merckx89

Post em if you got em

Cliff notes version: Cat 5 race, beginning of last lap I jumped hard and soloed the last 1:30 to roll in about 10 seconds ahead of the pack.

"overly verbose" version: We managed to get there with plenty of time before out race (about 2h), so we watched the juniors for a while, before getting a good 45 min warm up in. Dave and I both managed to get spots on the line and neither of us really fell out of the top 15 or so. About half way through the first lap, the usual cat 5 tactics set in and no one will go to the front and work, so I attack and spent the next 3 laps about 7-12 seconds off the front but not really gaining any time. I was trying to coerce someone to bridge up so that I would have someone to work with, but no dice. Finally realized no one was coming so I sat up and drifted back into the pack. Not a horrible field handling wise but not great either (what can you expect from a 5's field). Had a few guys bumping into my bars who swung out to far coming around the 180 degree turn in the back, but no crashes thankfully. I attacked a few more times, trying to get someone to go with me but no one felt like it I guess. 4 laps to go sign goes up and a guy in a capo jersey goes to the front and starts picking up the pace for the next 3 laps, but when he pulls off no one wanted to come to the front on the last lap. We go through the first turn, and going into the second I take a hard line on the inside and open a little gap, and then jumped hard. One guy latched on and I thought he was going to come around me right at the line, but going through the back turn, I took and inside line again, and I guess he didn't like it because when I looked back after the turn he was about 10 yards behind me again and had swung out pretty far the the right. Jump again and soloed the last 200 meters.
That's 10 races for me, but I'm going to wait until after San Dimas to upgrade.
I had my hands up for the last 50 meters or so and the official came over to me afterward and warned me that if I do it again I will be DQ'ed, despite that fact that the rule was removed over 2 years ago.

king-tony

Congrats. Nice job. Did you inform the official of his ignorance or just nod?

waterrockets 

Congrats! Great win, and way to capitalize on someone's lesser cornering abilities.

Crash716

You suck....that is all..I wish you would have found me before the race...i would have worked with you...when you jumped i thought you might be like that swami's guy that bonked, so i let you go...was sitting about 4th wheel or so and had the juice to go with ya but didn't know it was you!!. about 1/4 the was thru the last lap i was like...great...we are all racing for 2nd or 3rd. Good work..i talked to that guy...he actually got caught by us. Some one chopped my wheel hard going into the long left sweeper and being that i was on a rental and i have to move this week i wasn't going to throw it in there on anyone just for 3rd or so. I think i got 6-9th? No biggie...i to am out of the 5's!!!!

Yeee hooooo...we survived!!...now it's on to the Crash 4s!!

merckx89

Well, I'm still in them for a few more races. I'm not going to say it yet, bad luck and all, but ditto your last line. What jersey do you have? I never know who to look for, and I can't remember faces, only jerseys and bikes.

Crash716

I race for Cosmos Coffee and BRC racing.

merckx89

Are you going to be at Ontario tomorrow? There's going to be 4 or 5 bicycle john's guys warming up, come say hi. (I'm the one on the look) Were going to be there all day as one of the guys who I carpool with is also doing the masters 55+ at 7:55 and then the 4/5 and 2:55, so we'll be hanging out all day.

Crash716

I am not doing ontario...we are moving this week so i might not be racing for a few weeks as i go out of town soon too for work.

Good luck!

merckx89

Darn. So how did you end up doing in the series overall?

Crash716

probably 7th or 8th?

how did you do?

Chucklehead

guess i'll post it here, too, since there are duplicate threads.

yes, congrats. again. now stop sandbagging and get up to the 4's!


i didn't think i was even going to finish today. i've been sick all week and only got one ride in.
i showed up an hour before what was supposed to be the start time, only to be told that there had been a pretty bad crash in an earlier race, so they had to wait for the ambulance to return before resuming the schedule an hour late.
rolled off and felt like hell, so i stayed at the back - as in DFL - for the first few laps. i did that until the guy in front of me would either move up and i'd follow, or blow up and i'd pass.
as the race went on, i started feeling better, but only to the point where i was confident i would finish. a couple of my teammates eventually settled in with me and we just sort of hung out back there for a while. we had planned to get up front and try to slow the field a little when another teammate took a scheduled flyer, but we couldn't get up there in time he went anyway, and earned a prime for his trouble, so it wasn't for nothing.
over the course of the race, i started playing with different lines and found something i thought was fast, so i remembered it in case i was in condition and/or position to use it at the end, and it turns out i felt great when we reached laps. with three left, one of my teammates comes out of nowhere and starts pulling through the field, so i went with, and by the time we hit the bell lap, we were in great position. to my good fortune, he followed the line i'd picked for myself, and led me around the outside of everyone in the backstretch turnaround. i was carrying a little more momentum than him, so i went around and got into the sprint, where i finished a pretty easy 9th. not bad considering how i've felt the entire week.
i need to work my way forward a little earlier in races so i'll know how to time my launch a little better. in all of the all-out sprints i've been in so far this year, i've only gained spots(except anger management where i finished 3rd and lost one spot in the sprint.) i don't have HUGE power or endurance, so timing is really important for me. i'll get there sooner or later. two more chances tomorrow.

merckx89

I didn't do the first race in the series unfortunately.