2 Man TT = FAIL!
 

OK, So I finally found a partner for the ABD Garden Prairie 2 man TT. In pre race discussions he says I was faster than him ... never said how much faster, ...

So we do some pre-race warm-ups and I realize he can't turn around. I gain about 30 seconds every time we try it. I finally give up. I was also concerned that I was dropping him a little on the warm up but didn't worry as maybe he was just taking it easy.

So ....

We roll to the line and his rear tire is nearly flat. The valve extender is leaking and we finally get enough air in it literally 10 seconds before the start. Not a good omen.

It was really windy, 20-30 mph with gusts, made riding with deep dish front and rear disc a decent challenge. It was pretty cold too. Off we go.

I start out and put about 100 feet on him at the start. I wait a bit and then go again. Look back, another 50 feet. Uh oh ... I wait for him to catch up again and slowly start to ramp the speed back up. We are only doing about 22 or 23 mph with a big tail wind. He signals to take a pull. I ease up ... he eventually pulls through ... and then slows down to 20 mph ... with the wind!

I wait a minute and my hr monitor shows under 70% and I pull ahead and say ... "Let me pull the whole time, just hold my wheel." and off I go. Cranked it up to just 28 and dropped him again. Now I know I've got trouble. I try to tell him to let me know when I can go stronger or when I should slow up. He says he's near his max. Ugghh! Now we're going really slow, literally below 15 mph on a section into the wind, with my pulling and sitting up to block the most wind. My HR is still barely 80% and I say this isn't working very well as I'm not getting a workout and we really aren't practicing much as we're not rotating or anything.

He says he'd like to try a little longer. Umm ... OK. We get to the turn around and I can't take it ... so I take off. I know it's not nice to do but I doubt he has ever cracked 1:15 on a 40k tt so he should have told me that and I wouldn't have wasted my time riding with him! Now I'm pretty pissed and cruising into a brutal headwind most of the way.

Now for the fun part. I had a turn from an angled wind into a strong head wind again. In this process, I'm in the aero drops and about 20 mph. As I make the turn, a pretty big gust hits me and I thought I corrected my line enough ... key word thought. As I near the exit of the turn, I realize I'm going too fast to stay on the road. There is about a 3" drop off onto gravel... a ditch, and then a farm field.

Boom, off the road, try for some brakes, hit the gully, fly over the handlebars, bike digs in ... carp!. Bounce up, nothing broken on me, a course guy right behind my in a car jumped out and grabs my bike, spins the wheels and it looks OK. I hop back in ... try to clip in with all the mud on my cleats ... and off I go. The guy laughs and says "Sure your OK?". It's funny, you'll see my heart rate rise in the crash ... little panic boy lol.

In total I was down for a little over 10 seconds. At least when I crash I do it quickly. Here are a couple shots.

Moral to the story ... 1. Pick a partner close to your fitness level. 2. Be careful with a rear disc in gusty conditions.

http://www.pbase.com/image/112362973/original.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/image/112362974/original.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/image/112362975/original.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/image/112362976/original.jpg


PS
I Suck! Crashing in a TT???

My neck is killing me and something in my left groin hurts. Still plan to ride today.

Your TTs are much more dangerous than my crits.

If you're worried about crashing, maybe you should try TTs.

Oh, wait...

Isn't riding a disc for the first time kind or like clip-ins ... you get one or two free crashes?

:roflmao2:

Oh ... sorry. :o

:lol:

no.

http://raven.sitening.com.s3.amazona...reporter-1.png

You had gas too?:innocent:

:roflmao2: :roflmao2:

Stop it! :cry: :roflmao2:

Your killin' me!! :roflmao2: :cry:

Maybe you should get one of those cheap/trash bikes for TT :D

You guys are about the most unsuportive, negative, nasty, freakin,

funny


bastages ever. LOL

jeebus. from picking a crappy partner to crashing, that's just a really bad day.

glad you're ok though.

So . . . the real question here (its really hard to type this :roflmao2:), did you break an hour?

:roflmao2: :cry: :roflmao2:

That's funny, I don't recall being in a 2 man TT.

Umm.... I'm not going to post this in the actual ride thread because I don't want to alarm anyone and make them think it's actually canceled, but I'll let you know now... The Cross Plains Double or Nothing is canceled. I don't want to be responsible for you killing yourself bombing down hills at 78 mph and missing corners.

I did the same thing at Whitnall Park with no disc wheel. I'm just trying to make myself feel better by criticizing you. But I did learn a valuable lesson from the experience: Don't crash.

How's that working out for you ...

:roflmao2:

You guys are so brutal ... lol

Honestly, I think he's been in the money the past few races! :D

http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto...-main_Full.jpg

Definitely.

Anyone still got a link to a certain Super Week crash?

Pretty well. I'm having my best season ever (so, in the last 3 years) so far. Aside from the Baraboo RR, in which I got shelled at the first scent of uphill, I've been pretty pleased with my results. After Muskego, I should move into 2nd place for the Cat 3 Wisconsin Cup.

Edit: Here's the video for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfs55TB9srg

But let's not forget what this thread is about. CC crashed in a 2 man TT.

Now, I can understand how a 2 man TT could be slightly more dangerous than a solo TT, but CC dropped his team mate.

That's the important thing here.

This thread reminded me of this.... especially about 1 minute into the video.

So do we now go with ChickenChange or ColorChicken?

Here's some more inspirational TT footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uuCS...eature=channel

LOL ... man you guys are funny!

And it's true, I was definitely riding solo when I went down. No gravel, no hill, not even off camber ... just plain stupidity (and a little wind). Neck is still sore but groin seems fine. Had no problem riding yesterday as long as I didn't have to turn my head.

Should be all go for the Tuesday night stomp fest. And my "partner" sends the following e-mail:

So how are we feeling today. I was pretty tired. I feel bad we could not go as fast as we had hoped. Maybe i was having an off day. I hope you were not too sore from the wipeout. I am taking my wheel in and getting a new tire mounted. No more flats! Please let me know when the group is meeting. I really need some serious interval training.

Then again ... maybe you just suck! I really am ticked. If he was that damn slow I wouldn't have ridden with him and would have done it solo for the experience and training. I think he had an obligation to say "I can't ride anywhere near as fast as you ..." or something similar. I could have then made my decision. I was even OK to have him suck my wheel the whole way as at least I would be getting a decent workout, but he couldn't come close to doing that and I finally had enough and took off.

So, do I ?

1. not reply to the e-mail and let him go away
2. invite him to our rides (and he will get instantly shelled), even though I don't like him and don't think he would have a positive effect on group dynamics
3. send him and e-mail telling him why I'm ticked at him

CyLowe, at least he was going way faster than 20 mph and I think he even got up faster than my 10 seconds. A true pro!

It seems this guy is not very experienced with cycling. Perhaps he comes from a background with less brutal honesty, and more unfounded positivity. (These things have no place in cycling)

If I were you, I'd tell him when the group was meeting, but bluntly tell him he'll be remorselessly dropped from the group in short order. Sounds to me like he needs a good dose of the cold truth. Perhaps you could also point him to some other n00b-friendly rides where he can get his skills up.

At least he did say "he feels bad", so his heart is in the right place, at the very least. :)