bah! here is what its supposed to say

Great day yesterday...was stupid and blew my chance at a win, had my car break down on the thruway as I drove home and had to get it towed, and the uscf officials didn't record my finish. :fight:

So, I did the Capital Region RR yesterday, and finished decently high up after blowing my chance to win it. I guesstimated after we crossed the line that I placed around 15th in a field of 72. The problem is, the camera the officials were using at the finish line died before we crossed it, so I guess they had to try and do the results by hand. I left before results were posted, so I missed the protest period.

Today I checked out the results, and they say that I DNF'd :eek: 13th place was left blank (no name, no bib number), as I suppose they couldn't figure out who came in 13th. Well, I'm pretty sure 13th place is me, and I've written USA cycling an e-mail explaining the situation and asking if there's any way to prove where I placed and get me credit for the finish.

So, I have two questions for you guys. 1. Has anyone had luck with getting the USCF to change results after the protest period is over? And 2. I know 13th isn't a top 10 finish and I won't get any upgrade points for it, but would it help my upgrade resume to have the 13th place finish recorded since the field was pretty large?

You never know. I've seen results changed after the protest period so give it a shot.

The phrase that comes to mind is "That's bike racing!"

It's not a perfect system. Not even close.

I don't mean to sound callous. There are just certain situations that crop up in this quirky sport that can't be handled perfectly.

You can certainly try to file a protest, but the chances of getting a satisfactory resolution are pretty slim.

Sounds like a rough day!

Truthfully I would not bother with worrying about it and chalk it up as a lesson learned. The "protest" period is there for a reason - and although you weren't really protesting there has to come a time that results are official. Most good judges will be lenient, especially in a situation such as yours where the placing is there, but if there are no upgrade points, prizes, etc. on the line its probably not worth the time.

Something to keep in mind is to always check out the results as soon as they are posted. You never know when someone ahead of you is DQed, you get left out or a million other things!

When I used to do upgrades I was generally looking for experience and fitness for the lower categories (4 to 5) while the move to 3 or 2 required good solid results. I used to like to see the races a person received points for listed in order for the past year on top and then a general list of starts (for experience) after that.

Good luck and hopefully its always in the money after this!

Do you know anyone else who did the race? Any teams in that particular race. Maybe someone video'd it and you could review and get a copy to the officials if you're indeed the 13th finisher.

I doubt you will see any changes. I'm not trying to harsh on you but 13th place is basically 'packfodder' and it isn't worth the trouble to change it. I mean it is a decent result - I took 13th in a very hard road race around here. I was dropped out of the break/split on the last climb but still finished ahead of the pack. Somehow they missed my number and I didn't check the results until a couple minutes after they were final. I went over and complained and the fixed it. But if it was the next day I doubt if they would have changed it. I'm proud of that result and it showed pluck and good form, but I was pissed that I was dropped. I accentuated the positive and went out the next day and won a little crit. So try and use the placing to build on and go and get another place that is truly worth something!

If I am trying to upgrade, I never worry about points.

I concentrate on my fitness and I go and do races. If my fitness is good I will generate results and get upgraded.

Lots of people tend to obsess over their results and they put too much pressure on themselves and can't really get results. That is putting the cart before the results in my opinion.

Case in point it took me just eight races to earn the points from 3-2 because I was going really well. Lately I haven't been going as great and in the last few months have hardly done jack. So I'm focusing on my training (planting the tree) and after awhile I'll start to get results again (picking the fruit).

Let it go and move on.

Thanks for the responses.

Yeah, I'm not proud of the 13th at all considering what I did to get it (I was on the front with 1km to go and thought I could ride the peloton off my wheel...wound up giving them a .5k leadout :rolleyes: ), I'm just trying to salvage what I can from a bad day.

So like I say use that to motivate you for your next race!

Update: USA cycling updated the results, and at the moment it has me as finishing the race in 16th overall.

Something funky's going on with the results from that race. They added you in, as they should have, but it looks like you weren't the only one. I ended up getting bumped down 12 spots!
:eek:

I'm not really a "guy," but have had some luck in collegiate races.

Yikes!

Are you doing the blistered butt RR on saturday? I'm considering waking up at 2:30 in the morning and dragging my butt down there :D

Blistered
 

Yeah, as much as I hate getting up at 4.30 Charlie I. runs a good race. I'm probably going to start to taper down for the end of the season. I don't know if I'll be doing the real late season races like Jamestown, etc... I was hoping to do the Bear Mtn fall classic, but the 4's were locked out in about 3 hours. Oh well, I'll probably do the next few PP races and maybe head up to Rhode Island in September. Who knows.