[tommyrhodes]

I won my first race on wednesday. It was only a training race so I'm not celebrating to heartily but was excited none-the-less. Afterwards, I felt as though some of the guys were subtly *****ing in my direction. Complaining I did not pull enough.
Some race background. I took a 2 lap flyer early on. When the group caught me I pulled for a lap. Then pulled back to midpack. A local team had most of the front 2/3 of the pack tied up. I tried multiple times to work my way around them. But this team refused to do any work and would not let me through. Which left 4 guys up front most of the race.
Until the bell lap, suddenly the speed dropped from 23-24 to about 18. Obviously, this is not the time for me to take a pull, because I knew I had a shot at podium in a field sprint. So I waited and when someone attacked I was one of three who followed. Going into the last turn I sprinted from 4th position for the win.
I was proud of my race, I felt strong the whole time and thought I rode very smart. I did not try to explain or apologize to the guys that were complaining because I didn't feel like I did anything wrong.
Were my tactics Dbaggy? Or were they just less than classy non-winners?

 

[woodys737]

I think you rode smart, even took a chance and had enough in the end to pull it off. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[32and3cross]

The point of a race is to win, there is no award for the guy that did the most work.

 

[aengbretson]

If you just sucked wheel in a breakaway and then sprinted for the win, that would be "not putting in any work". Sounds like you rode hard and did what you could. Could you have moved up earlier? Maybe, but I wasn't there so I won't even try to say anything about hat. And of course it's better to play it safe and finish the race than to bomb through some sketchy corners risking yourself and others to get up front and pull the pack along.

Hey, some people don't like losing. I'm a front-runner and I pay for it all the time (it's great for training but a bad habit for racing). I won't start winning races until I sit back a little more often. Let the haters hate, they just need a way to console themselves because they couldn't have beaten you anyway. Among the running crowd there is a reverence for the late, great Steve Prefontaine, but his "run out front" tactics backfired as often as they got him glory. That and he drove his car into a rock... Don't be like him (in racing or in driving).

 

[Creakyknees]

Lolz at the whiners... it's the "out clause" they use for a double standard.

It works like this: they call it a "training race" which is neither fish nor fowl. That way, no matter what happens, they have a ready excuse. "It was just training, that's why I sucked" "Oh it was a race dude, that's why I sat in and sprinted."

Then, they also get to use their double standard against anyone else... it's a passive-aggressive thing all the way ' round.

My .02: it has the word 'race' in the name, there's a start and a finish. Race it.

You did well.

 

[bddbb]

Lolz at the whiners... it's the "out clause" they use for a double standard.

It works like this: they call it a "training race" which is neither fish nor fowl. That way, no matter what happens, they have a ready excuse. "It was just training, that's why I sucked" "Oh it was a race dude, that's why I sat in and sprinted."

Then, they also get to use their double standard against anyone else... it's a passive-aggressive thing all the way ' round.

My .02: it has the word 'race' in the name, there's a start and a finish. Race it.

You did well.

Nailed it!

 

[Keeping up with Junior]

Schooled

I won my first race on wednesday.

Congratulations! Sounds like you worked for it and rode smart.

It was only a training race.

Sounds like the rest of the group got some training in race tactics and perhaps they learned something they can use on the weekend. If they failed to learn at least they got to train some in making up their excuses for failure.

 

[cxwrench]

you did fine, sounds like the 'team' raced negatively which is lame. especially in a training race, where you should try different tactics (aggressive ones, not blocking at the front) and see what happens. good job!:thumbsup: sounds like you have a pretty good handle on how sprinting works, too...

 

[Kai Winters]

Well done...it is all about crossing the line first...

 

[QuattroCreep]

It is a week night training race, it does not matter who wins, it matters what you gain from it. Whether it is fitness, tactics, pack riding skills, or learning your own limits.

It sounds like you went out and raced, and did so smartly. No where is it written that only the guys who pull most of a race can win it. Congratulations on your first win.

 

[perttime]

I've heard of a contest organizer (not cycling) who changed the cheap trophies for even cheaper ones when an "outsider" won...

 

[tommyrhodes]

Thanks for the compliments guys. Like I said, I was pretty sure I didn't do anything unreasonable. But I do stupid stuff all the time without realizing so I just wanted to make sure. I was kinda disappointed that these guys were poor sports. It was only a training race, but hey, still a big moment for a guy who couldnt ride to the corner without passing out a year ago lol.
I'll just assume they were caught up in the adrenaline from the sprint finish.

 

[Andrea138]

You trained them well. You're not racing to make friends.

 

[ewitz]

Training race etiquette is to race safe. To ensure that everyone makes it to work the next day is the most important part. If it means giving up a few spots rather than making a risky pass, then don't pass.

Nothing you did. presumably, was unsafe so you did nothing wrong.

 

[Gnarly 928]

If this race went down like you describe, I'm glad you won and pissed-off the whankers who lost.

When you tried to get to the front but were blocked by 4 team members? In a training race? What a lame thing to do in any race anyhow, much less a training race. Some club racers take themselves way too seriously and throw these rolling roadblocks that are ridiculous. Sometimes they are so blatant that the only way through would be to cause a wreck or shove them right off the road, slam an elbow in, kick a back wheel out of the way...or something like that...Bike racing, especially at a non-profit level, is not supposed to be a 'full-contact' sport...it's not meant to be like Roller Derby or some such. If you have to resort to violence to get past a bunch of self-important guys who consider breaking the rules and blocking out everyone, no matter what, that isn't worth doing..Guys who team up and race by 'looking over their shoulders and stopping anyone from getting past"...that sucks.

4 or 5 guys who're "full of themselves" and have very thick skins can certainly build an impenetrable blockade that would take violence to get past. Is this something we want to encounter in club races, training races? And of course, there is no 'official' to relegate them for this kind of stuff, nor is it any fun to finish races 'in the protest hearing'. You can bet that if you 'forced' your way through these guy's blockade, they would have 'complained' to someone that you 'acted too agressivly'...

When it comes down to a rolling road block at 5-10mph off the pace, you will never see that happen in a real race. So why do these "Fred-team" racer's do it? And where do they get off chiding someone else for 'not doing their share'?

Congrads on the win. Every win is hard earned and they are worth enjoying.

 

[MR_GRUMPY]

Training races are for learning. Some days, do what you did in this race. Other days, pull like you are insane, and finish at the back. Other days, sit in and spin a smaller gear, and then try a breakaway in the last lap.
It might be considered "bad form" to do the same thing every week, in order to "win" the training race.

 

[MontyCrisco]

Since it's a training race, the whiners were 'practicing' their excuses for when it's a real race:

• they woulda won if it wasn't for all those sandbaggers, wheel suckers and field sprinters
• this is a 'base training' week
• they don't have their race wheels on their bike
• they did 2 hours of hills this morning

 

[ghost6]

The point of a race is to win, there is no award for the guy that did the most work.

DItto.