May 8, 2004
This was my second RATL put on by the Summit FreeWheelers club. The first one was a little crazy, but I was hoping people had settled down and figured out how to race this thing.
I had some plans going into the race. Last time I was told to approach the second last turn on the outside. That would then force you onto the inside for the final turn, then if you held position through the finish, you'd be outside, then inside through each of the next two 90* turns. I'd been thinking about that setup, and decided to try the other way. That would put me on the outside heading into the finish, which I hoped would let me carry more speed into the final straight. I'd also been doing some cadence work for the final sprint, getting up to 130 rpm, so I wanted to try that out too.
Prep
The weather was nice, sunny and around 60-65 degrees. I arrived at 8:00 for a 9:40 start. I had time to take a few warm up laps before the cat 5 race, and did some nice efforts. I also rode around and did the normal chatting before the start.
I hooked up with Chaos again for some road warm ups during the cat 5 race. Then I did some spins around the course before we got called up.
The Race - Craziness...
You'd think with an hour and a half to get ready, I would be all set at the start. I don't know if I was too busy socializing or what, but I was a mess at the start. The course is so short, there is no sense in carry a tool bag... I realized mine was still on at some point during the race. I like to reset my computer before the start and set it to show average speed. I also want to setup the HRM so I can't see the numbers... what I don't know, won't play with my mind. I did that on the back stretch before the first hill of the race... argh!
So we're racing! And I eventually realized it sometime in the middle of the first lap. I managed to get close to the front, around 10th wheel or so, which I'm hoping will be safer than where I was last time, and around we go.
49 racers, and there were a lot of teams again. Summit had a big group out, maybe 10 riders. Chaos had 4, Snakebite had 4, Orrville had 3 or 4, Stark Velo had 2, Lake Effect had 3. Then there were the assorted riders attached and unattached.
I'm pretty happy with my setups for the corners, and am liking the lines through the finish. Taking the outside line into the finish line sets me up nicely for the outside into the back straight. Maybe it's all in my head, but I felt like I could carry more speed, so have to chase back on with a bit less effort.
I'm counting the laps... and feeling pretty good. Fourth lap, up over the rise and down to the corners... and I hear the crash, right on my wheel. I didn't see anything, I just heard a shout, the bump, and the yell and scrapping of bikes going down. What a nasty sound. I looked over my shoulder and saw Dan Guggenheim off the the left. He says "That happens every time, that guy is so squirrelly."
With the laps being so short, we came around before anything had really been straightened up. One guy was laying on his back... pretty bloody face, and two other guys were getting up and moving. Next lap around, the bloody guy still isn't moving. This doesn't look good. It's John Reade from Honey-Stinger. I was just introduced to this guy at the start. I knew him from 'cross racing, and he placed himself well in the covered bridge race before the lead guys let him blow himself up.
Some where in here, I hit my pedal on the pavement while pedaling through the outside of the final turn... woah, just what I need... send myself to the pavement while they're working on the other guy. I stayed up fine, I thought the clearance would be fine with Speedplays.
Next lap around, the official is heading to the accident, and calls for the race to neutralize. So everyone sits up. We start just riding the course real easy. Everyone is trying to figure out what happened. They called in the EMT's and loaded the guy up. In the mean time, we've done about 9 or 10 laps at an easy pace. Well, most of us have. Dan got a flat around the second or third parade lap, and pulled off to change it. A lot of guys just pulled off to wait, or get water or whatever. I just turned it into a Sunday morning group ride until they figured out what to do next.
Once the ambulance had left and the official had filled out all the park accident report paperwork, we were ready to get back to the race. Well, some of us were ready.
They restarted us with 5 laps to go. Since we hadn't done any primes yet, they threw them into the final. The finish would go 10 deep with all the prizes divided from there.
A cautionary word, and we're off again. 5 laps, and boy were they crazy. I wanted to get to the same position I was in before the wreck, but that was about impossible. Everyone wanted the same thing. It was like a 5 lap sprint.
At one point, coming down the back hill, I though I was going to get into the second wreck at the same location. A PVR rider wanted the outside line at the corner, and effectively just pushed over. Another guy and I were both screaming at him.
Setting up for the hill on the final lap, I got pinched out of position, I hit the brakes as one guy just came over into my space... I probably lost 5-7 positions there. Then on the hill, I saw the same thing happen to Scott from Chaos, only he held his space. With some leaning they all managed OK. Pretty much pinball on bikes.
I ended up setting up the way I wanted into the final, and pulled a decent sprint, but I started from too far back. I picked up 5 places in the last straight, but I still ended up probably around 20th or so. You need to be in the top 5 into the last 2 turns in order to be there at the finish... and I was nowhere near there.
Post
Since I screwed up the start, I'm not sure about the stats. I know I did one extra lap and even with the neutral stuff, I ended up with an average speed of 20.5 mph.
What a crazy race. I don't know why these races are this nuts, but I've got some theories. I don't think the course is selective enough, though it is harder than Westlake. As the group sets up for the the hill, the pace stalls. This causes everyone to bunch up. Guys coming up from the back, swing to the outside, and pinch everyone in. Then once over the hill, guy at the back, chase to get into a decent position for the turns, and then the final.
I think that's what caused the wreck. One or two guys were trying to come up around the group to setup for the inside corner (the same one I wanted), when bikes bumped. John somehow got his bars tangled with another guy, and hit the pavement hard. He knocked out a couple of teeth, and has some pretty bad facial road rash. The other two guys walked away from the crash, I still don't know exactly what caused it. I've got no real word on how's he's doing yet. Though I'm checking into it.
I know crits are the backbone of American biking racing. I just like something a little more selective. More hills, or fewer turns... or a combination of both. This race was REALLY crazy, I had thought the front would be a bit safer, but not according to the StarkVelo guys
Rick Parr and Mike Gorman raced in the cat. 4 field at RATL. A bad crash reportedly neutralized the race with 4 laps remaining. When the race resumed, Rick and Mike were working well near the front on the final lap. But an altercation with another rider in the fight for position cost the duo a shot at the field sprint.
Mike Gorman was the Cat4 road race champion last year and he took 2nd in the 'cross series.. He was at the front the whole race. Some Lake Effect guy got first, and Dan from Chaos got second. The rest of the results should be posted soon... http://www.summitfreewheelers.org/ratl_frame.html.
I don't mind Westlake Crits, but the RATL are really crazy. I think they need a strong team or 2 to take control of the race. Someone to push the pace through the hill to make it selective. That should cut down the traffic bumping, and dissuade guys from chasing up on the descents... for what my opinion is. I'm hoping that next year, I'll either be confident (strong) enough to stay at the front, or I'll just try to jump into the Masters race. The guys that race Masters are cat 2-4, and some guys race both races. It's a thought.
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