened maybe 20 minutes into the race. I hope everyone was ok. There was one rider would was down and receiving medical attention. Everyone else seemed ok, just a little road rash.

Chris said if the 4/5's crash on the last lap he wouldn't score them for a month. Well, they crashed, but it wasn't on the last lap. So, we'll see what happens. But I saw him after the race and he was really pissed.

I was involved in the crash, the rider right in front of me went down. I didn't see what caused him to crash but i did hear wheels touching, so I think he clipped a wheel. We were in back of the main pack and I guess the pace was being driven and people were trying to stay up. I had nowhere to go and I hit him on the leg and I went over the bar. I tucked and landed on my back and right hip. Other than a broken helmet and a torn jersey and some road rash, I guess I'll be sore for a few days. Another rider went down, I think he was behind me, he hurt his back and broke his left seatstay on his bike. The rider I hit had a possible collarbone injury and a head contusion. I left the scene before the ambulance came, but the paramedics said they were going to transport him as a precaution. That was my first crash, I was staying in back out of the way, but things happen. See ya next week. :thumb:

We will all be in the Mercedes commercial they were filming....

I saw the whole thing.. That guy moved right into that little kid's wheel. It was like slow motion... From the beginning I noticed that guy moving side to side... Good thing the kid didn't go down for some other guy's bonehead mistake.

and broke his left seatstay on his bike. . :thumb:

Another broken bike...on a practice crit.

I'm sorry to hear about the crash and I hope all that were involved recover quickly. Let's take care of each other out there!!

Another broken bike...on a practice crit.

I'm sorry to hear about the crash and I hope all that were involved recover quickly. Let's take care of each other out there!!

From Chris:

"Enclosed are the results. While the crash in Tuesday's IV/V was stupid and preventable, I will continue to score the IV/V race. Our numbers are dwindling in the IV/Vs, so if there are any Cat. IVs that can show these racers what is needed to go to Cat. III, I'd appreciate it, Chris"

Another broken bike...on a practice crit.

Add mine to the list. I had my bike at the shop to inspect, found a small deep dent on the seatube from where my shoe must have hit. Took the fork out and low and behold a nice divot at the bottom of the stem junction on the steerer. It's a full carbon Scott CR1 fork. Glad I didn't keep riding it. Transferred everything to my back up frame that has a new fork that I ironically paid for on Tuesday before I left for El Do and took it for a 40 mile spin this morning. My body is very sore but I felt much better when I was on the bike. So after a few more rides, I'll be back again next week.

Another broken bike...on a practice crit.

Yeah, that was my poor Scott CR1. The lap earlier I had tried to bridge up to the break and didn't have the legs. So I pulled off and didn't get back in line till the back of the pack and thus ended up where I never ever want to be: the back of the pack. Maybe 200 meters later suddenly there's a guy laying on the ground right in front of me. I've been thinking about whether I could have dodged his body but don't think I could have. I landed on my back and now have pretty serious bruising. Takes about 5 minutes of gasping to stand up out of bed. I've been dodging crazy accidents and riders all season. I guess my time had come.

Was there a marshal on the 4/5 race? They usually keep the silliness to a minimum.

There was a Marshall but it happend so fast..

Hi,

Another night at the big park in LB. ;)

Spotted vireo, Groupetto, and Brandy. I'm sure others were there.

I went off the front a few times but unfortunately they were the wrong times. Two of my teammates got in a break right after the second prime at it stayed until the end. A big Surf City guy made it easy for me to block. I got on his wheel and he wouldn't pull through -- even though he had fought his way to the front -- so with me sitting on his wheel, no one else would pull through. Nice. :)

I contested the field sprint for the first time in years. There were eight guys in the break so we were sprinting for 9th. I was watching this big guy from Velocity. My teammate ended up winning the sprint for 9th. I was 5th or 6th in the field sprint -- you can do the math for the overall. :D

Overall pace of the race was a bit slow: 24.8 MPH. :(

Well done Cleveran!!! Next week you'll make the break :)

El Dorado was fun. It was my first time, and I was there with my UCI friends, who were mostly in cat 4/5's. There was a breakaway of 3 guys, of which my buddy Andy got 2nd.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a398/Ryguyinlj/ElDo-George-37.jpg

Here's me being a dumbass and starting a pull too early for my teammate Marcos:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a398/Ryguyinlj/ElDo-George-35.jpg

I think Marcos wound up getting 5th. So my efforts were not entirely in vain:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a398/Ryguyinlj/ElDo-George-38.jpg

Photos by George Pryor.

Hi,

Another night at the big park in LB. ;)

Spotted vireo, Groupetto, and Brandy. I'm sure others were there.

I went off the front a few times but unfortunately they were the wrong times. Two of my teammates got in a break right after the second prime at it stayed until the end. A big Surf City guy made it easy for me to block. I got on his wheel and he wouldn't pull through -- even though he had fought his way to the front -- so with me sitting on his wheel, no one else would pull through. Nice. :)

I contested the field sprint for the first time in years. There were eight guys in the break so we were sprinting for 9th. I was watching this big guy from Velocity. My teammate ended up winning the sprint for 9th. I was 5th or 6th in the field sprint -- you can do the math for the overall. :D

Overall pace of the race was a bit slow: 24.8 MPH. :(


yeah going backwards. Someone said we averaged 28.1..I am not sure but it was faster than monday's crits. Single file in the dirt for two laps pretty much shattered the group.

I did see the Greg Paige in the 40 plus break ..I am assuming he did well at the end. Since you had a teammate up the road , I am sure you didnt want to pull everyone to him.

Might sound like a bonehead question but....

I know that races at Eldo count towards an upgrade to CatIV. Do Top 10 finishes at Eldo counts towards an upgrde from CatIV to Cat3? USAC rules just say that 25 races with Top 10 finishes is whats needed to upgrade to Cat3.

Thanks,

Yes they count towards an upgrade to 3's. I think you're misinterpreting the upgrade requirements. I believe the upgrade is 25 pack finishes with a size requirement on the field (50), or ten top 10 finishes, or points.

Is that 25 races total or 25 races as a 4? Same with the top 10's?

Is that 25 races total or 25 races as a 4? Same with the top 10's?

I was off a bit, here it is copied from USAcycling

4-3: 20 points in any 12-month period; or experience in 25 races with a minimum of 10 top ten finishes with fields of 30 riders or more, or 20 pack finishes with fields over 50. 30 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade

You need to meet all the requirements as a 4, your races as a 5 don't count.

Curious- Doing my first El Dorado Tuesday night. What is the current or typical field-size for the IV/V? Also, any estimates on average speed for the IV/V? I've seen the power meter readouts on a couple of posts and some mention of 28 MPH average... but don't know if that was for the I/II/III or the IV/V. Any info would be appreciated. Thx.

For 4/5, size fields can go between 50 and 75. It depends on the day.

I'm not sure about average speed - I only really look at my bike computer in a race when I'm wondering how fast I'm really going compared to my effort.

Thanks---

I never really look at my computer during the race... but enjoy downloading the data afterwards.

Hello w4ta.

I can't say directly how fast the 4/5s go, but the Masters 40+ race is generally 25-26 MPH average. The 4/5s have only caught us a couple of times this years so I'm guessing that they are going about the same speed.

Hello w4ta.
The 4/5s have only caught us a couple of times this years...

Whhaaaaaat!?! More than a few times...

Masters: :50:

Whhaaaaaat!?! More than a few times...

Masters: :50:

Listen sonny, I missed most of April but I was there all of May and I don't remember your pack catching us during May. :notamused: (Your break did catch our pack last week.)

Hey,

Anyone have info on the latest casualty? The Master's guy with the La Habra stuff on? He looked pretty banged up.

Duude, another one?

Hey,

Anyone have info on the latest casualty? The Master's guy with the La Habra stuff on? He looked pretty banged up.

That was Lou. He was taken to the hospital with injuries to his femur, and knee. He was released last night around 10, and is now in the process of seeing an orthopedic surgeon and having an mri done.

That was Lou. He was taken to the hospital with injuries to his femur, and knee. He was released last night around 10, and is now in the process of seeing an orthopedic surgeon and having an mri done.

Please send along my well wishes Greg. Rene and I (you probably know her and her husband Jerry) were in the parking lot talking by my truck when we heard the crash. It was such an awful sound. :( We bolted over there to make sure our boys weren't involved, thankfully they were in front of the crash. Lou just looked like he was in so much pain. :(

Hi,

I was VERY close to going down in that one. :eek: I was mentally preparing myself to hit the pavement as a bike was airborne in front of me. I managed to lean to the left a bit and the rear wheel of the bike hit my right hand. My index finger is badly bruised but that is VERY minor in the scheme of things.

I've known Lou since the mid-1980s and I was not happy to see him on the ground. Gretzky, thanks for the update on Lou. I know both of you are in the same club so if you get any additional info on Lou I'd really like to hear it. Also, it was great to meet you in person.

I was all set to come out on a tuesday a few weeks back, but a crash at the Barry Wolfe left me hurt and bike-less... Now I have my replacement frame built up so I think I will make it out tomorrow... Anything I need to know?
how much time to allow for first time registration? What about warm up? Parking advice??

Thanks in advance