Crashy start to the season...

cruff

Three races in for me, two crashes and a mechanical.
First crit a couple of weeks ago, a lad cut across my line in a corner and locked bars. Couldn't rescue it and went down.
Last Saturday at the Eddie Soens, 12 laps in, the first time I touch the brake the caliper locks on the rim. Neutral service pops it off, and I climb back on, but it goes again almost straight away - Race over.
Next day, road race, an hour in two blokes come together in front of me, go down, taking another one out and as I slow to avoid it I get rammed from behind and bin it. Spend an age trying to get the wheel back in and try to TT back on but bunch has a minute and I can't make it back
FML

Anyone racing up North this year - stay away from a fat chopper in Chorley CC kit

ShutupJens

May I share with you some footage from my first two races of the season a couple of years ago.

First one is the E123 at Salt Ayre, the second is the following week in the 3/4 at Pimbo. Had the legs for results in both imo but racing decided to disagree with me!

Anyway my point is don't lose heart, racing in March is just more mental than any other time it seems. I'd avoid starting that early now, the season is plenty long enough

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMqa2aljems

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcfA1pndfFU

cruff

ShutupJens wrote:

May I share with you some footage from my first two races of the season a couple of years ago.

First one is the E123 at Salt Ayre, the second is the following week in the 3/4 at Pimbo. Had the legs for results in both imo but racing decided to disagree with me!

Anyway my point is don't lose heart, racing in March is just more mental than any other time it seems. I'd avoid starting that early now, the season is plenty long enough

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMqa2aljems

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcfA1pndfFU

Haha - by eerie coincidence my first crash was at Salt Ayre, the second at Pimbo a week later

Salt Ayre crash was on the same bend, but the right hand exit not left hand entry

Looks like you were on Dillon Byrne for a while at Salt Ayre - good wheel to follow, that.

ShutupJens

Yeah that makes sense. Always crashes at the start of the year, I wouldn't like to blame the circuits as they're both safe as houses but theres still stuff like this which suggests otherwise. Eddie Soens is usually a complete chop fest too I've heard, never ridden for that reason

Yeah Dillon, Rob Scott and Simon Wilson were away after that. Could have got the whole bunch riding and you still wouldn't have caught them, even when Rob was a nipper!

Good luck with the rest of the season, I don't race anymore but still like to hear about it, particularly up in the North West

Mapaputsi

I’m in my first road race season and I’ve been finding it really frustrating. I have managed to get promoted to 3rd Cat with a couple of good results but I find the standard of racing atrocious. In the last 4 weeks I’ve been in 4 races. Crashed out in two of them (not my fault, guys chopped in front of me & could avoid them), got dropped in another while avoiding a crash and the one I did finish with the bunch there was another whopper of a crash just outside me on a corner, with concussions and a few broken fingers.

Is this normal?? All my races have been 2/3/4 or 3/4. I see so much poor bike handling all around me into corners, guys diving into gaps that aren’t there. I’m starting to question my choice of hobby when I limp into work all bandaged up the next morning!
Am considering going for E/1/2/3 races instead but I feel that I’ll never get any points there

imposter2.0

Can't really say it's 'normal' as such, but it might be symptomatic of whatever region you are racing in. Is it mostly the same clubs/riders, or just random?

Mapaputsi

Just random really, mostly racing in the east/London. Maybe it's just been a spell of bad luck but your confidence takes a whack when you end up on your arse with banged up elbows and knees two weeks in a row!

cookeeemonster

Mapaputsi wrote:

Just random really, mostly racing in the east/London. Maybe it's just been a spell of bad luck but your confidence takes a whack when you end up on your ars* with banged up elbows and knees two weeks in a row!

What circuits out of interest? I might be dipping my finger in so to speak in a month or two...

Mapaputsi

CookeeeMonster wrote:

Mapaputsi wrote:

Just random really, mostly racing in the east/London. Maybe it's just been a spell of bad luck but your confidence takes a whack when you end up on your ars* with banged up elbows and knees two weeks in a row!

What circuits out of interest? I might be dipping my finger in so to speak in a month or two...

Road race on the Kingston circuit (near Orwell in Cambridgeshire), circuit races in Lee Valley and the MK Bowl - although I understand that the bowl is notorious for 'choppers'!

Had another road race yesterday that went a lot smoother, the only crash I witnessed was a solo rider trying to break away over a windy pot-holey section. I think the poor condition of the roads may be contributing to it too.

whatleytom

Of the London circuits, Lee Valley is the worst imo, followed by hillingdon. Cyclopark and Hog hill seem to be far far better, although I can only speak from experience with Cyclopark.

I would say however, that generally the road is better than circuits as well, although that may not be true for 3/4 racing. More incentive to get up to 2nd Cat where the standard seems a lot better.

ShutupJens

I think the problem is that with cycling and therefore racing becoming more and more popular (especially closed circuit crits) you have a lot more 3rd cats than you used to, and it gets congested with very competitive races but not enough people moving through and up to 2nd cat which takes a lot more effort than the jump from 4th to 3rd

Things will calm down through the year until September/October when the rush for last minute points happens

whatleytom

High time BC took a look at the category system in the UK really.

cruff

So, after not racing for over two months, I climbed back on the past two weeks and got round in both.

The first was a town centre crit (Horwich) where I led the bunch sprint out but went too early and got swamped on the second-last corner after coming in too hot and having to touch the brakes (downhill approach), then got chopped on the last corner after getting back into the line in about fifth place

Last weekend was Pimbo (awful industrial estate in Skelmersdale), where I spent all race either bringing back attacks that no-one else was interested in but looked dangerous, or trying to go over the top of attacks to get in a working break but not having the legs to do it. The one break that stuck was a solo on the last prime lap, with another lad bridging across. If I had still been frosty enough to get across, I might have made it but by then I was knacked from bringing the bunch with me like a chump every time, so just sat in and waited for the sprint, then got boxed in early and couldn't find a wheel to follow. Made up about 20 places on the drag to the finish, but no points.

Does anyone know a coach who can bang some sense into my 45 year old head so I stop making the same bonehead errors? Doesn't help that I'm about 10kg overweight after spending the best opart of two months getting a suntan in front of the fridge...

jgsi

Ditch the BC 'crit circus' and check the TLI and LVRC (Rider HQ) for road events for rest of the season. You might be tactically better off. LVRC means you do have to travel mostly.
Probably best to put in a plan of action for 2019. Whether that entails a coaching service is up to you. I have someone who coaches an older rider who broke his femur in 2015 and is having quite a stellar season to say the least . But thats the fitness side... a nouse for racing is learnt by racing.