merckx89

Post em if you got them.
Field of 75 to start.
I had a decent race this week. Didnt make any of the mistakes of last week at Long Beach. Arrived early, had plenty of time to do a one hour warm up, so was feeling great at the starting line. Me and my teammate both got spots right one the line. (its much easier to get to the front early than to try to move up through the race). Pack handling on the other hand was downright horrible. There were something like 6 crashes, and most of them were on the straight-a-ways. Really ridiculous mistakes, overlapping wheels, trying to move up the inside of corners when there is obviously no room. I bumped shoulders with people a few times and had someone leaning on me in one of the turns once or twice. Said person then freaked out and didn't know what to do. I would expect better from a 4-5 field.
So on to the race report. First two laps one guy goes to the front and just drills the pace, pretty much everyone is content to just let him go. After two laps we never saw him again. I spent the majority of the race in the top 10 or so, never really going below 20th. No real breaks to speak of, every time someone would get a gap the would look back and see that no one went with them and sit up. Computer is out right now so no idea how fast we were going but I do know my heart rate was up at about 190 most of the race.
Two laps to go and the pace finally starts to pick up, the field gets strung out and people are fighting for wheels. Coming into the last lap, I'm sitting 2nd wheel until about 250 to go and the sprint starts. Guys jump from both sides, and my sprint being as pathetic as it is, got passed by about 5 people, coming in 7th from what i could see. Dave, me teammate disappeared for most of the race but was there when in counted, coming in right behind me for 12 or so.
All in all I'd say it was a pretty good day. Didn't crash and had a decent placing. That's all you can ask for.

VanceMac

A 4/5 crit in the rain... you are a braver man than I am, Joseph! Good job avoiding the carnage, and the top 10.

When you say "never saw him again" does that mean he stayed out in front, or flamed out? If the former, who was that guy??

merckx89

No, he burned out fast. I think he was the cause of the first crash too. I know he went down at Boulevard because i remember he was one of the sketchiest guys there. Oh and no Rain the whole race. Rained for the earlier races and rained on the way home but we had clear skies (relatively) I think we even got a little bit of sun.

TrevorInSoCal

Actually the one in the rain (the 30+ 4/5) was safer than the one on *dry* streets. There was somewhere between 1 and 0 crashes in the 30+ 4/5 (I thought there was one, another guy I talked to didn't remember any.)

It had dried up, with the exception of a puddle or two, by the time the 4/5 race started, and there were crashes all over the place in that one. Lot bigger field though. I was on the waiting list, and all the waiting list spots filled up, so it was a full 75 riders. Only 30-something riders (no pun intended) in the 30+ 4/5s.

My report is over in the race reports thread.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...&postcount=993

Long story short: did too much work on the front, like an idiot, and was nowhere *near* the front when it counted...

Saw the bicycle john's guys out there. I'd forgotten that there were bikeforums members on that team, so didn't introduce myself. I was in the orange Team Redlands kit, not to be confused with that other, sketchy, dude in the orange jersey. He nearly took me, and several others out, with a wild line through a corner.

mkadam68

I remember exactly who you're talking about. Orange jersey #936? or something. Yeah, he was bad. He couldn't hold his handlebars straight as he pedaled. Swerved all over, never looked when he changed his line. Amazing.

VanceMac

Does anyone (officials, or more experienced racers) ever pull those guys aside afterwards and clue them in that they are doing something wrong? I'd hate for them to just continue wreaking havoc until someone finally pulls a Team Cinzano on them.

merckx89

A few of us told him at Boulevard that he needed to seriously work on his pack handling skills. He is strong though. He finished something like 6th there after crashing. Officials wont though, its up to the racers.

mkadam68

Master's 30+/4-5, 11:35am
Rain. That sums it up. Actually, I--and I think everyone else--thought that these were the perfect conditions for a break to go clear and stay away. So, whenever someone went, we all tried to go with them. End result: nobody did. A couple counter-attacks got away for 1/4 or 1/2 a lap, but that was about it. We all tried to ride as safe as possible in the corners. All-in-all, not too bad. Road spray in the eyes wasn't fun, though. And it could've been warmer. I did a little bit of work on the front, hoping to apply pressure and maybe split the field. Unfortunately, I'm not that strong. 28mph through turns 4 & 5 was all I could do with that little 1% grade and headwind. Then they announced 3 laps to go, I tried to move up and stay there. Guy in front of me brakes/slows hard through turn #5, I do likewise to avoid his wheel, lose momentum going into the sprint, hard to crank it back up. Roll across 18th. Meh.

Senior 4/5, 2:55pm
Phew. I really enjoy the competition and speed, but dang! Phew! I'd like to blame all the poor riding on the 5s who were with us (low-man on totem pole gets all the blame!) but there were only like 18 or so of them according to the result sheet.

Dry streets!! Awesome--as my clothes weren't totally dry from the earlier race. (They would be perfectly dry after the race, though. ) I suppose the sketchy riding was because of the dry streets--we were all caged up for the wet races, and then somebody let us free, and we lost our minds. I dunno. Didn't like it one bit though.

First crash: guy or two goes down, somewhat in front of me but I managed to go left. The guy on my right had no chance, either stopped or ran into them. Second crash: Lee Ziff & I are riding next to each other. Guy comes up on my left and swings in front of me too close--watch the front wheel!! I swerve just a bit to my right into Lee. He and I are rubbing handlebars at 25mph or so on the finishing straight. We're fine, although nervous. Guy behind Lee, inexplicably rides into his rear wheel and goes down (other guy, not Lee). Funniest thing--he almost managed to stand up off his falling bike! Lee is fine and is only slowed a little bit. Third crash: coming around turn #3 into headwind, two guys go down up front, one a junior racer. His are real big as he sees the field bearing down on him. I scream, "Don't move!" as we roll past-there was ample time for all of us to go around. Teammate said there were at least two other crashes, I don't remember them.

Close call: I'm riding on someone's wheel, Junior racer comes up quickly on my right trying to move up. As he goes by, he rides into my handlebars. You've got to be kidding me! He might have been the same one who went down later.

Funny anecdote: After turn #4, I notice there's one of the team guys up front sitting up high, our pace drops dramatically and he's yelling at somebody behind him. I couldn't hear what about. A few seconds later, chastised rider in a white specialized jersey (complete with rainbow stripes), slowly drifts past me to the back. I never saw him again for the rest of the race.

Finish: Always trying to be in good position. This course doesn't suit me as I have a small disadvantage with the slight rise after turn #4 and my size. But, I'm doing okay. Still too far back, though going through turn #5/6 in about 20th spot. The finish straight is long and downhill for a bit with a stiff headwind.The field goes all over the road, opening several lanes. I power up and shoot through what I can gaining position as we go. If the line had been a little farther, I would have moved up more. As it was, I rolled across 13th. A little more satisfying than the morning race.

mkadam68

Only pic I have uploaded so far from our races. I'll do more when I get home.

30+/4-5

VanceMac

Thanks for the detailed report, Mark. And... ^^^that looks even less fun than I had imagined.

oc_rider

Glad I decided to miss this one. Kudos for those that raced it!!

TrevorInSoCal

Speaking from experience, he's probably a mountain biker.

I rode mountain bikes for years, racing for two or three of those years, before I decided to start doing more training on the road. I was reasonably fit, so I could take my turns pulling at the front of the local group rides, instead of sitting on the back, but caught all kinds of flack every time I did anything sketchy. I think it pisses 'em off more when you're strong enough to pull through, but don't know all the rules. Get barked at enough though, and eventually you learn.

I still haven't done enough road racing to get completely comfortable in a *big* pack. The largest training rides around my area are maybe 50 - 75 riders, and 3/4 of those are off the back once the pace picks up.

TRAVISD

This was my first an second race in the 30+ 4/5 an the 4/5. The 30+ i thought was a good race, with everyone watching out with the wet conditions. However the 4/5 race was a mess with all the crashes. I finished in the 30's in the pack for both, learned alot from the race, an cant wait for Murrieta. I will be doing both days. Who else is in.

oc_rider

I'm in for Murrieta! I did the circuit race last year. I got dropped from the 4's pack, but oddly enough the race marshalls let me ride til 2 laps to go mark. Hopefully trying for a pack finish this year.

I plan on doing both races too.

kr6er

Guys I really enjoyed the play by play on this race. I worked the event as I usually try to since Ontario is my home. I'm not a Road Racer, but am amazed at their speed around the turns. Once and awhile one of you guys or girls will go down on the Turn (#2) that I man. Road Rash sure hurts! There are several more races scheduled this year and I plan on attended as many as I can. Once again thanks for the reports.