Comments on: Dana Point

By: P-Diddy

P-Diddy — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:15:56 +0000

The Irony in excluding Cat3′s and 4′s is that you would exclude a lot of very good masters racers. I am a Cat3 and while I may not be as strong as many of the 1′s and 2′s, I can handle a bike better than almost 95% of them. I have several friends that are Masters State Champions and they are 3′s or 4′s. My ability to ride in the pack is what keeps me in those races. So we can’t very well exclude all the 3′s.
4′s…Probably a good idea.

By: Mitch Porche

Mitch Porche — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:03:37 +0000

I was in that race as well and it was very scary. Too many inexperienced riders, brake checks in every corner, desperate dashes for positioning on corners and guys chasing paper cups. All in all, too many people.

Sorry about the crash. Get well soon.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:54:37 +0000

JH,
You were right, my field was 35+ 1-4. I should have paid attention to that. Putting cat 3′s and 4′s together with more experienced racers is asking for trouble. Lesson learned. I will stick to the pro 1-2 races for now on. Race organizers please for the sake of safety avoid putting 3′s and 4′s in races like that. It is not fair to them or to the more experienced riders. All the complaining aside, I still would like to thank them for putting on the race. Without the organizers and volunteers no racing would be possible.

By: JH

JH — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:23:14 +0000

Hey Chuck, I heard that THAT race in particular was a very scary one. I would agree that an oversized field would ruin any fun riding a bike in a course like that.

Maybe the harder technical course from last year shelled enough people to make it a safe race. Not sure.

I think your race was a CAT 1-4, so yeah, I see no reason for a CAT-4/3 to be in that race, no disrespect, but you are asking for trouble.

By: Chuck May

Chuck May — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 05:10:05 +0000

I have to strongly disagree with you about the course. It was a terrible course for a championship race. The field size for my race (masters 35+ 1,2,3) was above 130 riders. This course should only have about half that to be considered safe. I was one of those “newbies” who crashed and was taken to the ER with a cracked vertebrae and other less serious injuries. When I left racing years ago I was a Cat 1 rider but was downgraded to a cat 2 because of my time away from racing but I do not think that qualifies me as a “newbie”. I always appreciate the race organizers and volunteers who help put on races but this course needs to be reevaluated.