Southern California - Race Reports for 6-21/22

Let's see those reports people. I'll start
Good course albeit a little narrow in spots and very hot. Felt fine up till the end, never really felt like I was pushing, stayed in the top 15 or so for all of it. Coming into to 3 to go (2mile laps) the pack bunches up on the back side and I rub tires with someone as I'm passing and my tire blows out. I go down, bike goes down. Probably the worst crash I've had yet. Bike: bars ground all the way through, broken spoke on the front wheel, though it's not even out of true that much surprisingly, damaged shifters though they'll be fine, bent derailleur hanger. Body: Road rash on both shoulders, and very bad on my left arm as well as my left hip, quad, knee and shin. Shin and arm are actually burned from being in contact with the road for too long because a few people fell on me and I couldn't move for a few seconds. When the first aid guy told me that I almost didn't believe him... burned?
Ah well, I'll see how I feel in the morning and whether or not I want to race state.
I'm seriously considering quitting racing. I stay in the top 20 almost always, most of it in the top 10 so It's not a positioning thing, and when I don't crash it's nearly always a podium or win, but I think this is the 6th time this season that I've crashed and I've spent at least 1000$ bewteen entry fees and gas, all for the privilege to crash. Or I could just ride my bike and have fun.

Hopefully, it won't be too bad tomorrow morning. I can understand the quitting racing thing, I've pretty much quit for the season since my spill at Torrance, and with gas prices how they are it's too freaking expensive!

sorry to hear about the crash........

" I could just ride my bike and have fun. " Go with that...!
feel better. Road rash sucks.

Hello merckx89,

I am truly sorry to hear that you crashed again. :(

Before you quit racing, I would think carefully about those six crashes. I know that there are crashes that are quite impossible to avoid but others are avoidable. Think about what you could have done differently and learn from that.

Also think about why you race. El Diablo Rojo had an interesting thread in the Road Racing subforum that had some interesting viewpoints on why we race. Consider carefully why you are in this sport and then choose your riding accordingly.

I've seen people who were truly talented get into the sport, rise quickly, and then disappear. Then there's guys like me who never leave a major mark on the sport but race until they're too old to turn over the pedals.

Hope this helps.

I know that most of them could have been avoided by me being more attentive as can nearly any crash. One of the main reasons I don't want to quit, is that I've had a few people who know what their talking about tell me that I have a chance at racing in europe. I've always had a competitive spirit in me and I don't know how long I would last not being out there pushing myself to the limit but this constant crashing just isn't worth it. 5 crashes so far and 5 wins this year. I really don't know what I'm going to do, but this is the first time I've ever even considered quitting.
Was the El Diablo thread you were talking about the one where he said "he knows his place"?

I was also in that crash at La Mirada - my first of the year - but I was probably the luckiest one in that I managed to fall on top of someone else(no, it wasn't merckx) and was no worse for the wear. Just a little disappointed. The race had been going very well, and I was ready for a last lap shootout, but it wasn't to be. But for whatever disappointment there was in getting a DNF, I'm just glad no one was seriously injured.
I feel terrible for merckx, though. For all the talent and ability he has, he just seems to have the worst luck.

Today was the State Championship Crit in San Pedro. I felt pretty good, but couldn't get into good enough postion going into the last turn to do any better than 9th. It was a very clean race, and the last thing I wanted to do was cause a crash or get caught in one, so I let a bunch of guys sneak ahead of me into the turn. I was outside of the top 25 exiting the corner and sprinted around almost everyone and into the top 5 with about 100 yards to go, but at that point I was just done, and lost a few spots before the line. 37mph uphill sprint.
Woulda, shoulda, coulda. If I had fought for that turn and kept it clean, I most likely would have won that damned race, but chose to play it safe instead.

Good job at San Pedro Chuckles! I was planning on racing the 4's today, but couldn't get motivated, and didn't want to crash right before our family vacation. Now I'm kinda bummed, hearing that it sounds like it was a good race. What did you think of the course? I've heard that it's tough, technical, and a little dicey, witch makes for a good race, if it's not crash filled.

Thanks! I was hoping to see a few more familiar faces than I did.
I actually liked the course a lot. Same with La Mirada, which is funny, because just a couple of months ago I would have HATED those courses.
I didn't think San Pedro was all that technical. Dicey, yes, but not so much technical. It was basically two 180 degree turns. Turn one went wide to narrow and immediately uphill for about 100 yards where there was a quick left-right chicane, then continued up a little farther. I can't say what % the grade was, but I'm guessing in the neighborhood of about 5%. Once it topped out, there was a nice flat section to recover, then it was a bumpy/lumpy downhill into the second 180, which is more of a sweeping, fast corner - lot's of fun when you have room to take it at speed - then immediately into the 500 meter uphill drag to the finish, which is probably 2-3%.
I hate to say it, but this weekend's courses were actually...fun:eek:

La Mirada is a great course, not crazy about turn 3, if you're not at the front it really bunches up, the gutter through turn 4 is kind of sketchy, but overall a really good course.

I loved the La Mirada course, although I thought that damn climb was going to kill me on the last three laps. I somehow managed to avoid the huge crash in the Cat 4's, and hung on to the back of the lead group until one to go. After turn 3 I moved from the back to mid pack, and on the last turn I sprinted from the bottom of the hill, carrying my momentum and trying to steer clear of others hoping nobody would jump on my wheel. I got to 3rd place 1/2 way up and thought I was going to drop back, but the two guys in front of me must have turned off the gas at the same time and I sailed past. Another guy flew by me on the line, but I'm damn happy with 2nd place.
Funny enough, the guy that beat me was also on the back the last few laps, and had been telling me to just hang on through the climbs. He also helped me bridge a gap or two. Without his help and encouragement I'm sure I wouldn't have even finished in the front group.

Oh, and San Pedro sucked. I TTT'd more than half the race after a teammmate and I got spit off the back. We must have closed a dozen gaps before we finally dropped off, the field was huge and we started at the very back. :-\

merckx, fwiw, a lot of people I know who went on to do really well (national champs, pro etc) at one time or another considered hanging it up while coming up. It's frustrating, especially the crashes. there's not much you can do about it except use training races (like Rose Bowl) as opportunities to test out positioning, dealing with squirrely riders etc. The crashes don't go away, though. My experiences in Europe were that guys rice a lot more aggressively than in the US-they take more risks, bump riders to intimidate them etc.

At least you guys have the juice to finish. I was out the back, toasted, blown up, fried, 15 minutes into the San Pedro Cat 4. If my races get any shorter I won't have to register.

The June races are pretty tough. If the heat doesn't get you, the course probably will.