I got dropped by a group of semi pro riders. No suprise there, that dosent mean the group i was with wasnt racing. They only had rankings to 47 because thats how many finished, alot of people didnt finish their laps because it was kind of embarrassing. I was in a group of heavier riders(untill the last lap) and we all had agreed to take it easy the last lap or so and sprint it out in th end. It ended up nly being like 3 guys. Saying i cant sprint over 44.2 KM/H iis a bit rediculus. last word is, were you there? I was just posting a report from the race, if you got a problem with it, lets sprint, you know where im at obviously.

The guy that got 4th in your heat is on his 5th race EVER.

FWIW, his dad won the 50+ though, so there is some natural ability.

Dude...

First off, the Indy 500 draws about 300,000 people. Not bad for "nobody cares..."

Second, there was this race in Chicago that had a $150,000 purse. All the good riders went there. With all due respect, those that know racing knew that this would be exactly as it was.

It was a publicity stunt. Geez...

Last, the guy that won will only be doing the individual time trial in South Carolina. He will not be in the US Pro race. As one needs to be licensed to race at that level. The stink of this was that the Disco people did not think of this beforehand...about a month ago, this became an issue.

$150 bucks to ride 25 miles....again, why the really good riders were in Chicago. Elk Grove was the race that Landis was to have ridden before his mess...the $150 bucks was a fundraiser and they made it expensive enough that you, at least, had to think about it before writing a check.

I know a couple of people who were thinking of going...this was before the ITT issue came up...and I asked them if they had ever ridden in a 6 hour race before, and I get "the look"...this race is about six hours long.
Thank goodness the licensing thing came up...

This was on a par with the "open tryouts" that major league baseball teams have. You pay a lot of money to "try out" when these guys spend millions scouting for talent. Rarely does anyone have the talent to make it...

Disco knows every rider in the world that is potentially good enough.

ohmigawd....

big break???

what a hoot...

the real racers were in Elk Grove Village. Beat the guy in the photo, that's your big break.

...now some more facts....the reason it was at the Speedway was that this was also a fundraiser for the Indiana University Hospital Cancer Center. This happens to be the hospital were one Mr. Armstrong went for cancer treatment, and is the facility, world-wide, for treatment in testicular cancer. Dr. Einhorn invented the current successful treatments for this disease. So, Lance does fundraisers for his foundation and the hospital, and it's his second trip here, his first to drive the pacecar for the 500 (and do a large black tie dinner/fundraiser at $10,000 a table that was sold out), that race "nobody cares about"...

You didn't really think that the winner of this thing was going to, like, get a contract or anything, did you? Good grief...did you see the ads they ran for this "race"?

I could get into the amount of racing that goes on in Indiana, the juniors from Indiana over in Europe right now, the number of Olympians that have been from here, the multi-time collegiate cycling champions, Marian College, but it's not worth it. Oh, and the guy that won the 18-24 age group was from, you guessed it, Marian College.

...my sides hurt...

So is it 44.2 KM/H or 44.2 mph? If it's km/h you're slipping back into the believable zone for an amateur racer who got dropped. Otherwise I'm with Merlin--- If you can sprint 44mph you should quit your day job.

This just doesn't sound like a field whipping out McEwen-esque sprints...

But hey, if I paid $150 for a race I'd hope the officials would tell me that I crossed the line at 126 mph.

You might want to go back and look at your original post where you say "mph", now you say "kmh"...

Oh, and it's "ridiculous"....

So which is it, 44.2 mph or 44.2 km/h? There is a pretty big difference between the two. One is believable, the other is a little hard to swallow without having a very nice leadout.

Are they doing this again next year?

This is from an article over at Pez Cycling.

Mario Cipollini Knows A Little Bit About Sprinting
Cipo - "If, at 200 metres from the finish, I was riding at 50kph, it was all over for me, I couldn’t reach the speed of 75kph which was my best sprinting speed. Consquently, McEwen would be able to pass me even though his top speed is perhaps only about 68kph."

By my math that is 46.6 mph for Cipollini and 42.3 mph for McEwen.

dude, my publically posted TT times from the florida state TT championships are more than 15 minutes faster for the same distance in a solo effort. I don't need to race you to prove myself. And while my racing accomplishments aren't going to awe anyone, I don't go around misrepresenting them.

For interesting reading, go to his homepage and read the race report...

Interesting that Dead Roman is 3 years older on his home page, than on the posted race results.

Dead Roman,

you say you got dropped by a bunch of semi pros. Were the 3 guys who finished ahead of you in the last recorded time of 1:15 and change at an average of 19mph semi pros? How about the 18 year old girl who put a spanking on you? In this thread alone, you exaggerate about your sprinting speed, your age, your competitveness in this race, and I think likey your racing category (You say you were going to do a Cat 4 crit on sunday. I doubt from these results that you possibly could be a Cat 4, if you are, you're a very OTB Cat 4).

To quote Cat Stevens, you're young that's your fault. I would suggest going through life as an exaggerating braggard is ultimately not going to get you very far. As a bike racer, the only way to get better is to be brutally honest in your self assessment. Almosts, coulda, woulda, shoulda, but for, they were semi pros..., is a recipe to always suck.

Sorry for the rant but I have a low tolerance for obvious BS. How about trying some hard training, and post an honest race report that reveals some effort and grit? Then I'll be impressed regardless of the placing or the mph.

You completely misinterpreted my whole post.

First of all, the Indy 500 comment was tongue-in-cheek. I'm from Indiana, so I know how much of a big deal it is, at least to a bunch of Hoosier rednecks (tongue-in-cheek again if you don't get it).

Second, I understand that it was a publicity stunt. I said so myself. All the top level riders are already being scouted and I'm sure they know it (the "traditional route" I mentioned). This doesn't stop a bunch of delusional wannabes from thinking that this could be their big shot, and I would expect more than 400 of those people.

And after that you might expect a few additional people who are simply looking to donate to the charity and have a little fun. Look at how many people turn out for LA's charity rides all around the country, which carry a hefty price tag as well.

400 is a disappointing turnout no matter how you look at it.

The CAT IV race he mentioned was run by these guys. I don't know if the results are posted yet, as I have not looked. It was called the "Hendricks Regional Health Fast Crit".

Like I said before, enough people would be delusional enough to think of this as their big break. Look at Dead Roman.

I understand that Lance wants to raise money for Indy. I'm from Indiana and I've read his books. And the fact that all of his fundraising events have been so successful further illustrates how disappointing the low turnout was for this one.

Do you really think this event was better off in Indiana than in California? Indiana may have some good clubs, races, etc., but California has more cyclists total. Not only that, but I'm willing to guess that more people in California are willing to drop $150 on an event like this. And who would think, "Hey, let's just spend the entire weekend in Indiana and make a vacation out of it"? Indiana may have its good points, but it's not exactly attracting out of towners on its own merit. California could have done that.

Anyway, the whole thing just didn't work out. It looks like they're better off doing "Rides with Lance" if they want to raise money.

im not defending myself anymore. i checked my comp, guys at the track confirmed it, that was ALL that im saying. If you wanna bash me and think its bull****, ive layed the gauntlet down. As for the guy who thinks im 18, they didnt exactly have their act together at the track, ill send you a copy o my drivers liscense if you want to know how old I am.


I said the dude insinuated I couldnt sprint over 44.2 KM/H, thats like 26 mph. Thats not even the PACE of the lead group in my heat. I could give 2 ****s if anyone on here believes me it was just a race report.nI didnt blow anything out of proportion.

wellll...in the last 11 weeks we have had about 700,000 people "make a weekend of it" here dropping about $700 million into the local economy...with another 100,000 or so dropping in for the US Nationals out at Raceway Park over Labor Day weekend.

and then there was the US Track Championships...

and before that the World Swimming Championships...

man...I am wondering why a world class hotel chain like Conrad would build here? Being it's such a backwater and all...and nobody's dropping in...

BTW...your satire was lost when you asked where all the teams were...they were racing in Elk Grove...

44.2 km/h is a good average speed for a flat Cat 5 crit around here...

Your racing age should be on your USCF license to prevent any discrepancies. What? This mega-race wasn't a USCF sanctioned event? Hmm...

By USCF regulations, any Pro racer who participates in a non-USCF sanctioned race gets suspended if I recall correctly. Really a great way to draw a good field.

26mph is a decent pace in the flats, and if 44.2km/h seems fast for a sprint, I'm guessing you don't do much racing and the Cat 4's at this crit you're going to would appreciate you sitting that one out. They'll be going 44.2km/h into and out of corners.

The more I read/hear about this "race" the more it sounds like a timed charity ride.

None of this means that more cyclists would rather take a trip to Indiana than to California or somewhere else. Nice try, though.

Because the fee to work your way up from a CAT 5 racer to be noticed by a pro team would be FAR more than $150 + airfare...

Was there any doubt that the 25-35 group would win?

Hey don't bash Indiana, according to the Department of Homeland Security it has more sites that are terrorist targets than NYC. Apparently Indiana is center of the American universe.

Dude, in your original post you said that you sprinted at 44.2 MILES PER HOUR. That is what you are being called out on.

Question: How exactly did the guys doing the timing know how fast each racer's finishing sprints were?

I'm not trying to put anybody on the spot here. But I'm puzzled.

Seems to me that they might be able to calculate split/lap times, but did they also use radar/laser guns or something?

Bob

Give the guy a break, he made an honest mistake.