"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Interesting race today...

Interesting indeed.


The pack is traveling down a straightaway and I'm drafting the rider in front of me. He decides to soft pedal which causes me to overlap tires for a brief second. No problem. I don't need to touch the brakes as we're going straight--soft pedaling and letting the wind slow me down should be sufficient. However, things got hairy real quick.

He veers to the left unexpectedly which causes his rear and my front wheel to overlap by a tire's width. Tires scrub, my left leg unclips and I am now surfing on my top tube with a rider directly on my right and another on my left hoping I don't fall. A rider behind me doesn't slow in time and rams me from behind taking down 2-3 others. By chance, even with the guy smashing me from behind I manage to hold my line the entire time and stay upright without any contact with the riders in my proximity.

Phew! That was ****ing close I think to myself. Time to close that gap in front now. I shift down to accelerate and nothing happens. What?

I look down...




























http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n230/jsound/rearderailleur.jpg


Whoops, I guess I'm stuck in my 50x12!

I briefly thought about dropping out of the race but decided to continue on regardless of my mechanical with around half of the race left to go. I'm a spinner with normal cadence around 95-98 rpm, so it was incredibly awkward riding with a cadence of 75 the entire rest of the race.

With one lap to go I make a big move passing around 15 riders on the right bridging up to an attack up front. I'm now in the top 5 coming out of the last corner to the finishing straight. People start accelerating but I can't match it with my big-ass gear ratio. Riders began to pass me left and right...

Final result?


13th with a single-speed*. :p



*In hindsight I could have shifted to my 34 ring up front to give me 2 speeds; however, in my mind I only had one speed.

Thats el goodo.

nokons.

I've blown out a few derailleur cable housings (although due just to putting the bike in the car). Nokons and the like will eliminate just another possible cause of failure from your list.

My friend (but not teammate) broke his cable during probably the most important race of my life. He used his 12T and his 39/53, did the race, and managed to string out the field for me a bunch of times. Just before the race he asked me why I put an entire bike in the pits.

"Just in case I break a cable or something."

cdr

Glad you're ok, that was very entertaining, well done!!

I'm used to it -

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l192/jnakatsu/Biking/IMG_3765.jpg

Did my first two crits on a fixed gear with Vans. (Public category)

i guess thats we try not to cross wheels

Did you find the schmuck after the race and express your displeasure with extreme prejudice?

Did you find the schmuck after the race and express your displeasure with extreme prejudice?

Said schmuck would probably point out that it was the OP who was ultimately responsible for the crash. No offense to the OP, sh*t happens - just that it's maybe not a good idea to be so quick to judge. The pros have stupid moments like that, too. Witness Levi breaking his sacrum in the AToC. I say, good race semaj, except for the "incident." Way to HTFU.

You may have been better off shifting into your little ring. The small cog/little ring is similar to middle of the cassette with the big ring and the sprint speed of a cat 5 crit should not be too fast for that combination as long as you can spin up to about 150 rpm for about 15 seconds.

You may have been better off shifting into your little ring. The small cog/little ring is similar to middle of the cassette with the big ring and the sprint speed of a cat 5 crit should not be too fast for that combination as long as you can spin up to about 150 rpm for about 15 seconds.

That's what I was thinking. I used to ride New Britain in the small ring half the time just for fun. ... although I probably at a 42 in those days.

That's what I was thinking. I used to ride New Britain in the small ring half the time just for fun. ... although I probably at a 42 in those days.

I guess if he had a 50 then he probably had a 34. I was thinking 39.

I guess if he had a 50 then he probably had a 34. I was thinking 39.

Yeah, I have a 34 small ring. Near the finishing sprint we're going 34 mph. According to Sheldon Brown, spinning a 34-12 at 120 rpm with 172.5mm cranks nets 27 mph. I think I was just SOL given my situation. :o