Originally Posted by chocho13

overlapping my wheel to other riders

Originally Posted by chocho13

I see what youre saying so in some situations its isnt a bad thing if your overlapping wheels. Would you do this if the road was quiet bumpy and some riders would be kind of wobbly due to the bumps?

Originally Posted by shovelhd

Touching wheels is also not a death sentence as long as you know how to handle the contact. In yesterday's P/1/2/3 race, last lap, hill finish, the rider in front of me pushed back when he jumped out of the saddle and swerved left. He touched my wheel for a second but it was no big deal. Even in a full tilt sprint, my grip on the bars isn't so stiff that the wheel can't flop a little bit side to side.

I came around him on the right.

Originally Posted by island rider

remember to waive in a few years when you are riding off the front of the Pro/1/2 races.

Originally Posted by shovelhd

I was marshaling your race and I don't remember anything coming over the radio.

Originally Posted by island rider

That's because of the radio jamming program Ipad guy was running on the Macbook

Originally Posted by chocho13

A little update, four months after. Well i decided to give out the Bethel Series a try today, sadly i couldn't attend all the races, i only participated in the last race today. I'm going to give a little reflection on the race. The staff, promoters and everyone else were very kind and patient and i liked how smooth the registration went. It was sunny and the course was very nice.

Now to the race itself. I raced as a Cat5 and i started from the back. The first laps took some adjusting but i had the feel for it and i was riding a very easy 27mph with no effort (drafting of course). I felt like my gears ran out, even on the highest gear combo 52/15 that i have i was spinning but other than that not to much problems with the junior gearing limitations. Now as for riding in the pack, i could tell alot about the people at how relaxed they rode or even how nervous they rode. There were a couple of guys that wobbled so i tried to stay out of the way. Crosswinds got my front wheel close to a guy next to me but that wasnt pretty scary because i adjusted with no problem. Every lap the hill on that leads to the start was getting easier and easier to climb (i guess i didn't warm up well haha). Anyway one thing that i noticed that bothered me is that i felt i was doing no effort at all because every second a guy in front of me would brake or something. So most of the time i was just cruising. Now on the as we were heading into the last lap this is were it gets interesting. I went by the line and i heard the bell, i felt great, not even tired,breathing through my nose, feeling like ive been riding a recovery ride. As i approached the first corner from the start/finish line i kept my line BUT OF COURSE some guy came swerving in and cut me off and made me tumble down and therefore crashing and taking out a guy that was behind me. The scary part is that he fell on top of me and we slid maybe 3 or 4 feet? I landed like if i was swimming with my belly on the ground. At this point i couldn't get up but i managed to get up. The police lady was very nice to help me get up and offer me help. The guy(that i took down with me) seemed scared because he asked me if i was alright many times, he after all did fall on me so i guess that's why he was concerned I was fine no major injuries. Nothing broken. Just many cuts and road rashes but other than im alright. I wasnt mad about the crash i was more mad about the fact that i had a pretty good chance to finish at least idk top 5? because i felt so great, i felt so great that i knew i would be able to get myself in a good spot for the sprint. The fact that it happened on the bell lap made me even more mad -_-. My bike was fine, my bar tape ripped off but since it was an aluminum bike nothing happened to the bike. Well my first bike experience was fun, painful, and i learned alot, especially to be more aware of guys looking at their mounted ipods on their bike rather than keeping there line into a bend. The main reason i came out of Bethel smiling with torn up legs and a messed up knee was that all my training, all that hard work paid off and i have an idea of how i stand in terms of fitness. I don't think im still a super strong rider, considering im like 5'5 and only weigh 116 pounds. My fright of being dropped or lapped are almost to non existent now but im looking forward for my next race in 2 weeks.

Overall It was a great experience and im looking forward for atleast a podium place in my next race

Originally Posted by gsteinb

Let's make a successful forum for younger folks.

Originally Posted by island rider

Just out of curiosity, is the intention that all junior should just post in the juniors forum? If he posted his question in the juniors section would he have gotten the input and feedback he got on his original post (i.e. are the voices of experience patrolling this forum as well)? I would have thought of the junior forum as a place for juniors to talk to each other, but when it comes to getting information from the experienced older guys the main forum would be the place to go. Not that it matters to me, I only happen to be following this thread and saw it move.

Originally Posted by newjunior

52x14 should work if you're desperate for a harder gear.

Originally Posted by chocho13

And Ill start posting in the Junior Section from now on, but getting answers from more experienced people in the main forum is nice Anyway sorry about posting this in this in the wrong area.