badhat

i have a reputation for actually thanking marsalls and promoters mid-race.

i was in a 2 man break at dead dog last year and as we went through the small town at the foot of the climb i must have said "thanks guys" a dozen times as we passed marshalls and cops.

my breakmate joked that we were the friendliest break ever.

i thanked the cops at every corner of my TT yesterday too.

carpediemracing 

You're Dave Weins?

kindablue

In her defense WR, Deer trail does not have turns. They stick a cone in the middle of a narrow 2 lane country road. Some folks have to unclip to remain upright. I'd hardly call that a necessary cycling skill (not trying to pick a fight, I'm just bitter about that race).

Speaking of Deer Trail
SM4s 21/49
I sat in for the first few laps then moved to the front for the final 7 miles or so after the cone turn. Misjudged the finish line (by like 5 miles) and moved up to the front way too soon. Worked on some of the rollers, trying to put the hurt on some of the guys. Ended up taking too much wind, and I couldn't drift back with 2 mi to go. With the narrow lanes and the pack dynamic on that race my options were either to sit up on the front or stay there. I choose the non crash related option...
When we reached the 1k sign, my HR was already around 180 after a few miles of anerobic/NM efforts on rollers. I didn't have any sprint left in my legs, and with some well rested guys behind me I didn't want to be that d bag who f's up the sprint. I drilled 500m until my world went blurry and then pulled off when people started passing me.
Sat up and somehow got 21st. Bleh. I hate the course.

Only need 3 points to upgrade to 3s. Should have really just sat behind the sprinters and drilled for some points... stupid me.

valygrl

Thanks for the thought kindablue - but it *was* a limiter for me, as my lack of confidence with that turn made me hesitate and drift to the back, rather than move up and be first through the turn as I knew I should be, so I missed the selection. I'm going to have to learn how to do it for TT's too, in which that is a commonly required skill. I've been fooling myself for a while now, that I don't have to suck it up and learn how to make a tight left u-turn.

My TT bike has toe overlap, my old road bike did too -- which is what give me fits with tight turns, my legs won't go around b/c they think my toe is going to hit the wheel. My current road bike doesn't have that problem, though.

Sorry your race didn't go as you wanted.

Jancouver

Efficiency is Adams Ave guy. Watch the crash video and you will see him there

I know this guy ...

TMonk

^
helmet too far back.
what a dummy

jwible

Shelled by a teammate on Sunday. The kid goes OTF for the first 5 laps and strings it out leaving this old guy gasping for air after a few minutes. Hilly course. I can't live over 600 watts that often.

Racer Ex 

Last year at Dana I got kicked in the head by a guy flying through the air. I'm not sure what Chuck Norris was doing there but I was more than a little annoyed. Then there was the guy who missed the corner and ended up racing down the sidewalk.

Coming off the injury and with nothing but TT prep in my legs I gave it a pass.

efficiency

A guy in Cat 3 at Dana Point missed turn 2 and rode the sidewalk for almost the entire next straight.

carpediemracing 

I hate when that happens. Usually I'm the shelled, but sometimes I'm the sheller. I remember back in the day doing monster pulls at the beginning of a big race, trying to keep the avg speed over 30 mph (basically I wanted to be going 35 on the straights). I eased after 4 or so laps (I pulled about half the time, 3 others pulled inbetween), looked all over the field for my one teammate and leadout man. I figured something happened, broken chain or something. After the race he apologized for going otb at the beginning. "The pace was insane and I couldn't hang."

Oops.

carpediemracing 

I've used sidewalks tactically. A now defunct crit (NY, where 287 and 84 split I think) has some very hard turns just before the finish, narrow roads, but super super wide sidewalks (like 15-20 feet sidewalk on a narrow 2 lane road, dunno why). I went into the last turn way too hot on purpose, used most of the sidewalk to stay upright, and did well.

shovelhd

I rode the sidewalk at Exeter last year. It was either that or faceplant a light pole.

AzTallRider

I took a bike handling clinic a year or so ago, and one of the many drills was to do slow tight circles around a small circle of cones - both directions, of course. Very helpful, and easy enough to practice up.

My biggest cornering weakness is knowing when a pedal will clip. I just don't have a great feel for how far I can push it, especially since I use 175mm cranks, and most folks don't. I can't always pedal through when those ahead of me can. I've had mild scrapes a few times, and really launched myself once, in a crit with a (4 lane) 180* turnaround. That crit is coming up, and when you combine its technical nature and its climb, well, let's just say it doesn't suit me very well.

Getting a great feel for how much I can lean is my #1 handling skills goal for next season, and I may just reduce my crank size to eliminate any disadvantage.

caloso

I've used the sidewalk a few times myself. It helps to scan out the driveway cutouts near (just past?) corners before the race. You never know when you may need an escape route.

AzTallRider

Rightly or wrongly, the perception of those of us who race the smaller Arizona fields is that in the big CA races, folks are more likely to take unreasonable chances to move up. Chances that maybe don't place enough emphasis on being able to make it to work on Monday. I'm sure its related more to the larger fields than anything else. They require a far more agressive strategy if you want to win, and that requires a definite change in mental approach. We don't get experience in 100+ crit's unless we travel.

Our team didn't have anyone go down at Dana, but there were several near-misses reported. We did have a guy taken down and run over in the Gila crit. He's banged up but okay.

kleinboogie

I almost did that by overcooking t2 and the hay bales and I locked gaze (I could have sworn I saw a pin). Then I remembered look where you want to go. Ended up riding the gutter but kept going.

Thanks. In the Pro 1/2 video I just put up, I had to cut out the random conversations that occur when people see that you're videotaping a race. Not sure what that brings out in people but sometimes I just want to say, "Inside voices". Cheers

Racer Ex 

What's funny is that I can move around a big field without any problem. Except when it's a P1/2 race and they are going 32 MPH the whole time, which is probably how some masters races feel to other guys.

Perspective I guess.

Speaking of, the PR around that crit take down thing is just horrible. The one team owner is calling people names on VN if he doesn't like their post. I couldn't take it anymore and sent him an FB message.

I can't think of Bob Stapleton even using the word "lame" in a sentence unless it was to describe a race horse he had invested in.

Racer Ex 

They are outside cheering a bike race.

It bugs me when I go to a race and some guy with a video camera who's taping a race that will go up on Youtube and get 35 views from 6 people thinks it's OK to step in front of me like he's Steven Speilburg or something. I swear one time a guy yelled "cut!".

AzTallRider

Not to mention familiarity/experience with the fields.

carpediemracing 

Actually it's a good tip, even if it might seem excessive at first. I also use cutouts at corner apexes to give me pedaling room without hitting the curb with my pedal.

I used a driveway cutout one year after I slipped into a leadout train. One guy wasn't happy, rolled up to me and shoved me into the barriers. Luckily there was a driveway entrance and then about 2 feet of lawn between the curb and the barriers. After 40 or 50 feet of teetering I dropped back down next to the same guy. He didn't push me again. The rest of the field practically crossed the road - they figured we'd fight or something. It was the last lap so I just focused on the finish. The leadout team's sprinter won (I think he's the one that pushed me - he's the guy I consider to be the dirtiest rider I've raced against). I eventually got 11th I think.

kleinboogie

Yeah, I get it and I'm just saying it's a human attribute to do stuff like walk into the course in front of the camera (when they could have easily walked behind it on the sidewalk), yell when it comes near (when they were quiet when it's across the street) and chat with the videographer (I'll let that slide because most are my friends). It just makes it more time consuming in post-production for us volunteers who are trying to help promote cycling. Cheers

Tex81

I finished my first bike race this past weekend! Had a good time, but I was almost collected in a big crash with 2 laps to go. I didn't crash myself, but my race was basically over after that because I couldn't catch up with the peloton alone. I kept going though and I rolled in to the finish a lap and a half later with a few other riders. You can see the crash in the last video below @ 7:15.

I posted my full race report on my blog.

GPS Data: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/175477602

agoodale

Here's a low low res video of this year's Dana Point 35+ race. No crashes but the video still scared the crap out of me. Not because of the speed or anything like that. Just knowing that everyone is so amped up to win they take more risks on this very tight, fast course.

#

caloso

Is that a RR crossing in the last 200m?

valygrl

Crit #4, that same weekly training crit. This time there were about 13 women and 30 men, and they started us together. I managed to stay in the men's pack this time, the advice I got here about cornering and positioning helped a ton, and some guy decided to give me some cornering advice during the race. I think he was a mentor, or something, he was wearing kit from the race's title sponsor.

Anyway, I stayed in the pack until 2 to go (which was my goal for the race - stay in the pack, and it wasn't easy both fitness and technique-wise), as did many of the other women, and then the pace heated up. I saw 3 gals come out of the back of the men's pack ahead of me, and caught them right after crossing the start/finish at the bell lap. We came around the next corner, I was gaining on them, and I slingshotted off the back of their line and just hammered as hard as I could. Looked back after a sec and they were far behind, so I just tried to keep the pace up the rest of the way. After the last corner I was just dying and I looked back and saw someone, couldn't tell if it was a guy or a gal, but they were gaining on me, so I tried even harder.

This was how M. won this same race the first time I did it, and she was in front of that line that I took off out of this time.

It was a near-barf experience and I saw a HR for my last lap that I have never seen before - 191. Yikes.