KG
I think TD nailed it. We'd hit a headwind and bunch up. Being Cat 5 probably slows us down more than others. I'm sure many of the other comments were at issue too. (Funny that I thought hangin in back was safer only to find out you're at the end of a game of 'crack-the-whip'.)
Glad to see such good spirit of a person that went down. (I was the guy that briefly turned around to see if you were OK and then realized I'm blowing my 15 bucks. Shows you what a newbie I am.)
Thanks for all the great tips! Lookin' forward to the next one. -K
----- Original Message ----
From: "Long, Steve"
To: Lee Bautista ; obra@list.obra.org
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 11:12:32 AM
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Newbie question: "BRAKE!"
DIV { MARGIN: 0px } Surges can be a strategy for the guys in front trying to wear the guys in the middle and back down. The effort required to stay on amplifies as you go back in the pack. I'm not advocating it, just noting it.
From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On Behalf Of Lee Bautista
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 11:04 AM
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Newbie question: "BRAKE!"
I appreciate this post. I was the one who crashed because of all the crazy braking going on. I've touched wheels before and if everyone's calm it usually self corrects. When I touched wheels Tuesday I was completely calm pretty much soft pedaling to slow down. Alas, my wheel was knocked out due to either the person hard braking or not holding his line. The guy behind me went down too.
To answer your question, I think this will be typical with these larger groups. In the race of the 11th I counted maybe one or two times the pace slowed enough to use a brake. Of course the field was smaller. This weeks was much different. There wasn't a real need for the consistent accordian effect we were in. I, too wish to know why all the surges that night. What a mess. My friend says keeping a solid pace is not what happens in cat 5. Why not?
But I'm not complaining ... Heck, even the pro's crash. It's part of the game we choose to play and I'll take my lumps.
Though, in the future I'll put less trust in the guy in front of me. My notion that people know what they're doing cost me a lot in road rash, bruises, torn clothes, and a tweaked pedal. Thanks so much to the OBRA guy who washed my wounds and dug rocks out of my elbows!! That helped a lot.
Oh! for the computer geeks out there: My garmin edge had us going 24 mph on that straighaway, 19 mph at impact, HR was 180 bpm. It was neat to see the graph's superfast decline on impact and where I skidded on the pavement. ouch.
Still. Can't wait for next race. (should be okay with braking, it's an ITT). I learned a lot from this last one. Follow your gut. Don't trust that wheel in front of you. If the group can keep their heads on straight, hold your line, soft pedal instead of braking; that would make for a better race. It can be fun. Thanks OBRA. See y'all out there again :)
From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On Behalf Of KG
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:19 AM
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: [OBRA Chat] Newbie question: "BRAKE!"
At PIR in the Cat 4/5 race about every mile everyone would yell "BRAKE" and some form of chaos would ensue. Is this typical of most races or just new riders not pacing properly? I feathered my brake once when I knew no one was behind me and the guy next to me yelld, "BRAKE".
Of-course eventually there was a wreck from an overlapped wheel so maybe the yell is the lesser of two evils?
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