Curse of Menlo
Ok, seems a lil curse of menlo on my 'mate Dr. A. Last year he had some head-over-heels action and this year, unattached dude with Lynyrd Skynyrd moustache squirrelled-out with 3 laps to go in the E4 race. Those taken out included the good Dr. A. He escaped relatively unharmed, but DNFed, and took another crack at breaking the curse in the 35+3/4 race only to flat out... after Jim V had taken his campy rear wheel.
Back to the Skynyrd-related crash - sorry dude, I know you're hurt bad, and I hope it's not too bad - hope you and any others injured are back at it soon. But based on this photo, seems to be a clear case of operator error. For some reason, dude's got one hand on the TOP of the bar and the other on the DROP. Note the extreme angle he's got on the longest & straightest stretch of a pretty basic crit course (with some jigsaw puzzle pavement and other surface hazards, but really, not a technical course at all). This caused a pretty exotic crash leading Angela to pretty much exclude road racing from the 3 junior Mo's futures. I wouldn't surprised if Mo himself has to do some smooth talking for his next crit as well. Anyway, the bodies piled up & cleared out, but one was on the ground a while leading to 3 laps of 'neutral' time - we were instructed to maintain our position - somehow I ended up at the very back, again. I'd just worked for 5 laps to get into decent position... well, a line-up and restart for a 3 lap finale' after the previous carnage did NOT appeal to my killer instinct. Nevertheless, there was a fatigue factor and lots of the guys who took advantage of my gentle nature during the neutral laps were sluggish off the line and were simply obstacles for me to pass. Did they think they'd really get somewhere (besides in the way?) by passing riders in a time of neutralization? Different than neutralization while being overtaken in a road race, but a similar lack of principle & honor noted. Minus Dr. A, our team result was Mo in 10th place.
Ok, this all relates to the topic of 'upgrading' brought out last week in a few places; at the ol' NCNAracing forum, but also by Gianni at his blog. Gianni asked if we are learning what we are 'supposed to' through cat5 & 4 experiences. As a career cat 4 (so far, but only on and off since about 1990), I started before there was a cat 5. If I may be so bold to critique a requirement I never had to meet (but have exceeded in multiples years ago), it seems with the rapid influx of new riders, the cat 5 to 4 standards might be a bit lax. I mean, 10 mass starts... what about a finish? Is that harder to keep track of? is it because promoters don't always do full results? Or is it truly felt that simply starting 10 races is enough exprience to move up to my coveted cat4 race level? The gifted new riders should be able to make it up the cat system just as fast, but there should be more opportunity for skills development for the more typical racer on the way up.
I know people at every level of the sport can do something stupid when the pressure is on (or off), but how did the Skynyrd guy - and others - get through a cat 5 to 4 'induction' and/or experience upgrade and not get enough bike-handling experience and/or guidance to do the move illustrated above? I dont mean to pick on him - maybe he's more expereinced than me and just had a moment. Damn sure, he had some fitness to be that far up in a pack averaging 26+ mph; heck, of that I'm envious. Especially tough in a pack that kept braking into every turn and sprinting out; yes, more skills to learn for 4s; and yes, I include myself. I spent 30 minutes last week doing right-hand/clockwise cornering in anticipation of this race - are others drilling themselves similarly? Do newer riders even know to do this? Am I talking to myself? If I hire a coach will I earn upgrade points? Would I truly be a 'cat 3'? Do I even want to race cat 3? Couldn't I just enjoy a career of master's sport racing without bone head moves and a pressure to upgrade and upgrade quickly to avoid the 'crash 4' races? Do I go back to triathlon where crashes are rare and self-inflicted?
Anyway, let's think, how can we make the sport better? safer? Ironically, the cat 5 group looked fast & safe (50 guys vs. 100 in any cat might be the main difference there). Yeah, the EB mentor program is great, for those that do it, and early 4s are no different than 5s, although every rider is in some way unique unto themselves. I got great mentoring in the 35+3/4 race later at menlo - they didn't brake in the corners... it was great. Enough ranting for now, time to train.
posted by Dr. Xeno @ 1:55 PM
13 Comments:
That was a bizarre move for sure. I was checking out the action at the start/finish when he did his launch. A friend and I then watched the creeping up of racers in the pack during the "neutral" laps. It never fails to happen. You just have to be vocal and call them out because there is always some joker moving up. The mass restart was a bummer, really making all the work of the previous 40 minutes void.
I think you do want to upgrade if you can. Life in the 3's and 1/2/3 is faster and seems to be safer. It is harder though. The facial hair isn't as weird either.
Yeah, I was so crash 4 oriented I forgot to state how much more enjoyable the 3/4 race was; about the same ave speed, but did I mention the lack of braking in the turns? And I raced better too; just a few good team-oriented moves. I'm waiting for my 20 yearanniversary as a cat 4 to upgrade and even then, I'll probably need to upgrade on top 10s, assuming I get some!
Oh - and how about the fatigue-fallovers on the restart! and finally, are you sure about the facial hair?
The dude who fell over was trying to turn over his 53x11 or something. It was sad, but it isn't like I have pulled some sort of move like that before.
Well, at least more gray hair in the 1/2/3s.
This is the second time I've seen someone 'take themself out' in a race like that. First time was in my first road race at Snelling. After the bridge a guy just fell over on the climb!
Anyway, I'm all for improving safety. This is a hobby, it should be fun not anxiety producing. I vote for smaller field limits for Cat 4's.
Money talks.
I think we are on the right track, along with several other clubs , primarily women's clubs.
Mentoring, skills, mandatory Early Birds for 5's, all this crap costs money and time.
But this is what makes racing fun and reasonably safe.
Experienced racers SHOULD be mentoring the lower cats.
Nobody in the masters' ranks is that important.
And I see many of the most successful ones doing just that.
First, thanks for coming to Menlo Park, guys!
So, here's my 2 cents (whatever happened to the cents key on the keyboard?). Of course, I'm a bit biased because I make a living teach folks how to race their bikes.
The folks who really need skills the most are usually the ones who don't think they do. They're the ones who don't attend clinics or EBs or join teams with mentoring programs. How do you convince them that racing will be better for everyone (including them) if they participate in skills development?
And Xeno, it's usually the ones with the big fitness who spirit their way up the ranks who have the worst skills. Experienced racers who spend years in CAT4 have big skills and are safe and predictable racers.
Lorri
ps -- our crit racing 101 clinics start in April. maybe you guys should pitch in and give Skynard a gift certificate to one of the clinics.
This is one of those rare situations where being a bossy A-hole combined with the inability to deliver a tactful message is useful.
"Hey goofball, you don't need an 11 cog until your doing 40+ MPH, and last time I checked, Cippo wasn't in this field... put back in to the 15 where it belongs so we can go home with all of our skin."
I agree with Nome, I think the sport would benefit from more widespread application of harsh conversations with racers who display unsafe behavior, and possibly more liberal use of more formal sanctions for the learning-impared repeat offenders. A 15 or 30 day suspension shouldn't be perceived as an extreme punishment, and just might help wake up some of the oblivious knot-heads who are injuring people out there. And maybe one-day licensees and first time racers shouldn't be allowed to race in anything other than a mentored cat 5 race, and only after a thorough mandatory safety briefing, and shouldnt' be allowed to race in any non-mentored race until they have completed a basic skills clinic and raced in a minimum number of events, and ...
Sorry for the ramble...
JQ
I personally think the field size limits are WAY, WAY too big. 100 people in crit is a scary, scary thought. As a woman4, the biggest field I've had to deal with is 36 and I almost got overwhelmed. I know Lorri said she brought in an extra EMT for the race, but perhaps we should look at running two groups for every 4 and under race (4 and 5's) or making these races more coveted by simply limiting the field.
missed ya in the 3/4 race that was the first 35+ 3/4 I'd done and was a little leary with a field size of 100 - good turn out. Minty Fresh pulled a good move.
personally I was a little frustrated that more guys in the front did not pedal through the corners, but yeah there was little braking so that's good
re: the updrade - Casey had told me that technically you are supposed to actually finish the races when I upgraded, but it does not say it on the web site. Given the amount of crashes in the 4s and 5s it seems like a skills clinic or mentoring from a seasoned Cat 1/2 should be mandatory
Thanks all! Lorri - thanks for a mostly great race! (btw, the 'curse of menlo' is a riff on Hunter Thompson's book 'curse of lono' from the year he spent reporting on the Honolulu marathon and hallucinating.)
Jason - we ride in different parts of the peloton...
Thanks for a-hole lesson Nomie! I'll practice that - jquist, you encouraged me!
Merkeley suggested if you crash during those 10 cat5 mass-start races you back to zero! Hard to track, but an idea... I think more time in 5s isn't so bad really - with the cap at 50, heck, why upgrade so quick? for the shot a money in cat4? please. I know the EB or other skills clinics are really useful, but in some cases, racers are mixing it up in larger cat4 fields before they're ready; like, only 5 mass starts (min of 30 starters).
Lynrd Skynrd? In our house he is simply referred to as "Metallica."
Great meeting you today -- awesome racing!
Why don't we make it real frustrating: 50 field limit on the 5s......and in order to upgrade to 4s, you have to have 6 top 6 placings.....or 3 top 3 placings. And while we're at it, why don't we bring back the clothing police!
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