Welcome to Friday where the whole week comes crashing down and you try to jam everything you didn't get done into one day, or one post.
There have been tremendous discussions in our local area about rider behaviour. My local Goochland paper has a flame war going on right now in the editorial section about how dangerous bikes are on narrow roads because someone almost got hit head on when a dump truck tried to pass a bike in a blind curve. Like a lot of the response letters have pointed out, Goochland is a rural county, and if you substitute farm tractor for bike, no one has a problem. The problem is that people insist on going 45 mph or faster on roads that you can not safely travel 45 mph on. Slow down.
Cyclists themselves are to blame for a lot of the bad rap. Group rides that take up the entire lane, and pacelines that contain 30+ riders do not meet the definition of sharing the road. Some rides have gotten so bad that I won't ride with them.
The Thursday night A ride was really bad, but last night broke up into manageable groups. So I decided to join them so I could ride with Cliff. All in all it was fast and safe. Except for swervy guy. Swervy guy, you need to ride straight. Go get a set of rollers. You will be black and blue for a long time, but you'll either eventually learn to ride, or will give up. Either way, the rest of the world will be safer. I eventually passed this guy, but it was like riding behind a drunk driver... you cant pass because you dont know what they are going to do next.
I sincerely apologize for the massive Tourettes stream of profanity that I threw out. Getting crashed by people who can't ride is not tops on my list...
Also not tops on my list is the new VAcycling competition to see who can be the absolute last person to enter a race. I envision people watching the seconds click down, waiting until it almost hits one before hitting the button. Even BAR winners, with free entries... don't enter until the last minute! As a promoter it really gives you heart burn.
Everyone got Braden's email this morning. He's going to have to pull the plug on the last Go Fast race is people don't enter now. What a lot of people don't realize is that you can easier cut off the costs is you cancel a race early vs. the night before. So for Pete's sake, enter the damn race. It's not EBAY, you aren't going to get out bid.
And people wondered why I put a late fee on the time trial. It was to stop this stupid stuff. You know you want to go, and the very few people who have to buy their spouses permission, should start that bidding process a little earlier than the day before the race!
Peace out.
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2 comments:
I actually believe that racer attendance is down in most of the events I have been to. I am headed up to Christiana tomorrow for the crit, and the 4/5 race only has 27 people pre-registered for it. Granted, I am one of the idiots that didn't pre-register for it, but my wife's family is in town so permission was touch and go until Friday night.
Now, I blame the lack of attendance on the economy. Gas is almost double what it was last year, so going to races costs a lot more. Today, I spent $50 on gas to attend a race. Tomorrow, I'll probably spend $30. With gas and race fees for 2 races a weekend, you are talking about $100+ a weekend, or $400+ a month.
When people have to decide whether to race or pay their mortgage, I think most will be picking the mortgage. However, I could be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.
Karen,
I did not get to thank you in person for bringing out so many of your teammates to the race two weeks ago. So thanks. Your efforts are appreciated.
Braden
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