Great Lakes - USAC National Crit

So is Psi already applying for a UCI license for next year? BH in one of the Grand Tours? :)

Sunday Pro-AM ... pretty major crash - last lap - turn seven. Stemper and Rob White looking mighty depressed and dirty rolling in minutes after the finish.

Pro Champs ... wild race. Race postponed for an hour while a thunderstorm passes. Race started in rain, racing very tentative. One rider solo's off and almost laps the field! Must have gotten team orders to chill it because he is eventually caught (and then crashed). Several other breaks off near the end ... caught (or team orders to chill). Last lap about 8 guys off and RIPPIN! Bahati is ~ 5 - 7 seconds off the back of that in first chase group. Bahati catches the break ... is first through the last turn ... most assuredly guaranteed a repeat champion ... BUT HE CRASHES!! Aussie wins the race just nipping some other unknown guy who was a lead out man for ??? who had crashed himself.

Just wild. Rained the entire time, just enough to keep the road wet.

Bloody faces, Bahati crying.

Wild stuff I tell 'ya.

Man, I feel so bad for Bahati... From getting demoted, to the superweek debacle and now going down while in position to win- he's had a rough year. I really would have liked to see him win this one.

Great picture, Luke. Wish I could have been able to stick around today and see it all play out.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/usa-cycling-national-criterium-championships-cn/stages/stage-5/results

Luke has his photo up already? Damn two hour drive!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/usa-cycling-national-criterium-championships-cn/stages/stage-5/results

Luke has his photo up already? Damn two hour drive!

Yeah. Luke got a great shot of Bahati's race "slipping" away.

Ryan Baumann won $4500 in the race around the lake. He won KOM, the race, and set a course record.

FFS!

Heh heh. Quite.

Pix up shortly.

That was a perfect move from Friedman. That's a hard race to break away from in the 3's, but it's famous for allowing well-timed final-lap attacks from Turn 4 or 5 to stick. And quite frankly, the last few laps were sketchy as heck. The only safe places to be were off the front or off the back. I had good position with 1 to go, but I wimped out and chose the latter. Good on him for choosing the former.

Unfortunately, there is no Cat 3 national championship. (Just as there is no "Cat 5 Heat 2 national champion.")

Ryan Baumann? Wow! Will have to look that race report up. Is he Wheel and Sprocket? I think he was in the 4 up break in Neenah Saturday.

My DG report now posted. I just had to use that 'slipping away' line. Sorry! :D

Turn 7 was where it was at today. Had a BH rider in Cat 5 heat 2 blow his Campy Super 11, sending his rear dérailleur into the spokes. Then in the next race (Cat 3?), while in turn 7 sitting on a park bench in front of the post office, I heard a loud boom, only to be presented with someones Shimano crank and pedal. After that, we watched the ladies, did lunch at Bally again, just missing the first rain storm by a minute. After that went out and watched the Elites on a soaking wet turn 7, where they took turns crashing hard. And then there was the pro race. Sitting on that same bench, we saw probably close to 10 crashes. I was presented with a helmet, 1 lense off of someones sun glasses, some Jelly Bellys, and a piece of the Anarchy sign on the Rock Racing jersey. My favorite crash, in which the only thing hurt was pride, was when 2 Colavita riders went down. One goes down, slides to the curb by the hail bails, and right behind him a second Colavita rider goes down, only to slide backwards on his arse past his team mate, in which they both pull out their finger pistols and start shooting each other while laughing.

Word got out with about 20 laps to go in the pro race that all of the action was in turn 7. It went from about 10 of us total, to probably close to a 100 in no time.

And that second rain storm. Holy ****e. We took up shelter in the parking deck, in which we enjoyed watching blast a storm drain cover a good 6 feet into the air from the force of the water below.

Got to cheer Joel on in turn 7. I was keeping an eye on him and a few ABD riders as well. Joel was in the middle having a solid ride. Then with just a few laps to go, here come Joel by himself around the corner. I think the next lap he was back a few riders and I kind of felt bummed. Then the last lap, and here comes Joel with a damn good lead. I caught up to Joel by the start/finish after the race to see if he won, because I couldn't hear the call from turn 7. He was just like someone who had just won the superbowl, and the first thing they do is call mom to say "I WON" while crying to hard :p

Psi, learn to toss a water bottle before a race too :p

Funny part of the weekend, one of my buddies, ABD'er, is at the starting line for the Cat 5 heat 2 race, I am getting ready to yell "GO ABD!!!" and he has a clipless virgin moment right on the starting line. If it wasn't for the guy next to him, and the guy next to him, and the guy next to him, and the rail next to him, they would have all been lying on the ground with their bikes still stuck to them :)

Great racing everyone!

One of NEOH's own placed very well in the Elite Men's race. This rider happens to drop me like it's fun (I'll bet it is)

One of NEOH's own placed very well in the Elite Men's race. This rider happens to drop me like it's fun (I'll bet it is)

Is his name a secret, or something?

Got off the phone with Joel a little while ago. He's pretty emotional. He didn't mention too much to any of us but he really wanted to win today. Racing yesterday for him was an exercise in recon. He said he learned more yesterday than he has in a long time.....

....today he used it. His attack was what he had planned on doing the whole time. Said he knew where he was going to hit it and saw everyone slow down. Said it was getting sketchy and just said he had to nail it.

He said he gave it everything he had and come over the top of the hill at something close to 30 (his words). Said he sprinted there and just held on until the end.

I've said it before - on here - and I will say it again and again and again....he's a natural. The only thing that will limit how far he wants to go in this sport is how much time he decides to dedicate to it.

To everyone who said, "yeah but the cat 3's are different..."......

.......:rolleyes:

Underestimate Joel Friedman and he'll beat you. He has raw talent matched with natural instinct when it comes to racing. He has gotten this far with basically no training plan, little advice and training from us (here...this is how you pin your number on....here let me adjust your saddle....try these wheels...)....his results are all him.

He's being approached by other teams. Don't know how long we'll have him, and kind of don't care - in a good way. I said sometime around Monsters "I'll be able to say I knew him when...."

He won't be long for the 3's either. Enjoy your time with him guys. He's an awesome and nice guy. Say hey and he'll talk to you for hours.

Wilke....you know I called it back in Kenosha :D

Joel killed it today. Major props on the win. I was telling one of my cat 2 teammates to watch out for him next season.

Anyways my race basically ended when I was ~40 guys back and heard two laps to go, from there on it was surge, slow, and swarm any place there was an opportunity to move up. I actually sat up when I saw Joel go because I knew it was over. That was lucky because 2 guys stacked it in front of me in turn 5 and another decided to panic brake right into the barriers behind me.

As for the pro race, and Bahati... he didn't have the room. I was sitting inside turn 8 and he was banging bars into the corner, Keogh backed off but by that time Bahati was taking the turn very fast from a very poor inside line. He might have stayed up if it was dry, but today there was no way. I guess that guts or glory is what it takes at that level though.

"No one's going to get away"

haha..
http://cycleto.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1162:downers-grove&catid=9:race-video&Itemid=2

"No one's going to get away"

haha..
http://cycleto.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1162:downers-grove&catid=9:race-video&Itemid=2

Hahaha....just added it to my blog entry.

Sweet mother ... screen captures from that YouTube video:

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc54/biffbradford/cycling/DGcrash1.jpg

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc54/biffbradford/cycling/DGcrash2.jpg

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc54/biffbradford/cycling/DGcrash3.jpg

Wowsa... that is some nasty carnage.

:eek::eek::eek:

Can't even bring myself to click on the video. Good luck getting CC to ever even think about racing ever again.

the video is not that bad.

there were a couple nasty crashes Saturday that took place right in front of us. by us, i mean me and the lady. pretty much cemented my No Racing career. later.

Crashing is overrated.

:eek::eek::eek:

Can't even bring myself to click on the video. Good luck getting CC to ever even think about racing ever again.

LOL :roflmao2::roflmao2::roflmao2:

That's exactly what I was thinking. And this is the experienced cat 3's, not the dangerous cat 5's I'd be racing with. :eek:

And this is the experienced cat 3's, not the dangerous cat 5's I'd be racing with. :eek:

I think 5's probably crash less.

In the 3's you just crash with a little more speed. That's all.

LOL :roflmao2::roflmao2::roflmao2:

That's exactly what I was thinking. And this is the experienced cat 3's, not the dangerous cat 5's I'd be racing with. :eek:

How many times do we have to tell you....the 3's crash more than the 5's. And they do it with more flair....I might add.

Seems like the 3's get up after their crashes though - even at higher speeds - a lot better than the 5's though. Must be all the old broken hips in the 5's. The 3's is for the kids.

Stick with the masters. That's the true non-crashing group.

At the start of Chicago (35+) there was some guy getting squirrelley up near the front and I yelled something like "hey man...it's just a race...we all have jobs and families to get back to tomorrow"

Everyone was in concensus. The 3's IMHO is where you really start weeding out those who weigh crashing for 20th place in some *** crit vs holding back and coming out unscathed from the very competitive younger guys with no families or nothing to lose. IMHO - that's why you see more wrecks in cat 3.

Not poopoo'ing it. I totally understand and respect it. In 1 and 2 you end up with some more older guys back in that mix and it seems to temper out a little more.

That was the crash that happened simultaneously in front and behind me. I have no idea how the 2nd set of guys went down, because the road was pretty clear by the time I got there.

That was the crash that happened simultaneously in front and behind me. I have no idea how the 2nd set of guys went down, because the road was pretty clear by the time I got there.

Last lap.
People are going fast.
People freak out.

*shrug*

They shouldn't have. Nobody that far back, including the guys who crashed initially, hand any chance of getting close to the money. Thats one thing I wish people would realize, there's no point in killing yourself over 43rd. If you're close to the money, maybe even top 25 in that section then go ahead and sprint your heart out. But if you're not, chill. Anything outside of the money or the top 10 is all the same.

They shouldn't have. Nobody that far back, including the guys who crashed initially, hand any chance of getting close to the money. Thats one thing I wish people would realize, there's no point in killing yourself over 43rd. If you're close to the money, maybe even top 25 in that section then go ahead and sprint your heart out. But if you're not, chill. Anything outside of the money or the top 10 is all the same.

Take a look at my results. I'm pretty confident that I'm not going to kill myself over 20th :lol:. Other people's lack of understanding to that though, is primarily what forces me to sit up on the last lap if I know i can't crack at least the top 15. I fail to see the point. I'm probably just a *****.

Ryan Baumann? Wow! Will have to look that race report up. Is he Wheel and Sprocket? I think he was in the 4 up break in Neenah Saturday.

My DG report now posted. I just had to use that 'slipping away' line. Sorry! :D

Ryan Baumann is Trek-Livestrong. You might want to read this: http://www.saris.com/athletes/PermaLink,guid,572c0515-e51f-4903-92e6-127ed289cb4a.aspx

Oh yeah. Hey, where did you get results for Race the Lake? I keep going in circles, not even finding the winner! :mad:

Damn. 400 wattz for an hour is pure business.

Damn. 400 wattz for an hour is pure business.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. He only did it for 50 min. :innocent:

Take a look at my results. I'm pretty confident that I'm not going to kill myself over 20th :lol:. Other people's lack of understanding to that though, is primarily what forces me to sit up on the last lap if I know i can't crack at least the top 15. I fail to see the point. I'm probably just a *****.

I looked at the video and the guy in green that crashed I believe was between 18th and 22nd. That's top 20 in turn 4. Yeah, he's going for it. So would I. Ya never know when the third place guy is going to crash taking out some other guys and you're in the top ten. I raced BMX for a number of years when I was young (41 year old class) and there were crashes all the time. I took state champion based on a crash of two lead riders fighting for first. I lost a national race heat when a guy fought me for 2nd. We both went down. The guy in first went down on his own. The guy that was in fifth DID NOT GIVE UP took first in that heat. The guy that was in forth in the first part of the race gave up early thinking he could not catch up. Killing yourself over 43rd is not smart. Not giving up when you still have a number of turns to go and close to the top 20 makes sense to me. But then again, my nick name in BMX was Crash.

This is how Bahati rolls in Cali: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0us_6YrC71s

:roflmao2:

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. He only did it for 50 min. :innocent:

No, Busche (who won) did it for only 50min. Baumann did it for closer to 55min. ;):twitchy:

Watching the video of the Cat3 race, honestly, there's nothing in that video that is abnormal or particularly bad.

A couple of dudes slide out. One hits the curb with his posterior and shoulder.

This isn't like one of those crashes where someone goes down at 40mph and bikes/riders go cartwheeling over him, and you have a real, sincere fear that someone might be dead on the road. Not even close.

Got any links to THAT video? :D

Thanks for the pics, keep them up.

dave342, that guy in the picture, shouldn't he be taking pictures of the cyclists and not someones bedroom window?

That guy needs to keep riding his bike!! Doing an hour a day now ... more, more!

That's more than I've been.

Total training hours this month. Week ending in:

7/26: 13hrs
8/02: 7hrs
8/09: 5hrs

Don't want to talk about the last 1.5wks. Starting tomorrow, I will be on the bike for 15-20hrs/wk. Woo!