Gloucester Day 2 Race Report

The course was toughened up for day two, thanks to more sandy corners and a gnarly runup. After a confidence-boosting 9th on Day one. I thought I could hang with the lead group and was determined to stay in the first five wheels on lap one.

I got a better start, but not as good as someone toward the center of the line. Ten seconds into the race they started cutting to the inside, which made James Tosca drift over into my bars, then off, and then back again. His rear quick release was heading for my front spokes so I did a *tiny* brake-tap while sprinting to let him get by...

Bam, rear-ended, James Patterson from UVM's (I think) front brake (I think ... watch the video) slices my rear tubular and that's the end of that.

It was 0.8 miles to the pit. Running 6-7 minutes just to maybe not finish DFL did not seem worth it. I jumped the fence and headed out on the course to scream at people I usually race against.

Warning: Video contains profanity.

Gloucester Day 2 Lap One from colin reuter on Vimeo.

Comments

TJN said…
Oh man, total bummer. Hope the CrossResults tubular fund gets some love this week. Granogue/Wissahickon for you? Open up a bowl of chowdahh on 'em.
Colin R said…
Staying local for Canton since my team is hosting it. Plus, 12 hours or more round trip for Granogue? Screw that.
Ryan said…
That is the saddest seat cam video ever.
G-ride said…
bah, look on the bright side, i told you those tires had "gone off" like old chinese food.

the new tires will make you faster...yes tires. you need to get a set.

J
Colin R said…
Comparing the tread between the new grifo and the old one makes me think you hang out with JP too much.
G-ride said…
watched it again. wow. that took no time at all....i always line up on the right, the inside line is certain death.

...unless you are on the front row...
Colin R said…
Exactly. I wasn't even a bike length behind Tosca, but that was the problem, I had nowhere to go when it started to squeeze left. Oh well... guess I finally paid the price for not having crit experience.
trackrich said…
Who are you kidding... you couldn't run 0.8 miles in 6 minutes ;)

And I'll tell you from experience, you made the right choice unlike some dumbass (me). I'm still amazed I'm yet to find a photo of my fail-tastic jog around the course.
Anonymous said…
I loved your cheering, explaining that since you were out of the race, I was guaranteed to finish one place higher...so thanks for ripping your tire.

Oh yeah, and Granogue/Wissahickon is totally worth the 12hr drive. Besides, Linnea needs the UCI points! It's a C1 dude!
G-ride said…
please, those tires are BALD!!!

the knobs lose their sharp edges and then dont grip for crap. i have a rounded off set you can HAVE. The grip just evaporates.

Tire snob and proud of it.
solobreak said…
Dumb question, but why didn't you just ride the flat to the pit? You haven't gone to heirloom quality boutique rims too, have you?
Colin R said…
I dunno, isn't a 0.8 mile ride on rough ground bad for any rim, clincher OR tubular?

It seemed like I was out of contention and out $80 already, may as well not make it a lot more expensive (potentially).
solobreak said…
Out of the points - out of the race; now you know you've hit the big time.

With your weight, an alloy tubular rim would be absolutely fine so long as you didn't slam anything. All that rubber is still protecting it. You'd probably need to carry it from the end of the seawall to the next grass section, but other than that I think you could have avoided all the rocks.

It would have made a much more exciting video/race report if you'd made an epic charge back up through the field. That would be the only chance most of them would get at camera time this year, unless you start lapping people.
pvb said…
Here's the thing with riding a flatted clincher - the tube will shift causing the valve to pull into the rim. Riding on this scenario will cause the inner wall of your aluminum rim to mash in and become completely useless as a bicycle component.

I trashed my ksyrium like this earlier this year. I felt like "I was doing the right thing", sticking to it, like all the PROs. Yeah, well those pros weren't shelling out hundreds of dollars on Monday for a replacement.
Colin R said…
Oh yah. Riding a clincher rim for that far is definitely a no-no. I'm still a tubular neophyte so it seemed like the risk of killing the rim outweighed the benefit of getting to keep racing.

But if solo says I can ride a flat tubie on grass without damage... maybe I'll ride next time.

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