"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Contest: Stupid things you've done less than 24 hrs before a race.

Put in a new chain/cassette yesterday morning, I didn't set the link pin properly (cause I rushed through it) it was too stiff and caused the chain to jump while on yesterday's ride. Messed with it last night, thought I loosened it up enough 'till I was rolling over to the start line and my chain began to jump. Rushed to find a chain tool, tried to re-set it and missed my start.

first race of the year without rain; it's in the 70s and sunny--a beautiful day. Paid my fee. Now I'm paying the price for being foolish and rushing through a simple job.

I'm really bummed.

Anyone else?

There's a huge end of the year party for us college kids friday night. The Sterling road race is saturday. This should be interesting...

:beer:

(you're 21 right? ;))

Put in a new chain/cassette yesterday morning, I didn't set the link pin properly (cause I rushed through it) it was too stiff and caused the chain to jump while on yesterday's ride. Messed with it last night, thought I loosened it up enough 'till I was rolling over to the start line and my chain began to jump. Rushed to find a chain tool, tried to re-set it and missed my start.

first race of the year without rain; it's in the 70s and sunny--a beautiful day. Paid my fee. Now I'm paying the price for being foolish and rushing through a simple job.

I'm really bummed.

Anyone else?

Rule 1: Dont f with the bike uless you have a couple rides to test the changes.
My rookie mistake was not tightening the wheel skewers properly and not closing the brake releases before my first race - spent 10 minutes trying to reach back and close the rear brake release without taking out 1/2 the field.
I just rode the race with my wheels rattling the entire race.

Bought a whole new bike Friday, raced it in a 90 mile Masters race Sunday.

^I take it you didn't get it fitted?

^I take it you didn't get it fitted?

nope. I got in the second break of the race and placed in the money.

Last Saturday: didn't eat all day, took the red-eye from SFO to DTW, slept in car until time to warm-up, and had McDonald's for breakfast.

I could do that when I was young, but not at 48.

Last Saturday: didn't eat all day, took the red-eye from SFO to DTW, slept in car until time to warm-up, and had McDonald's for breakfast.

I could do that when I was young, but not at 48.

I just got a hangover reading it. And it's not about drinking. Weird.

Finished building the bike on a Tuesday morning, raced it Tuesday evening.

Finished building the bike on a Tuesday morning, raced it Tuesday evening.

what happened?

i raced one 2 days after the build. went ok.

what happened?

i raced one 2 days after the build. went ok.

It was perfect, I need to tweak a couple f things, fit wise but otherwise it's great.

Let's see.


-I drank a Monster Java before the Grandview Heights criterium. I got shelled, and then threw up all of the milky contents of my stomach onto the lawn in front of the funeral home.

-I adjusted my derailleur with my rear wheel in the dropouts crooked.

-I raced carbon wheels with aluminum-only pads

-I raced aluminum wheels with carbnon-only pads

-I've been racing a ceramic rear rim with aluminum-only pads

-I ate a Baconator cheeseburger from Wendy's for lunch a few hours before a training crit.

-I wasn't able to eat breakfast before a TT and had to wait 2 hours to ride. When I got out there, Taylor Phinney passed me like I was a speed limit sign. I would have beaten him, IF ONLY I ATE!

... and had McDonald's for breakfast.





-I drank a Monster Java before the Grandview Heights criterium. I got shelled, and then threw up all of the milky contents of my stomach onto the lawn in front of the funeral home.



Had a vinegar based Barbecue pork plate for lunch. I wasn't lucky enough to full on puke. I ended up with the acid reflux/bile all in my sinus cavity.

Put a new saddle on the bike on Friday and raced on Saturday

Put a new saddle on the bike on Friday and raced on Saturday

How's your boil?

-I ate a Baconator cheeseburger from Wendy's for lunch a few hours before a training crit.

mmmmmmmmm. tasty. was it worth it? lol.

I drank a whole bottle of pomegranate juice before a crit, looking back I have no idea how I thought that was a good idea.

mmmmmmmmm. tasty. was it worth it? lol.

I work at a bike shop, and we're surrounded by fast food places so I usually just ordered from them. That day made me decide to never eat any more fast food ever again.
Actually, on Saturday, I skipped lunch because the boss was buying a bag'o'burgers and I had no cash. It was tough to sprint home into the wind after not eating for 8 hours.

Not really me, but my dad drove under the awning at a motel office the night before a track race (I was 15). When he realized it, he threw it in reverse and backed up, which ripped the saddle off its rails. We called every bike shop in the Yellow Pages until we found one that opened before the race started the next day.

I go out and party routinely the night before races.

Then again, I don't think that's a stupid idea ;)

Fooled around with a girl the night before a race, ended up sleeping in and missing the race.

Whoops. :lol:

I work until 3ish the night before every race (6:30!), but I guess that's not a specifically stupid incident.

'doh....you missed a good race slim. A little too bang up for me, but it was hard to create any real separation. Everyone was actually racing this time.

Stupidest thing I have done is drive all the way in to a Superweek location only to find that I had my mountain shoes instead of my road ones (both the same SIDI's with different soles).

I decided I was ready to enter one...first and last time.

I decided I was ready to enter one...first and last time.
I never decided I was ready, but that didn't stop me from entering multiple times.

i just did my first race this morning, wells ave crit in newton ma, and rode 80 miles yesterday with some friends. maybe not the stupidest thing you can do before your first time racing, but probably not the smartest either. managed to stay with the main pack and not get dropped which was all i was hoping for. had a blast and cant wait to do it again.

hmmm... besides staying out drinking the night before a 1pm crit start, in July, in Texas... and besides starting four (4) road races in one weekend, while sick with an intestinal bacterial infection... and deciding to take a "shortcut" through rural Oklahoma that turned a 4 hour drive into a 7 hour drive, the night before a tough SR... not much...

I was having trouble sleeping so I took melatonin the night before a crit. I woke and felt like I was drunk. I got blown off the back of the race in two laps and pulling in 3. Only time I've ever been pulled from a race. The old adage, never eat or take anything you haven't tried in training is sooo true.

i decided the night before a state RR that my chest cold could be fixed with Afrin the next day (of race). drove to race shooting Afrin up my nose. Don't race sick, it's not worth it.

Amateurs...

The highlights...
The all-nighter with a friend's pre-frosh whom I left on said friend's porch at 8am while I rode to Wells ave in a suit jacket as a long-sleeve given I had forgot the proper clothing a party.

Assembling a cassette drunk the night before Palmer and finding that it went 12-13-16-14-15....that was interesting

Assembling a chain the night before a race and putting it on so that it ran around the derailler cage, not inside it

Finishing a jug of Carlos Rossi and bottle of Andre champagne and thinking I was ok to race (all-nighter)

College was fun...

Not necessarily stupid, but.....

Was touching up the true of my rear wheel and found a hairline crack around one of the spoke nipples less than 24 hours before a race. Spent the next 7 hours wheel shopping. Good times.

Amateurs...

The highlights...
The all-nighter with a friend's pre-frosh whom I left on said friend's porch at 8am while I rode to Wells ave in a suit jacket as a long-sleeve given I had forgot the proper clothing a party.

Assembling a cassette drunk the night before Palmer and finding that it went 12-13-16-14-15....that was interesting

Assembling a chain the night before a race and putting it on so that it ran around the derailler cage, not inside it

Finishing a jug of Carlos Rossi and bottle of Andre champagne and thinking I was ok to race (all-nighter)

College was fun...

the only one here that gets it...

Amateurs...

The highlights...
The all-nighter with a friend's pre-frosh whom I left on said friend's porch at 8am while I rode to Wells ave in a suit jacket as a long-sleeve given I had forgot the proper clothing a party.

Assembling a cassette drunk the night before Palmer and finding that it went 12-13-16-14-15....that was interesting

Assembling a chain the night before a race and putting it on so that it ran around the derailler cage, not inside it

Finishing a jug of Carlos Rossi and bottle of Andre champagne and thinking I was ok to race (all-nighter)

College was fun...


Yeah, I've been trying to make it a habit to not go to a race after blacking out the night before.

Let's see.

-I wasn't able to eat breakfast before a TT and had to wait 2 hours to ride. When I got out there, Taylor Phinney passed me like I was a speed limit sign. I would have beaten him, IF ONLY I ATE!


Was he on a Big Wheel or something?

Not a bike race, but in college I did race a 5k at 7AM after a night out. Nighttrain was involved...lots of it. My roommate was in ROTC and a complete loudmouth. I wore one of those burlap Mexican pull-over thingys to keep the cold chills away and still beat him.

The 'recovery tent' had Odouls. I damn near chundered when they gave me one.

fooled around with a girl the night before a race, ended up sleeping in and missing the race.

Whoops. :lol:


you win!

you win!

I don't think so. It doesn't sound like he closed the deal, which means he lost twice.

Fooled around with a girl the night before a race, ended up sleeping in and missing the race.

Whoops. :lol:

Here's my version of the same experience:

Fooled around with a hot blonde undergrad the night before my first race of the season (after 320 miles of base total for the year because of my Masters Thesis)...got rip roaring drunk...woke with the quintessential 6am hang over showed up for said crit and proceeded to vomit the last 20 minutes of the 30 minute crit behind the dumpster on the course. This race also started the injury that I now have been in Physical Therapy for since October.

moral to the story: Hot blonde undergrads are not always the best idea....

Here's my version of the same experience:

Fooled around with a hot blonde undergrad the night before my first race of the season (after 320 miles of base total for the year because of my Masters Thesis)...got rip roaring drunk...woke with the quintessential 6am hang over showed up for said crit and proceeded to vomit the last 20 minutes of the 30 minute crit behind the dumpster on the course. This race also started the injury that I now have been in Physical Therapy for since October.

moral to the story: Crits after a fun night with Hot blonde undergrads are not always the best idea....

fixed

fixed

meh....my work was done...no need to stick around

Finished building a bike Friday night at around 11 pm. Raced on it Saturday morning at 10 am.

meh....my work was done...no need to stick around

Until this post, I was going to criticize another for not sealing the deal. It sounded like Chris had a bit more success than buddy, though.

Over all, though, buddy was smart enough to ditch the race, which means they almost equal out.

Finished building a bike Friday night at around 11 pm. Raced on it Saturday morning at 10 am.

Race bikes almost never have this much time between the mechanic being finished and the race being started. No biggie. Just don't screw up.

Race bikes almost never have this much time between the mechanic being finished and the race being started. No biggie. Just don't screw up.

I wouldn't exactly say that. Usually I stretch my cables a few laps into a race, which is a PITA.

I meant a real racer. We're clubbies. I'm talking TdF type racers. A completely different animal.

Amateurs...

The highlights...
The all-nighter with a friend's pre-frosh whom I left on said friend's porch at 8am while I rode to Wells ave in a suit jacket as a long-sleeve given I had forgot the proper clothing a party.

Assembling a cassette drunk the night before Palmer and finding that it went 12-13-16-14-15....that was interesting

Assembling a chain the night before a race and putting it on so that it ran around the derailler cage, not inside it

Finishing a jug of Carlos Rossi and bottle of Andre champagne and thinking I was ok to race (all-nighter)

College was fun...


Holy Moses! We may have a winner...

'doh....you missed a good race slim. A little too bang up for me, but it was hard to create any real separation. Everyone was actually racing this time.

Stupidest thing I have done is drive all the way in to a Superweek location only to find that I had my mountain shoes instead of my road ones (both the same SIDI's with different soles).

Don't I know it! I was feeling really really good too (no BS, I really was). I was looking forward to sprinting against a former teamate (Cat2 on the track); I beat him once, though I fear he was not pushing it too hard. Yesterday was going to be my test. Seeing the first 5, I may have done alright but I have no idea who the "Powerbar" guy was. Keep my eye on him.

good thing 312 is our sponsor, they lifted my spirits after I dashed my bneautiful sunday.

..I remember you posting about the shoes. Was that Bensenville #1?

I will now convert my MTB from singlespeed to 1x8 ... the night before a race.

*cue explosion*

Fooled around with a girl the night before a race, ended up sleeping in and missing the race.

Whoops. :lol:

Ha. That happens far too often with those pesky early morning weekend group rides.

Collegiate cycling being what it is, we usually TT and RR Saturday, drink heavily that night, pass out at 3, then get up around 11 for our crit at noon.