shovelhd

Nice work Vance and Ex. Caloso, I know the feeling. You did the right thing.

AzTallRider

Sounds like a great weekend racing, folks.

Cleave

With so many racing this past weekend, I feel like a slug for taking the weekend off. Can't believe the kind of heat that all of you racing in NorCal endured. Hope the rest of the country wasn't as hot.

LAJ

Thanks valygrl. I keep re-watching it, and just not sure what I could have done different.

LAJ

I need to study up on track racing so I can understand what goes on in your reports. Racer Ex tries hard, and wins a lot, is what I get out of his reports, at this point.

Racer Ex 

Just watched it (hey, post this stuff over here too) and here's my take had this been me:

I would have made the same move, but I would have been more aggressive and made it sooner. I like to snap right on to the wheel that's moving forward, and not let a gap form that might encourage others to try to move onto the wheel as well.

Assuming you were in the drops and not on the hoods, when you see contact coming put those elbows out and push forward into the drops. It helps to solidify you and keep you going straight in case of contact. I'll also lean slightly in the direction of the contact so my weight pushes back into the rider making contact. FWIW I'm not a big guy but most of the time guys bounce off me rather than move me.

Also, I would have employed "mother*****" after the crash. "SOB" is pretty much a Cat 4 expletive.

Up until hitting the deck you were riding pretty well.

LAJ

Thanks Racer Ex. I appreciate the advice.

I will work on the defensive positioning. I actually did the lean thing in a circuit race a month ago. Almost the same scenario, but the rider hit me in my forearm/elbow area. I'm not sure if him being in the drops would have helped, but I like to think it wouldn't have hurt.

I agree, and I should have said that, as far as the jump went. Had I moved sooner, I think it may have been different. I was certainly in the drops, and can stay comfortable in them for the usual 45 minute crit. For whatever reason, he wasn't in my sights, as far as trouble went. I was more intent on the wheel ahead, and it was a huge surprise seeing him move my way. I am generally more aware of my surroundings, and certainly knew I couldn't move any further right. He slipped through my guard, and that makes me mad.

Even after hitting the deck, I still knew my place in the racing world, hence the Cat 4 expletive. I may be old, but I always respect my betters, young and old.

VanceMac

Just a side note, this was the first event I've been to where people without stars and stripes on their sleeves might have been in the minority. In our Masters Scratch and Points races, the main drivers were THIS guy (41, and won gold at 2011 Masters Track and bronze at ELITE track the same year) and THIS guy (about a dozen national championships).

gsteinb

and that second guy served a two year drug suspension.

Cleave

2+ years since he cheated on his comeback.

shovelhd

Tuesday at the Rent A, hot, muggy, stiff south wind. It's really tough to figure where I ended up as the field exploded but I think I was somewhere around 6th. The race started at a recovery pace so I went to the front and ramped things up for a lap. CDR's team was out in force, and once things got going, they put on a clinic. I jumped hard for the first prime but misjudged the wind and was swarmed well before the line. Then the attacks started. Four of CDR's guys, which eventually became three, lapped the field. Once the break came by I jumped on (this is a training race) and did my work up front. When I came back up for the second round the attacks started. I survived the first two but they popped me on the third try. I fell back to the second group, putting in some good work on the front. I didn't have a good wheel in the sprint so I just hammered it across the line.

gsteinb

maybe it's easier to forgive guys you don't actually have to race against. in the case of guys like bunde, david anthony, peter cannell, williams...they're guys I've had to line up against.

shovelhd

Same here.

caloso

Felt much better at Davis this afternoon. Better hydration, better warm up. Finished in the pack. A lot of the starting field got dropped or abandoned so I count it as a good result.

Racer Ex 

My list is pretty long.

revchuck 

And distinguished?

The second half of my first road race this year, the best I could do was keep my watts in the low-to-middle of my endurance range. The heat and inadequate hydration definitely put my pud in the mud. The next was much better - I still sucked, but my watts were about where they were supposed to be. Glad you've turned the corner.

Racer Ex 

I've only done that race once. Keep meaning to get back there but haven't managed it.

Allegheny Jet

Raced the Twin Sizzler yesterday. It is a long standing unliscened event that draws the usual suspects, tri guys and guys testing the waters. This year the organizer (local Red Cross) contracted with a group that usually puts MTB races on. They used timing chips instead of people to determine places and the start and final results were FUBAR. In the quest for more profit I believe they even pushed out the local cycling club who organized the start and recorded finish results.

My race, 60-64 got combined at the start with the 50+, 55+ and 65+ because the starter said "I want to save some time". Some protested due to the field being at least 100 so the starter agreed to start the 50-55 groups first. Notice the "55"? That created another issue later in scoring the 55-59 race due to any 55's starting earlier.

My race started with a field of around 75. I sat near the front for the first 7 miles and at the first hill launched a ramped up attack to crush souls but did too well and got to the top with 4 others. They wanted to work to stay away but I could see a small chase group behind that had at least one team mate, in addition to having a sprinter mentality. The chase caught us and there were two team mates in our new group of 15. We controlled the rest of the race and I out sprinted a 55+ guy for the overall win and AG win.

Hermes

The new Manx Missile or can you ride your bike onto the roof rack of your car?

AzTallRider

He forgot to mention he was balancing on Bosu balls during the sprint.

Nice job, AJ.

shovelhd

Excellent, AJet!!

VanceMac

Huge win! I'm all for chip timing (esp in mtb and cx), but are you saying no one was watching the sprint finish for the order? That would be crazy.

Racer Ex 

Form is coming for Cleveland AJ, great job.

Cleave

@Allegheny Jet, very nice win!

Despite the fact that sanctioned races are sometimes FUBAR, sanctioned races have certified officials who generally keep organizers from playing games with the race organization and from my last reading of the rule book, require human scoring to go along with timing chips.

caloso

Well done, AJ.