"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Venting.

I know my attitude is everything and I really need to move past this negativism. But I can't help it yet and shall vent some on here!

Saturday. Short Road Race. Cat 4/5 mixed 67 riders (I'm a 4 - 3 pts away from upgrading and getting consistent good results - pretty damn sure I would have won this). 2 miles into the race, first hill, no1 respects the yellow line rule, including myself. This one imbecile decides he also wants to get on the left and overtake some riders so he simply swerves 10 ft to his left with no regard for his line! Dumbass. Hit my front brand new 46mm carbon wheel and broke 3 spokes. He went on. My race was done. I didn't go down at least.

After all the dedication, training, and sacrifices, this dumbass buttmunch does something this stupid. I had friends there, my mom was there, I was feeling good. I had all this energy and couldn't even ride but 7 miles (including warm up).

I understand this stuff happens, crashes happen, I was lucky, and so on. But it's particularly frustrating because what he did was insanely stupid.

So after the race I talked to him, showed him my wheel, went over the facts, talked to officials, semi argued without losing my temper. I guess it's all pointless. I got his information but don't think he is going to even offset any of my financial setbacks - or if that's customary. And he's definitely not going to make us go back in time and not interfere on my race. Pissed.

What do you think?

Anyway. Glad I got the protection plan for the wheels. Looks like I will have to already use up the 1 replacement front I got for 2 yrs! The rim didn't crack but LBS tells me once it gets so warped (3 spokes broke on same side), the carbon rim is done.

It's racing my friend.
You had some damage to a wheel.
I was in a break a while back.
Last race, last lap, two corners from the end in a two man break. Dude I am with rides my wheel lap after lap, I tell him to pull through, he does then crashes on the next corner taking me out. He walks away, I end up in surgery to put my shoulder and wrist back together and miss three weeks of work then have rehab and everything else.
I can understand your frustration but a messed up wheel is mild compared to what some of the other guys here will vent about. Gstein is a perfect example, his season was cutoff by someone making a stupid mistake. Difference is you dnf'd and have to ix a wheel. Many of us have months upon months of recovery and the financial impact is far beyond a wheel repair. That's part of racing...

he hit your front wheel, how could you not avoid him? They weren't DQing riders for yellow line infraction? DID he at least acknowledge that his moves were reckless? That's all I would hope for.

Yesterday was a 60 riders field for my race and almost nobody was moving up because the official was watching us like a hawk. He also mentioned that he dq'ed 10 riders earlier.

Definitely not customary to get reimbursed by an opponent, in any sport I don't think, and not in cycling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gAtMEsIVLVo

It's racing my friend.
You had some damage to a wheel.
I was in a break a while back.
Last race, last lap, two corners from the end in a two man break. Dude I am with rides my wheel lap after lap, I tell him to pull through, he does then crashes on the next corner taking me out. He walks away, I end up in surgery to put my shoulder and wrist back together and miss three weeks of work then have rehab and everything else.
I can understand your frustration but a messed up wheel is mild compared to what some of the other guys here will vent about. Gstein is a perfect example, his season was cutoff by someone making a stupid mistake. Difference is you dnf'd and have to ix a wheel. Many of us have months upon months of recovery and the financial impact is far beyond a wheel repair. That's part of racing...

I understand. I'm sorry to hear about your case and all the other cases much worse than mine as well. I am always thankful for not crashing. I guess if I look at it from a numbers game perspective, I am lucky. Even though I thought I understood it already, your response helped me feel better about this silly episode. Glad I got the wheel protection plan.

Thanks.

he hit your front wheel, how could you not avoid him? They weren't DQing riders for yellow line infraction? DID he at least acknowledge that his moves were reckless? That's all I would hope for.

Yesterday was a 60 riders field for my race and almost nobody was moving up because the official was watching us like a hawk. He also mentioned that he dq'ed 10 riders earlier.

As for the yellow line, it was crazy. They announced it was in effect, but at least for those first miles, the whole road was taken.

After the race he pretended someone had swerved in front of him, which was a lie. He got out of the saddle and jumped. I saw him coming and avoided him as much as possible, he proceeded to cross over as we were overlapped and I was slowing down even, to the point his rear skewer (must have been) hit my spokes.

Don't race on anything you can't afford to replace. If replacing your front wheel is a huge financial challenge, then you shouldn't have been racing on it. These things happen, and probably every racer in this forum has had a similar scenario. It sucks, but it's how it goes.

In all honesty though, I've never been in a RR where the officials weren't watching the yellow line like a hawk. The yellow line is serious business, and that guy should have been penalized or DQ'd if it was as bad as it sounds. I know a guy that was killed because he got pushed over the yellow line and hit by a car, the yellow line rule is there for a reason.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gAtMEsIVLVo


Awesome vid! Nina was an amazing talent... but OMG what a diva. And... WHAT is she wearing?

...

I had friends there, my mom was there, I was feeling good. I had all this energy and couldn't even ride but 7 miles (including warm up).
...

Why didn't you get a new wheel and keep racing? Two miles into the race, you have a chance to chase back on and get back into it.

Also, it's not at all common for competitors to replace your broken stuff. It's understood that you know the risks to body and equipment when you put your wheel on the line and you accept those risks.

Yuz pays yo money, yuz take yo chances.

I know my attitude is everything and I really need to move past this negativism. But I can't help it yet and shall vent some on here!

Saturday. Short Road Race. Cat 4/5 mixed 67 riders (I'm a 4 - 3 pts away from upgrading and getting consistent good results - pretty damn sure I would have won this). 2 miles into the race, first hill, no1 respects the yellow line rule, including myself. This one imbecile decides he also wants to get on the left and overtake some riders so he simply swerves 10 ft to his left with no regard for his line! Dumbass. Hit my front brand new 46mm carbon wheel and broke 3 spokes. He went on. My race was done. I didn't go down at least.

After all the dedication, training, and sacrifices, this dumbass buttmunch does something this stupid. I had friends there, my mom was there, I was feeling good. I had all this energy and couldn't even ride but 7 miles (including warm up).

I understand this stuff happens, crashes happen, I was lucky, and so on. But it's particularly frustrating because what he did was insanely stupid.

So after the race I talked to him, showed him my wheel, went over the facts, talked to officials, semi argued without losing my temper. I guess it's all pointless. I got his information but don't think he is going to even offset any of my financial setbacks - or if that's customary. And he's definitely not going to make us go back in time and not interfere on my race. Pissed.

What do you think?

Anyway. Glad I got the protection plan for the wheels. Looks like I will have to already use up the 1 replacement front I got for 2 yrs! The rim didn't crack but LBS tells me once it gets so warped (3 spokes broke on same side), the carbon rim is done.

I think this sounds like a normal 4/5 race.

Why didn't you get a new wheel and keep racing? Two miles into the race, you have a chance to chase back on and get back into it.

Also, it's not at all common for competitors to replace your broken stuff. It's understood that you know the risks to body and equipment when you put your wheel on the line and you accept those risks.

There was no spare wheel where I was. Had to wait for a car ride back to the start.

There was no spare wheel where I was. Had to wait for a car ride back to the start.

Sounds like it wasn't a well-organized race then.

As others have said already and you've acknowledged, be glad it was just equipment and not you. A couple weeks ago I was in front and some idiot crashed me. I think he thought I was going to follow an attack, surged and saw I wasn't attacking, then went off the road to the right, tried to get back on and body-checked me. Never saw anything coming, never got prepared. Just hit the ground.

Now my already separated shoulder is more separated, hurts a lot, and makes work impossible with that arm. Getting it checked out--might need surgery which means more time off work (with no money). So...count your blessings.

I was mad for a week at whoever crashed me. I know it wasn't purposeful, and we're Cat 5's learning...and all that. But it still irked me to no end, especially since I was in front where it's supposed to be the safest.

It's racing, and I'm aware of that. :)

Get a helmet/bike cam.

In 2009 a guy swerved a few feet to the left intentionally in order to get into open territory with half a lap to go in a training race where there are no places except first (and you get a soda or a beer for that). He took me and most of the guys around me out. I fractured my pelvis in two places, wheelchair for a while, then cane, couldn't work for about 2 months. Didn't fully recover until about March the following year. I was out $8k in wages and medical.

Another guy broke a bunch of ribs or something, the day before he was flying off to grad school.

The swerver and his two teammates swore the guy in front of him braked, forcing him to swerve to avoid him. One teammate had just pulled off and was off the back. The incident took place at the front (swerver was in the second row, as was I). Every other rider swore he swerved on purpose. He also elbowed the guy in front of me, trying to get him to move, and he yelled at the guy in front of him that if the guy didn't move he'd ride right through him.

Because of conflicting stories the swerver got to race until the end of the season, promote his race, and then served an off season 30 day suspension.

He caused a similar crash in the same venue in 2007. Just a week and a half before the 2009 incident he did the same thing in the Nutmeg State Games (I had the camera on but I was on the other side of the road - as it was I was forced off the road). THe NSG crash took out a bunch of guys, broken shoulder, screwed up knee, etc. My teammates swore off crits because of that race (and most of them quit racing in the next year or so).

I bought my current helmet cam to make sure things like that don't happen around me anymore. They don't.

I also bought cams for the cars. You know what? I've been tailgated maybe 4 times during the day since I put them on. At night it's a bit more common. Normally, around here, a tenth of a second is a good gap. Less than a car length at 40 mph is common. But behind me it's 30-40 feet, maybe more, even at traffic lights people stop 15 feet away from me. I bought the cams because I realized that once Junior was born I would get stressed over getting so tailgated. Now it's much less stressful.

Final word - I wrote an English paper on disappointment. You can guess what I used as a topic. Got an A and that class saved me from getting expelled. True story :)

There was no spare wheel where I was. Had to wait for a car ride back to the start.

You'll learn not to use your good wheels on races like this. If you are still with the field and you have no access to wheels, then it's not a serious race. Use durable wheels with clincher tires and carry at least a patch kit and CO2 so you don't have to beg a ride back home if you flat.

I know my attitude is everything and I really need to move past this negativism. But I can't help it yet and shall vent some on here!

where did people go to whinge about stupid crap before the internet?

First rule of bike racing...Protect your front wheel!
2nd rule of bike racing...**** happens constantly

As for the yellow line, it was crazy. They announced it was in effect, but at least for those first miles, the whole road was taken.

After the race he pretended someone had swerved in front of him, which was a lie. He got out of the saddle and jumped. I saw him coming and avoided him as much as possible, he proceeded to cross over as we were overlapped and I was slowing down even, to the point his rear skewer (must have been) hit my spokes.

were they worried about missing an attack? most 4/5 attacks don't last long anyways.

where did people go to whinge about stupid crap before the internet?

Girlfriends.