John Carrino

Place: Crashed
Category: 4
Race: Bariani Road Race
Team Mates: Dan
Field Size: 100
Conditions: nice day

Pretty lame race overall. Highlights include riding on narrow lanes,
being passed by semi-trunks in a pack of 100 squirrelly riders, being
overtaken by cars while an oncoming car was coming, and a huge crash
during the sprint.

Race was flat with one 2 min hill on it. Apparently there was a King
of the Mountain prize. Unfortunately this hill wasn’t steep enough to
break up the pack so it was 5 laps of chilling and getting passed by
cars followed by a huge crash. The cat 4 35+ group that started 5 min after us
did 4 laps and also had a huge crash in the very same spot just 20 min before we showed up.

I had a pretty spectactular crash.  The guy in front of me went down and I hit the brakes, but it was too late.  His bike was laid out in front of me and I hit it with my front wheel and went right over the bars.  I got some big air!  My many years of wrestling kicked in and I did a sweet front roll with the bike attached to my feet.  Since the bike was bacially sheilded by me, it was fine and I only had minor road rash on my back.

Now for some awesome crash pictures. I’m in the blue.

Whole sequence can be found here.

Animated gif found here.

Race stats:
time: 2:02
avg speed: 24.9 mph
elevation gain: 1400ft
distance: 50 miles
CTL: 53.9
TSB: 9.4

Place 4th
Category: 4
Race: Monterey CCCX
Team Mates: None
Field Size: 28
Conditions: nice day

After the last race I did on this course, I decided that sitting in
was best. It is tough for breaks to get away because something slows
you down after both of the climbs.

I did as little work as possible until the very end. My legs didn’t
feel great, but I was shooting for a top 5 finish. On the last lap, I
knew that on the last 2 hills I needed to get to the front before the
fast part and the bunch sprint. They moved the finish to just after
the really fast part on the course, so I knew that it was the front or
nothing.

My legs didn’t feel great, but I went to the front on the last hill
and followed the guys hammering down. After the sweeping turn we hit
45+mph and set up for the sprint. I was in 6th or so heading into the
final stretch. I set up and launched my sprint at a good time.
Looking back maybe I should have waited 5 seconds longer.

I came out into the wind and gunned it. I was looking down and
drifted to the side of the road cause I wasn’t paying attention and
almost ended up in the bushes. I think I lost a position or two
because the brush on the side of the road was hitting my legs and I
had to stop peddling to stay on the road.

I’m happy with 4th cause I wanted to get top 5 and this was my first
legit bunch sprint.

Race stats:
time: 58:47
avg speed: 22.0 mph
elevation gain: 1400ft
distance: 21.5 miles
CTL: 53.7
TSB: 1.7

Road was flooded in a couple of places.  This wan’t the worst puddle on the road.

Place: DNF due to flat on first lap
Category: 4
Teammates: None
Field Size: 100
Conditions: Light rain and flooded roads

I flatted 8 miles into the race. Given that the first 3 miles were a
promenade, this was like 10 min into the actual race. The follow car
was not interested in fixing flats but seemed to be there for
emergencies. There were 35 DNP in my category, so that mechanic would
have been very busy.

The car passed me and I knew my race was over. I am not an expert at
tire changes and the first thing I did was snap one of my tire levers.
I calmed down and got the new tube installed and was back on the
bike. Maybe they would slow down. I time trialed in earnest for like
20 minutes and passed many others with flats. I was hoping they would
be quick changes and join the chase or at least give me a time split.
I think one guy said I was 3 minutes back. I picked up a fast rider
in the middle of the 2nd lap and we team time trialed until the end of
lap 3. We decided to sprint to the line so it seemed like we were
racing. I took 2nd.

All in all it was a crappy day for me, but I just picked up some new
tires so I’m hoping things will go better next time.

Race stats:
avg speed: 20.8 mph after flatting
elevation gain: 1300ft in rollers
distance: 30 miles
CTL: 51.6
TSB: 6.7