I'm in ur crit crashing ur Cat4's

cxwrench said:

"just as we got to the first corner"...
does this mean you dive-bombed the corner and the rider that actually had the line turned into you because you weren't supposed to be there? maybe he rode the 'right' line and hit a later apex and contacted your wheel because you (on the inside) turned in early, hit an early apex and ended up coming across the road in front of him, actually taking out his front wheel instead of him hitting you?
of course i wasn't there, but it sounds like a classic case of a 4/5 racer trying to shove it up the inside, the only thing missing was the beginning racer battle cry of "inside inside inside!" if i'm wrong, i'm sorry...but really think about what happened, maybe talk to some other guys that were there. if what i'm thinking happened actually happened, take it as a learning experience and don't do it again.

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Yup, sounds like Hacksaw "divebombed" the turn and took out the guys on the actual racing line, which is why I hate cat 5 and most cat 4 flat four corner crits. And to think that 90% of the time these guys think yelling "inside, inside, inside"! is somehow going to make it better that they are F'ing up and give them the right to ride a stupid line. Moral of the story: don't divebomb the inside of corners, stay on the racing line (enter wide, apex, exit) and when you see douch's divebombing the inside yell obsenities at them until they get the hint and stop doing it.... or wait until the big wreck happens and hope your not in it, then sprint! :thumbsup: Crits held on flat, wide courses are notorious for this kind of shenanigan, which is why many seasoned racers avoid them like the plague.


EDIT: Hacksaw, after a re-read it seems that you may or may not have been in the wrong here, I was'nt there so I cannot really say. However, it sounds like you made a typical "new guy" error, and learned the consequences of that error. While sneaking down the side of the pack is acceptable in crit racing you have to do it in a safe manner. BUT this rarely works and you found out the hard way why. You will need to get back onto the racing line as the corner approaches or else you will need to either slow way, way down to make the corner without affecting those on the right racing line going through the corner or cut everyone else off as you exit the corner. Rarely will anyone let someone back in the pack after they sneak down the inside to move up, so you will be forced to "divebomb" the inside, which F''s everyone else over as they try to ride at race speed into a corner and suddenly there is a guy crossing in front of them on a collision course because they took an extreme early apex instead of what the peloton is doing. This is inevitably slows everyone else down on every corner even more, is dangerous, and causes crashes. While the guy who crashed paid his money, pinned on a number, and should have known the risks it still sucks when new and unpredictable riders take you out. All I can tell is to learn from the experiene and not repeat it. This is a common thing in Cat 4, 5, and 4/5 crits where I race and one of the key reasons many want to get out of the 5's ASAP. This kind of thing rarely occurs in the higher cat's due to "self-regulation" of this type of behavior. Other than that I don't know what to tell you..

Believe me, I've been replaying the scene over and over in my head. I am extremely bummed out that my friend crashed and broke his collar bone and the possibility that it was my fault. But I do not believe that I took a messed up line. I've been BMX racing since the 70's and rode gravity bikes at over 60 mph with guys inches from me in the 80's. I understand the concept of the racing line and hitting the apex. I did not sweep out across the faster racing line. The streets were one way streets three lanes wide so even being on the inside meant that you were way outside so it was not difficult to hold your line and hit the apex being on the inside. Besides, as it seems is the want per Cat4/5 we were going through the corners three and four wide all day long. The other thing is that because of my BMX racing experience I understand that the guy on the inside has two choices take the guy out or brake. It only took about four or five laps of my first crit last weekend to get tired of the idiot yelling "Inside!" behind me and realizing that I didn't need to accommodate him. If I had the choice of taking people out and braking I would brake. In this instance I felt I could safely take the corner and not alter other people's lines. I'm not saying that there is not the chance that I didn't blow it but I really don't think I did. I will, however, learn from this.

bmxhacksaw said:

So how exactly does one move up then? Every time I was on the outside I would get squeezed into the protruding curb on the back straight and the announcer's trailer on the front straight. You can't just muscle yourself up the middle can you?

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Yes, you can just muscle yourself up the middle. Although, I'm not sure muscle is the right word. Moving up the middle is as much a learned art as anything... and exactly the kind of thing you can work on when just tooling around in the pack. Move up quickly into any space that opens in front of you (and there's actually a LOT of it in 4/5 races). Keep an eye on riders going into sweeping turns shoulder-to-shoulder as (in Cat 4/5) races they both tend to over-compensate and leave a lot of room between themselves on the exit, etc.

Also, I've found that it's much easier on the legs over the long haul to pass guys by carrying as much momentum through the exit of the turn than anywhere else. If you focus on working yourself to the best line possible through the critical turns and carry as much speed as is safe, you'll find yourself picking up a position or two without even really trying.

None of it is necessarily easy. Once you get the hang of it, the sport will be that much more exciting.

Crits are like crack. Once you really get into it, you'll never want to stop.