Road Bike Racing - I raced. I crashed.

Yesterday I raced Cyclonauts in Monson, MA. 57 miles, a rolling course in Massachusetts and Connecticut. My first Cat 4 race, as it happens, preparing for Fitchburg. I registered for the 3/4 race, since 4/5 was already full.

Things were going pretty well. I was working but not struggling, trying to get into a good position to react when we got the break back. At some point it started raining, and when we crossed the train tracks leading up to the center of Monson, they were wet and treacherous. I went down with about 15 other guys. A few of us tried half-heartedly to chase the pack, but it was hopeless and my bike felt pretty wobbly. On top of that, the crash had sucked all the energy out of my body. So I packed it in a mile or two later at the finish line.

I don't mind crashing out. I raced a good race and accomplished what I set out to accomplish, more or less. I would have preferred remaining upright and scoring a pack finish, but it wasn't a big deal. What WAS a big deal is that the crash killed my bike. There's a huge crumpled dent in my top tube. Frame over, and I wasn't planning to get a new bicycle until this fall! I had to run to all the bike shops in the area with my very patient girlfriend to get an idea of what my options were, given that I don't really have the money for a new bike at the moment. One of the shops had a few Specialized S-Works framesets hanging up that had been there for a couple of years and they wanted to get rid of. So it looks like I'll be getting a 2006 Specialized S-Works E5 for some $500! I'll be switching the components over from my Univega and updating them to 9-speed, so I'll be running the most ridiculous S-Works on the planet until I can purchase a modern groupset in the fall. In the meantime, I won't be riding for at least 2-3 weeks, meaning that I'll miss Fitchburg. Bummer. But I hope to hit some more races later in the summer, so maybe I'll see some of you there! Be sure to get a good, long laugh at my bike. It'll be the worst thing you ever saw :).

Well, I think "congrats" wouldn't really be the thing to say here.....

But at least you get a new bike :)

Glad to hear you're OK.... Congrats on the new bike, I suppose... :beer:

Well, that sucks. Glad you're okay. Sorry about the bike.

Grolby,

Sorry to hear about the crash..If all you need is the frame switched out I'm sure you could get that done this week...if your handy with the wrench you could probably do it in a couple of evenings...maybe the local shop could speed do the head set / BB in a jiffy if you let them know you need it for the race....alternatively, if 2-3 weeks off the bike is to heal, scratch what I just said....

I did the 4/5 race....my third mass start event...wrecks there as well....

glad th first couple (all downhill with 2 90* lefts) miles were neutral, as those would have led to wrecks too....our first crash was at about 8 miles down a little dip...seemed a few riders just hooked bars leading to about 6-8 guys hitting pavement....I cyclocrossed through the gravel to get around.....

Couple guys sporting jerseys of well represented teams went off the front at about 15 miles...just as we made the turn onto 19...figured the pace wasn't high...earlier than I was planning to go, but bridged up to them with another guy in tow...as we made contact all sat up....

Second wreck, more spectactular than the first, was on the dowgrade of route 19...looked to me like a guy got his front wheel caught in a crack....ended up getting catapulted across the oncoming lane, bouncing a couple times (hard) before ending up in the guardrail....OUCH...the groups descent speed slowed after that....

On the descent to the start finish hill I found myself coasting to the front of the group....pulled comfortably for a while and then eased to the middle of the lane....no one coming through....eased to the right....no one coming through.....coasted...no one....felt like I would have had to brake to get anyone to come around so put in a few hard pedals and created a small gap....worked well as that let me ride over the RR tracks on my own...don't know if there were any wrecks in the pack....

Just rode steadily and caught by the pack about halfway up the first section of the hill....seemed for while as though there might be a split, but we were again a pretty good group by the time we reached the 35 mile mark.

Again, pace on the descent not so high...wet roads and prior crashes had folks nervous I guess....Thought I might take advantage of that, and attacked with about 10 miles to go...disappointed no one came with me, but had a gap, so made the most of it, and dug in for a hoped for 25 min TT. Optimistic for a while as I seemed to be steadily gaining ground, but then a series of rises a few miles later sapped some strength and the group caught me with about 4 miles to go....sat in hoping to rest for the finishing climb....but let myself drift too far back...had to slow for wreck number 3 around the last corner, and lost contact with the leaders....ended up somewhere in the 15-20 range.....

My dilemma is that I think I would finish higher if I sat in for most of the race, but bridging or going off the front is so much fun I just can't seem to keep myself from doing it....I'm sure the hairy legs and non-team jersey allow me a little more leeway than if I were from one of the more heavily represented teams....but I was surprised there weren't more attacks during the race...seemed mostly just a steady ride until the finishing hill....

sorry about that...a little long...had fun, will try again in a few weeks...next race is all cat 5 and lots of climbing...we'll see how that goes.

Grolby,
sorry to hear about your crash, I was surprised to hear the weather was so wet there. I spent 4 hours riding around 31, 140, 2A without even a hint of a rain cloud.
Good job though, it took a lot of balls to do the 3/4 race. Sorry you won't be doing Fitchburg.

Hi mark - I was in the Cat 4/5 (my third race as well). I found out later that it was my teammate (among others) that went down in that first crash (he said the guy in front of him jammed on the brakes). The crash on the downhill on 19 was a wheel touch, but I was pretty amazed to see that guy back in peleton after 5 minutes!

My downfall was at the second set of RR tracks after the brief rain. I mostly made it over, but I heard lots of clattering behind me and a wave of water bottles. The guy immediately behind me slipped and somehow banged my wheel but we were both able to stay up. Unfortunately, even though I didn't stop, I has slowed enough that the rest of the pack gained substantial ground and I was not able to bridge back up.

I was hoping to finish with the crowd (haven't done that yet), but in this case I was happy to just survive the carnage.

Jim

Thats a bummer about missing Fitchburg Grobly!

I feel you MarkSch, I was another guy that attempted to go off on my own (collegiate kit) during the 4/5 race only to see no one coming with. Pretty depressing. That and our team's earlier attack made it seem like nothing was getting away. The course seemed like it was constantly downhill, apart for the finish which makes gap tough to open. That compounded with no one actually wanting to go made for a kind of boring race. I remember you put in a valiant effort though!

I hope you recover quickly if you're hurt at all.
Sorry about your beloved frame, but congrats on the great deal on the specialized.

Build up the bike fast, you'll be riding in less than a week!

Thanks for the kind words, everyone! Unfortunately, it is not quite as simple as switching the components over. For the most part, that's true, but I'll need a completely new headset and stem. I was going to convert to 9-speed, but after giving it some thought, it seems like I might as well throw 4mm of spacers onto the rear axle, re-dish the rear wheel and just ride with 7 gears in back for the time being. Why spend the extra money if I'll be putting a SRAM Rival group (mmm, 2009 Rival...) on the bike in the fall? And of course, that does mean that I'll be riding my new bike sooner! It'll still probably be a couple of weeks, but that means less time training on the Surly LHT, more time for racing. Even if I have to miss Fitchburg.