Another first race thread... CRASH!!

Hoghunter

Ugh...

Well I finally attempted my first race today. A catV road race in Zoar OH. It was pretty short (2 laps at 10 miles a lap) but hilly and a lots of cyclists were there. Im doing pretty well hanging with the group got dropped a bit on a steep climb but manage to catch up (I was holding over 400 watts for over 2 minutes) Maybe its because I weigh 80 kilos Well anyway the second time up this steep hill I get dropped some more and this is like less then 2 miles from the finish. So I try to catch up and then I find myself laying in an ambulance!? It looks like I touched tires with another straggler going down hill. According to my powertap I hit the deck at just over 30MPH! Nothing broken, had to have a CAT scan since I had a mild concusion but it turned out OK. Some major road rash on my back and one of my shoulder blades is really sore ouch. One of my eyes is black and blue but my Rudy's look OK. The bike ...... well the brifters are off but that fine, the top tube has a nice dent in it I am going to take it to the bike shop tommorow and get it looked at. The wheels look true and the tire are still inflated. So all in all not too bad I guess, too bad my girlfriend went with me so of course she was crying/screaming. She tells me no more racing, I agree for now but I will see how I feel about it next week.

Oh yeah normalized power for the race was 293 and this was catV?! Damn!

beezer34

I'm glad you are ok, because I am the other half of the crash. I didn't have to go to the hospital, but have my share of scrapes and bruises. We touched wheels going down the hill and went into the grass. Happened pretty fast. I'm been thinking all afternoon about what could have happened differently.

I hope you heal soon.

fauxpas

Blooded!!! Nice!!! Chicks dig scars...

Can't wait till I can tell my racing tales of woe...

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Hoghunter

First off Im glad your OK!
LOL I figured we touched wheels but I have no recollection of the crash When I was in the ambulance they told me I was having seizures so I was a little scared but all in all I guess we are pretty lucky. When I was in the emergency room the doc told me they brought in a female from the race who was worse off then me Oh well maybe Ill do time trials or something the racing felt crazy to me LOTS of braking and I kept getting poked in the ass from someones handlebars.

beezer34

That is crazy. I hope she is ok, too. This is my third race, but have done a fair amount of time trials and triathlons, so I understand your trepedation. From what I've read over the years, you are going to flat in a race at some point, and you will hit the pavement at some point, let's just hope we got ours out of the way early. The contstant braking was a pain. If I decide to focus on triathlons, I feel like I have to do atleast 1 more race, you can't end on a crash.

capwater

Glad y'all are OK. I'm nursing wounds from my cat3 race yesterday. Got blocked out and plowed into a traffic cone. With 80% of the pack behind me I was lucky to get off with just some leftside road rash. Tuck and roll baby!!!

rayhuang

I am sorry you guys crashed!! my advice if you dont mind though is to race again asap and move up to Cat.4 then Cat.3!! YOu'll find in Crits and road races that the quality of the paceline and riding is much improved!!!


While your riding Cat.5 and Cat4 races -stay at the front!! if your feeling up for it-initiate a break away or try and get a fast paceline going to blow the field apart as well.

Josh13

Hoghunter I was there as well and it was my first Cat5 . Glad to here they found your girlfriend they were trying to find her at the start/finish. Hope you can get back on a bike soon.


Mac

Hoghunter

Well I took the bike into the LBS (bike authority), and showed the mechanic the dent on the top tube. He told me that if it were his bike he would have no problem riding it in the present condition, then he trued the rear wheel and sent me on my way. I feel OK a little sore and sometimes I feel a little out of it, could be the meds. Im actually planning on riding tommorow since the weather looks perfect. I rode on the trainer a bit and feel fine and have actually been itching to get back on the bike. This was my first year training was pretty happy to actually be able to hang with the main group most of the race.

Speaking of the race I hope you did well. That second hill was killing me! I loved it until the crash of course

Alex

Josh13

I didn't do well because of cleat. Saturday I went over my bike top to bottom,it was my first road race and didn't want any mechanical falures...............Did I mention I got a new pair of shoes and forgot to check if the cleats were tight If you from this area there is RR in Orrville on the 13th. Oh and I'm the guy in the bllack wondering why I can't get my shoe off my bike


Mac

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fauxpas

Um, handlebars point backwards... Maybe you were being pushed by Team Viagra?

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rayhuang

GUys-I am from Cleveland heights. I work maybe 7 miles from Bike Authority. I used to do Crits, road races and TT every weekend for years. Can you guys point me towards a resource to find all the local club and uscf races? Road races, time trials, etc. Anything in the area.

Thanks,
Ray
kartchamp20002000@yahoo.com

Bobby Lex

There are crashes in ALL the Cats., straight through to the pros (weren't you watching the TDF this year?).

Higher Cats. just crash at faster speeds, is all.

Bob

Hoghunter

Ray,

I was always looking for the same thing myself. Try this website www.starkvelo.com they are the ones who ran the Zoar race. The site will list other clubs races too. Also you might want to try "snake bite racing's" website (I dont remember the URL) I think they have TT and RR pretty much every weekend down in the Valley. I usually ride the valley parkway since I live right off of it in North Royalton. The parkway attracts ALOT of cyclists especially Sat and Sun morning, you will notice pacelines of teams zooming through there a bunch of times. As a bonus the parkway goes from Lake Erie all the way down to Akron which is just over 50 miles, so a century ride is just out and back! Hope this helps.

Alex