Sketcherous : That inability to focus and keep a bicycle going in a straight line...swinging the bike
back and forth so much so while sprinting that you end up washing out the front end and launching over the bars! Or having contact with the guy next to you who is doing the same thing.
There was alot of that style of racing this last weekend at Land Park and Zamora. I was witness
to more crashes in two days than I've ever been involved in in my life and I race with the 55+
geezers! Fortunately, none too bad with the exception of the prime sprint in the pro1-2 race at
the end of Sat. The ambulance came for the EMC rider but am not sure if they took him away or
not.
The ladies, apparently not wanting to be outdone, had their own slugfest during the crit and car-
nage was spread out all over the course, from what I'm told. I personally saw a group hit the deck coming out of turn 1 in the 4 race and I have to say it did look rather spectacular. One girl launched over the bars and got big air before being planted." F-ing Vello Bellas" was the chant at
that particular moment.
Ah, well.......
Sunday had more of the same. My race saw someperson make contact with someperson else.
At least that's what I'm guessing. All I saw was a sudden void in the pack and guys shooting off
to either side of the road with the sounds of metal and pavement fusing together, yelling, shout-
ing, SCREAMING, rear ends locking up, not to mention the smell of burnt rubber. This not more
than two miles into the first lap. It looked like they were in the 45+ group...us 55ers are more
cautious cause we KNOW how long it takes to heal @ our age. So anyway, it forced me to shoot
off to the right side of the road sending me into the weeds, staying upright, albeit @ about 3 mph
and by the time I, us, we, got back on the tarmac the pack seemed to have upped the pace a bit.
Nothing like trying to chase an attacking group up a hill. Not today. So, regroup with a couple of
guys and get a good workout. The rest of the race was good. No idea how far back I was but, with the exception of the 3rd lap, I felt good. Had nothing left for the last climb of the day and
didn't contest for the sprint cause the boys I was with dragged me around that dreaded third lap and it wouldn't be right to sit in then go for the sprint cause I may need them to drag me around
again some other time.
Junior had a good race sitting up front with the 3's but couldn't hang for the sprint cause he's
running junior gearing and it wasn't an uphill finish. The downhill part of the rollers allowed the
non juniors to get around him in the sprint. That's OK though, as up next is Copperopolis and
I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the podium there, again.
Lastly, why do racers have to sprint like Robbie McKewin (all over the road, jockeying for position) when they obviously don't have the skills to do so? Boneheads! Imagine how impressive they would be if they were actually getting paid to put other people in jeopardy. I
speak of the Cat4 finish at Snelling. Thank God nobody crashed (I was totally AMAZED that
there wasn't one) on that finish. Guys were all over the road, swinging back and forth, side to
side...I couldn't watch. Maybe it wasn't all that bad in the middle of it but from where I was, it
looked like there wouldn't be enough ambulances to take everyone away. Must have good insur-
ance. LVA
back and forth so much so while sprinting that you end up washing out the front end and launching over the bars! Or having contact with the guy next to you who is doing the same thing.
There was alot of that style of racing this last weekend at Land Park and Zamora. I was witness
to more crashes in two days than I've ever been involved in in my life and I race with the 55+
geezers! Fortunately, none too bad with the exception of the prime sprint in the pro1-2 race at
the end of Sat. The ambulance came for the EMC rider but am not sure if they took him away or
not.
The ladies, apparently not wanting to be outdone, had their own slugfest during the crit and car-
nage was spread out all over the course, from what I'm told. I personally saw a group hit the deck coming out of turn 1 in the 4 race and I have to say it did look rather spectacular. One girl launched over the bars and got big air before being planted." F-ing Vello Bellas" was the chant at
that particular moment.
Ah, well.......
Sunday had more of the same. My race saw someperson make contact with someperson else.
At least that's what I'm guessing. All I saw was a sudden void in the pack and guys shooting off
to either side of the road with the sounds of metal and pavement fusing together, yelling, shout-
ing, SCREAMING, rear ends locking up, not to mention the smell of burnt rubber. This not more
than two miles into the first lap. It looked like they were in the 45+ group...us 55ers are more
cautious cause we KNOW how long it takes to heal @ our age. So anyway, it forced me to shoot
off to the right side of the road sending me into the weeds, staying upright, albeit @ about 3 mph
and by the time I, us, we, got back on the tarmac the pack seemed to have upped the pace a bit.
Nothing like trying to chase an attacking group up a hill. Not today. So, regroup with a couple of
guys and get a good workout. The rest of the race was good. No idea how far back I was but, with the exception of the 3rd lap, I felt good. Had nothing left for the last climb of the day and
didn't contest for the sprint cause the boys I was with dragged me around that dreaded third lap and it wouldn't be right to sit in then go for the sprint cause I may need them to drag me around
again some other time.
Junior had a good race sitting up front with the 3's but couldn't hang for the sprint cause he's
running junior gearing and it wasn't an uphill finish. The downhill part of the rollers allowed the
non juniors to get around him in the sprint. That's OK though, as up next is Copperopolis and
I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the podium there, again.
Lastly, why do racers have to sprint like Robbie McKewin (all over the road, jockeying for position) when they obviously don't have the skills to do so? Boneheads! Imagine how impressive they would be if they were actually getting paid to put other people in jeopardy. I
speak of the Cat4 finish at Snelling. Thank God nobody crashed (I was totally AMAZED that
there wasn't one) on that finish. Guys were all over the road, swinging back and forth, side to
side...I couldn't watch. Maybe it wasn't all that bad in the middle of it but from where I was, it
looked like there wouldn't be enough ambulances to take everyone away. Must have good insur-
ance. LVA
4 comments:
we were talking about all the crashes and wondering why it was happening
not sure except maybe a lot of new riders
or old riders who never get past that 'new' phase
--
didn't hear anything about the VBs being a problem at land park....
maybe they coasted?
i don't believe in the evils of coasting
The only comments I heard about the
VB's was in the Ladies Cat4 crit and only the one crash I was witness to. BTW, Is Monk racing this year? I'm not sure I saw her this past weekend.
Post a Comment