Gonna be fun!

I was thinking of that as a bad thing... 50+ guys dealing with wind and rain sounds like a guaranteed recipe for a crash if the EB crits caused crashes every week.
But yeah, I'll be taking corners inside and trying to be near the front. And hopefully I won't get caught in the crash - I mean hopefully there aren't any crashes.

Yeah it's not like there are crashes on perfectly windless, sunny days! =]

Just try to hide out of the wind as much as you can, at least until the last few laps. Sometimes lots of wind can mean a breakaway will stick, but if there's a big enough field behind chasing, it probably won't.

So, my racing career has been pretty short and I've not had the opportunity to race in the rain. In your experience, does the rain increase the liklihood of breaks getting away? I'm envisioning folks being a bit more cautious due to a) rain and b) first rainy race this season, which may reduce the liklihood of big efforts to chase down breaks.

Seem reasonable? I'm just trying to prep mentally for tomorrow and considering jumping after what looks like a strong break effort.

Oh, yeah, last year on the same course in Folsom we had a huge pileup on what should have been the safest part of the course. Clear day, no wind, no moisture...

I think so, yeah.

It's definitely easier to give up the chase when it's ****ty out. Guys will be hitting the turns just that much slower, etc..

Noted. I suppose Cherry Pie may be more conducive for a break than Folsom, but I'll keep a closer eye on what goes on.

if anyone likes oranges, PM for address. I'll give you 25c/lb you pick.

http://i.imgur.com/gINUVSIl.jpg

I'm from AZ. I STILL think of oranges as those things that everyone picks 100s of and carry around hoping to dupe some poor fool into taking them for free.

Only if you come take some of my lemons. I have Eurekas and Meyers.

Cherry pie really splits up! The splits seems to stick from the hill. In the rain, the brave were rewarded in the corners adding to their gaps. The corners come up pretty quick and then you have the hill. It is a hard course to make up time on.

Missed my start, I think they went early, my watch said 9:49 from the atomic clock in Colorado. Very wet, but the corners were good. Could take the right hand corner from the decent at 30+ it is very wide open. Did 4 laps solo trying to catch, doing 315 NP each lap. Took a mechanical to fix my shifting after talking to the moto. Got my bike back from the mechanic right as the group went by, in the big ring on the uphill, formed a small chase group, but never caught back on. Picked off riders as they fell off the main group. Very wet, but in the upper 50s low 60's for temp. First race done, feel stupid missing my start, but got the nervous energy done. NP was 276 watts for 35 min.

TLDR: missed start, worked hard in the rain, unsure of placement.

You serious? Oh damn. The guy was stalling and talking slowly because it was early. Then he was about to start us at 9:46 and then realized he had to wait. Then at 9:48 again. He mentioned how the rules don't allow them to start early, cuz someone will come by just in time and complain about it. I think my computer said 9:49 when we started.

Everyone went out fast also, which I'm sure didn't help you.

Really sucks driving all that way and missing the start!

Thinkin of getting a hotel and staying in Fresno to do Pine Flat right after Cantua Creek. Beats waking up at 3 am to drive 3+ hours.

Stay for two nights and jump in the Dinuba Crit Monday AM.

Monday = work day unless it's a REAL holiday.

But it's President's Day!!! I planned to race the Dinuba Crit or the Copperopolis Circuit, but those are both off the table for now. Hoping to be able to still make Snelling. I'll be 1.5 weeks without being on a bike, so that'll be fun.

Apparently Snelling is a popular race? It already had 93 cat 4s signed up (now 94)! Are there any other races in NorCal I should be aware of to register for more than a week in advance?

From what I've either heard or seen, the following have bigger turnouts:

Snelling
Nevada City Classic (combined 3/4 field)
San Rafael Twilight
Giro di SF (combined 4/5 field)
Cat's Hill???

I think most others are pretty safe.

snelling is big, traditional season opener for many.

bariani will probably sell out. hamilton too. And what Hack listed.

Well Red Kite has CAT4 this year, but only for medals. :lol: Going to chicken out and race that instead of 3/4, I want my last 10 points damint. :roflmao2:

Double up and do the 4 and then the 3/4.

I might do that. Doing 3/4 is tough just in on it self, but might be worth it for practice. Thankfully 4s is before 4/3s. So can concentrate on that, and 3/4 just a bonus.

My first races as a 4 last year were the RedKite 3/4s. It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be.

It is not tough in a sense "Oh My god I am going to get dropped.", but getting good results.

I think I mentioned it few times last season, but towards the end I have hard time maintaining position and get swapped. I still can't figure out how to solve that issue.

Who's doing Snelling?

I hear it's usually windy, and that there is often a crash in the first turn.

Anything else I should know??