hack

Pretty sure that was the P/1/2 race.

Jandro 

The only thing I thought was odd/bad on the cameraman's part was that he moved out into the wind, up a few places, but then took a really terrible line into that last corner.

Then again, I'm a noob so maybe that wasn't as odd as it looked?

mattm

Yeah this is 1/2's.

Usually Chuck Hutch is in a great mood, joking around and stuff.. (guy in green/red arguing)

Drama woo hoo!!

mattm

It was a ****ty line, but that's just racing.

He (Eric, camera guy) says he was going straight before that, but it looks like he came inside too much before the turn, dunno why. Fwiw he's won p/1/2 crits around here, not someone I'd associate with crappy racing.

The other side of the story is that Chuck hates Mikes Bikes (black-kitted team that the camera guy is on), so no love lost here.

I think we need a camera view from behind all this, to see what the drama is really about.

save10

Polemica! So now i guess i have to stick around to watch the 1/2 race to see the drama. Re the video: did any of that stuff result in any crashes does anyone know?

mattm

I don't think so, since Chuck (Marc-Pro Strava guy) is sprinting at the end, but I think he's complaining that it slowed him down.

Maybe they almost crashed? Or maybe Cal-Giant guy crashed?

I will say that the Mike's Bikes/camera guy took a weird line into the final turn, and I can only assume it was on purpose, to block anyone from diving inside.

misterwaterfall

As someone who is new to this: What is different from that tactic vs. what UHC usually does when they guard the inside then swing out wide right before the turn? I've seen UHC cause some crashes with their moves, but haven't heard too many people get mad about it.

mattm

The main difference is that you're not swerving at all, just taking a ****ty line on purpose to block.

I could be wrong, and really what he was doing was trying to just let his team mate by (the guy that won).

Ygduf

line looks terrible. where is he going to go except across the path of ALL the people on the normal line heading into the corner like that?

*****ing probably won't make him any more popular in that crowd, either.

Ygduf

I think the lesson for all here is that if you're going to take a **** line to block people, you better get there first

mattm

As long as you're winning, who cares if you're popular?

(is I assume the thinking here)

Ygduf

I just meant that I don't know who made or shared that video, but I kind of like them less for having done it.

hack

I hung around and watched this race. No crashes that I saw due this incident. There was a pretty big pileup about halfway through that a few guys didn't get up from for some time though.

There was quite a bit of confusion near the end of the race as the officials forgot to flip cards for a few laps (shouldn't have had any impact to what was seen on the video). The the group of 9 or 10 in the video were about a half lap up on the main field with 4-5 laps to go and the official pulled the main field. A few in the main field were pissed because they knew they were about 30-seconds back but didn't know how many laps were remaining and argued they would have started to pull them back if they had known there were only 4 laps left, not 8-10. I think that challenge could have been due to the course being rather short (~0.5 miles) and groups being able to catch each other quickly.

mattm

Looking forward to the Red Kite Crit on Saturday!! I'm in for the 2/3's and the p/1/2's (10 mins later ugh).

I'm 3rd overall in the series in the 2/3's, 4th is only 1 point behind me.. but I'm not too worried about the omnium, really I wanna win one of these damn races! Last few I've been super aggressive, thinking of calming down a bit and maybe waiting for the sprint, but it's becoming hard to just sit in lately.

Who else will be there?

hack

I'll be there in the 3/4's. Should be fun as it will be my first race post cat 4 upgrade and its a mix with 3's. I've done a few 4/5s and that seemed fine so....why not.

mattm

I wonder what setup of the course they'll use, so far they switched up the direction and finish every time.

good luck in the 3/4's!

hack

Thanks. Good luck to you as well. I'm thinking I'll need it. Luckily it's not technical and I'll hang in and try to survive. From what I've seen, I THINK it will be counterclockwise.

caloso

I'll be doing Red Kite 35+ 3/4. My teammate is contending and I am looking forward to working for him. I'll probably do a second race, not sure what; depends on what teammates I have in which categories.

save10

M3/4 and the M123s
I've been so damn close the last 5 crits.....is this the one where I get it right? M123's thats just for for self mutilation. I guess if i was a true sadist i would wait till the afternoon and do the 3/4s and the 2/3 in addition

UmneyDurak

You are talking to a guy who will forget a name right after the introduction. So I understand.

Anyway will be skipping red kite and doing 2 wheel. Course and location seems familiar. Wasn't it part of some Masters championship last year? They combined 3/4s. Super fun crit, and not because I got top ten and third in 4s.

Monaa

ericm, I do not have enough posts to send you an PM so i was wondering if you could send me an email at monalarsen75@yahoo.no regarding one of your earlier posts on prednisone. Sincerely Mona

hack

How is the 2 Wheel Course? Any hills? I may consider doubling up races this weekend.

rkwaki

That was an awesome video. As you can imagine I have had a conversation or two post race.
I have said before in a crit I am uber aggressive and don't take **** from anyone.
Cameraman's last lap imho was kinda sketchy, if he was blocking lines there is a different way to do it and the entry into the last corner 'could have' caused a much larger issue.
That being said when I am approached post race I usually try to have that type of conversation on a couple roll down laps. The two guys that stopped the Mike's Bike's guy approached it in an unprofessional manner, riding straight towards a guy to confront him like that only raises the drama. Guys who know I am a hothead will ride up beside and talk, I may not agree with what they are saying but I'm not going to escalate it like what happened here.
A lot of stuff like this gets out of control quickly (the two that stopped come from a pretty high level and could have approached it differently, nobody went down, nobody got hurt.
A little advice, any conversation post race is best to have much later when tempers have calmed down...

UmneyDurak

Hmm, if it's the same course I am thinking of from last year it has a small roller. It's a tad steep (nothing like cat hill thought), for like 50ish ft, then turns in to false flat. Overall distance I think 3/4 of back of Berkeley crit.

and adrenaline wore off.

rkwaki

Correct, poorly handled by all involved (kinda like the pot calling the kettle black...)