Edonis13

40 minute crit. felt great with the pack on the first few laps, i just stayed toward the back and held a wheel. there were 2 crashes in the first 2 laps (in the same place on the course, the first turn), i avoided both and life was good. in the last turn on the 3rd lap a rider crashed by himself right in the middle of the corner. myself and 2 other riders had to slam on our brakes to not run him over and in turn got gapped right when the pack was surging. it was a gap we could not make up, the other 2 riders didnt want to work together so we were all riding solo until the official pulled us a few laps later.

it was fun until i got dropped off the back, then it just hurt like hell. i will be training harder, eating better to shed some weight, and ill get back out there again to see if i can make it to the end this time.

it was a fun and humbling experience.

asgelle

If the official told you to stop, it was not a DNF.

Edonis13

didnt know that. what does that make it?

asgelle

It means you finished in the place of as many people as were ahead of you when you were told to stop. In a stage race, you would have been placed and given a prorated time based on how long it took you to get lapped. In a stand-alone crit, you were probably below the last place they bothered classifying, but you still had whatever place you were in.

chipcom 

Congrats on your first race...and it wasn't a DNF!

Edonis13

thanx.

i had read on here about the "crash 5's" but man, 3 crashes in the first 3 laps was a little more than i expected. one of them was less than 200m from the start.

Snuffleupagus

Keep at it. You've got the first race jitters over now, and can only go up from here

bayareawheeler

i was in the race with ya, scared the hell out of me. Holy crash fest!! I swooped the first prime and was going for the second when David from Third Pillar road my wheel to the line and sniped it by a few inches! ******* haha.

2 to go my nerves were so frayed from seeing and hearing all the damn crashes I was just going to sit in and finish with the pack when a friend pulled up offering a lead out. Well I declined the lead out (really didnt feel comfortable in this race) but as luck would have it we had okay position last lap so i told my buddy to grab my wheel and lit my book of matches with 2 turns to go. Got him up front and he was able to pull 6th place (we both agreed later it was a bit early) so all in all it was a good day with a prime and being able to leadout a buddy.

Was still in a foul mood when i got home so i headed out to a local climb for a coupe 2x20's...feel much better now =o)

Edonis13

they made a good decision getting rid of the 180* turn mid race, or i think it would have been even worse. good job on snaggin the prime. i wish i had been comfortable enough to move up toward the front of the group instead of just sitting in at the back, that probably would have saved me from getting gapped. lesson learned.

ridethecliche

I got pulled off the course in my second crit by a ref too.
Wasn't feeling good at all that day and I did a lot better the next week.

That being said, congrats on getting your first race done with. Keep at it and ride safe

Red Rider

Good job!

I thought I DNF'd Cherry Pie. Was pleasantly surprised to discover otherwise.

Take those lessons and apply them; your next race will be very different.

Congrats again on showing up and racing with heart.

USCswimming

I drove the 15 mins to get there, kept seeing a lot of rain at 9AM. I saw the new 180 put on the course and thought of my own crash last year on lap 3. Needless to say, I went home. If it was dry, I would have been all over the crit but I can't afford to break anything on my upper body.

I really hate setting the alarm at 7am, than deciding not to race because its raining 3-4 days after its been a 100+ degrees!

Yes I am a puss. Rain=me no race!

chipcom 

So you're fine with me breaking your legs?

botto 

**** happens. join the club.

caloso

Good job Edonis. I was in the same field with Bayareawheeler. Nice job on the prime, by the way: you looked very strong.

I personally saw or heard 3 crashes in the Cat 4 field. One happened right in front of me, on the 90 degree left immediately after the start/finish. I had to slalom through a couple of guys on the ground and thought I might have to try a bunnyhop over a bike but it slid right by me. A teammate who got pulled after being caught behind a later crash told me there were 6 separate crashes in that race.

I tried to stay in the top 10, but was just so knackered by the accelerations out of the hairpin that I had no gas for the final sprint. I think I finished 10th or so. And my nerves were pretty well shot by then too.

Ironically, I think they added that 180 to increase safety, but no one expected the rain.

Edonis13

the 5's (race i was in obviously) only did 2 laps with the hairpin before they closed that section of the course and had us just turn right after the start/finish straight from then on. like i said, 2 crashes in the first 2 laps on that left leading into the hairpin. the pro/1/2 race was right before us and they had a crash in that corner that caused someone to be taken away in an ambulance on a backboard. i doubt they'll be including the hairpin next year.

sounds like your team mate had the same luck as me. that was very disheartening to see the field ride away at 28-30mph while i was starting from 10mph trying to catch back up.

also, my race was dry, it was very overcast and had sprinkled a little before hand while i was warming up, but the course was dry.

SushiJoe

Yep, I got last in my Cat 5 crit today. First race that wasn't a roller race. Couldn't believe how terrible I did.

caloso

And remember, for the Cat 4 upgrade, you need 10 mass field starts, not finishes.

SushiJoe

I can't speak for Edonis13, but I think I need to stay in the 5's for a good, long while.

umd

Are you sure about that? That's how I was listed in the races where I was pulled.

Edonis13

well, with my schdule tightening up significantly in a month, ill have very little time for training much less racing. ill be in the 5's for at least another year.