Part I:

Here is a long report for the weekend, Saturday at FBF and the Sunday Spring Series race at Prospect Park.

A little background first. I've been training hard this winter, but doing things different than my usual "base training." Ragot has been giving me lots of short intense intervals to do on the trainer to focus on my weaknesses and build more bike racing specific strength. Ragot, JP, Marc, Robertson, Keith, and others have been giving me lots of practical advice on riding and racing that I've been trying to incorporate into my skill-set. I feel like I'm very strong, but my first two races of the season were disappointing. I got dropped in the Cat 3 Grants Tomb race after 15 minutes. I got dropped a little over halfway through the Branchbrook 1-2-3 race by a bunch of guys who were doing their second race. It was humbling to say the least.

So Saturday I lined up for the 1-2-3 race at FBF. 47 miles in this wind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCTabf70rgI

To say I was nervous about finishing would be an understatement. JP, Marc, Jan, and Rene were on the line with me. Early in the race, JP rolled off the front and brought at Sanchez guy with him, shortly after Jermaine Burrows bridged up. I tried to stay towards the front and cover moves with Jan and Marc. I was looking for a promising bridge attempt and keeping an eye on Mengoni, Bunde and Woodbury seemed like the guys to watch. Adler guys were looking to get into the move as well. Eventually I got off the front with Bunde (Mengoni), Bremer (Foundation), and Igor Volshteyn (Adler). I sat in and told them I'd work if we got up to the break, and they were understanding enough. Once we got close enough Bunde said, it's in your best interest to work now, because if the field catches us they catch them (JP) too. He was right so I started working and we caught up to JP's group.

A side note here, for the most part all the guys in the break were nice and communicated and were not dicks. I was glad about that, because it doesn't happen very often. Also, I know I have lots to learn and have no problem taking advice, it is just much nicer to get it with a minimal number of f-bombs.

Once we caught JP's group we were 7. Everyone was working OK except Sanhcez and Adler. Sanchez guy got dropped, Adler said he was tired and wouldn't sprint or something. Then Jermaine flatted. We were down to 5, but a group was bridging up and we could see it. They caught us, bringing Woodbury (Mengoni) Hall (Adler) Cline (Axis). Now we were 8. With 1.5 to go Bremer attacks hard into the wind. Nobody reacts. We never see him again and nobody makes an effort to really chase. Some attacks start happening and I'm just trying to follow stuff and hanging on. With half a lap to go JP falls off a little bit, but then catches back on on side 3 and goes right to the front. The group reacts and I follow wheels. We round the corner and I'm in front and trying to find somewhere to hide, it is way too far to the finish. The sprint starts and I try to jump on wheels but I have nothing and hang on for 6th. Ouch. JP is right behind in 8th.

pics of Saturday:

http://www.oneimagingphotography.com/Cyclings/KingsCounty-Challenge-326pro/16355762_cH6iA#1229592455_tpmvS

Part II:

Sunday: I can't believe I even woke up for this thing. The field was very small and it was freezing. On the line, JP says it will probably end in a break so let's hope we have someone in it.

On lap 2 or so Gavi attacks and bring 3 with him. A small group attempts to bridge so I hop in it and work. A JV guy is disrupting the group because he has a man up front. We get tantalizingly close to the break but the organization falters and we get caught. I fall to the back to recover a bit and stay there for 3 laps or so. I start moving towards the front where I find JP who was coming back to look for me, he instructs me to help chase. I do. JP, Marc, and I take turns at the front doing more than our fair share. Foundation is working, so is United and few other teams. There is also a lot of negative racing and hero moves happening as well. With about 5 to go it becomes clear we cannot catch the break. With 3 to go a Mengoni guy attacks on the hill (JP, help me with the names here...) and JP follows with a guy in pink and the annoying JV guy. I happen to be right by the front so I jump right in. We get organized and pull away. We come through and find out they have added a lap to our race, so we still have 3 to go. We seem to be building our lead and it looks like it will stick. I'm thinking (as is JP) the mengoni guy will attack with a lap to go on the hill to get rid of the sprinters. I keep an eye on him but nothing happens. The cat and mouse tactics start, maybe a bit early before the downhill. I roll off the front and start pushing it but it seems fruitless so I sit up. ** JP - were talking about this after the race, were you saying I should have kept going here? I was a little confused. **

Anyway, we are just tooling around and JP tells me to go by the Greek Temple. I do and get a gap. I'm giving it everything and if we only had that old finish line it would have worked but everything starts seizing up over the crest before the finish. Ouch ouch ouch. The rest of the group fly by. JP takes 8th, I roll across 9th.

Tough weekend, but it feels good to be racing well. Thanks for all the help and advice dudes. I know I still have a lot to work on but I'm feeling a bit more confident. Thanks for reading.

-Mike Perlberg

Jeff & norm how did it go?

Congrats Mike

Jeff was 2nd I believe. Long break.

Congrats Jeff... Nice work guys!

Apologies to the cat4 crew, that I didn't make it out this morning. Had a case of Post-Floyd Syndrome yesterday afternoon... so had to make-up for some missed work this morning. Terrible.

To add a bit to Mike's Sunday report, I gotta give another shout out to the JP-Perlberg duo. Those guys are racing really well, and while I expect it from JP, Mike is making some choices that are revealing of some nice racing instinct. Specifically the move that came with 3 laps to go.

Despite our best efforts, the first lap (yes, Gavi and a few others attacked on the very first time up the first hill and were never to be seen again (except when they were standing around waiting to collect their 1st through 4th prize money). With 3 laps to go, I was 2nd wheel hammering high tempo (which was all I really had at that time anyway) up the climb. Most of the field seemed content. Brian Breech from Mengoni launches hard and fast on the right side of the road, JP is right there, as are a two riders who didn't stick their nose in the wind all day, a James Vincent rider and Will Schneider who races basically as an independent.

And then I see Mike flying up the side of the road too. And this is the nice "instinct" I was referring to earlier. My position at the front of the field, my tempo at the time and my general fitness level prevented me from getting on that move, but even if I were in a position to jump, seeing JP clear and away--if I'm honest with myself--I would have sat-in seeing that we had one guy up. And while that would have been tactically acceptable and correct, ultimately it would have left us with only one Kissena to place instead of the two.

So congrats to Mike for aggressive riding on both Saturday and Sunday, for which he was rewarded by being in position to sprint for money at the end of the day. I think in future weeks, I'm going to have to kick my own ass a little and adopt some Perlberg strategery, because I'm sick of suffering in the field. I'd rather suffer in a break!

Epilogue: JP is rocking it too. But today was rough. I swear I had to yell at that guy like 5 times to get out of the wind. I feel for him, because there's just too many moves for just two "soldiers" to cover, and he's not going to let stuff get away, just because I've dropped anchor after a hard pull and have to push my way back to the front. We've been averaging 3 racers including JP on each of Spring race weekends in the 1/2/3s and that's just a little sad. I missed one weekend, so I've got to take some responsibility here too, but lets rally and get some more cat 1/2/3 Kissena racers out there in upcoming weekends, okay?

2nd Epilogue: A lesson to share

After it became clear that the 1st lap break was not going to spontaneously explode, I rolled to one of the riders from Dave Jordan's Coaching team and asked him if he had any riders in the break. The following is almost verbatim, the conversation that occurred.

Him: No
Me: If your guys want to chase, I'm willing to work with you.

Him: Tell JP not to sit on wheels, blocking at the front.
Me: We had a guy off the front in a chase group.

Him: No you didn't, they weren't "off the front."
Me: Yes, we did. And they were.

Him: They were just dangling there.
Me: I'm telling you. If we have a guy off the front, we're always going to block.

Him: They weren't off the front!
Me: Look, let's keep it positive. I'm here to tell you that if your guys want to chase, I'm going to help.

Him: I've been chasing, you don't need to tell me, I know what I'm...blah, blah, blah


A few years back I got into a nasty shouting match with another riders and after feeling disgusted with myself for losing my temper, I took a vow of silence while racing. Obviously I've fallen off the wagon a bit there, BUT, I always try to keep it civil (even when the very rider of the eponomously-named Dave Jordan team decided he was so unhappy with my riding style, that he started yelling at me, then swerved from the right side of the road to the left, while chopping my front wheel. I just gave him the "are you insane?" look and continued riding hard at the front).

On this day too, I quickly disengaged from this stupid conversation and continued racing. In the end, there was some work shared between this rider's team, myself and a few others (notably disrupted by the 20 meter heroes all day long). I must admit, that I take some smug satisfaction in seeing that when the JP-Perlberg move left the station, the Dave Jordan train (the largest team not represented in either of the day's two major breaks) completely missed it, and didn't chase to bring it back either. I know that if Kissena would have been in that position, we would have slogged ourselves to death to make sure that second move didn't get away too. As it was, we had 2/3 of our team in it. Yay! See previous post.

Thanks. Coulda had first, but did too long of a pull on the last lap. We started on lap 2 with about 10 guys. As to be expected, half were doing nothing. BUT, there was a strong Scottos guy, an strong unattached guy, and Sniadowski (sp?). Two Hudsons and two of the Torres Mexico/NYC guys.

Get whittled down to 7 after Sniadowksi surprisingly sits up (maybe he had a flat, b/c he's a monster, or just not his day). One Hudson and one Torres drop off. The remaining Hudson guy is barking orders while skipping about 3 of 4 pulls. I'm with Mike on this. I haven't been racing that long and gladly accept anybody's advice, and in breaks there will always be some bitching, especially at the start when there's a lot of dead weight. But it's nice when there aren't so many accusations and f-bombs. I know guys' hearts are pumping and it's hard to hear, so that's why there's yelling, but it's silly sometimes. That being said, if you're skipping tons of pulls, don't be telling people what to do, especially when you don't know what you're talking about. I generally encourage guys that are obviously blowing up to just skip a couple at the back and come up later. It's cool as long as they're trying.

However....the Torres rider is awful, awful, awful, and people are giving him hell. Having worked registration a bunch, I recall that some of those guys (not sure if they're all brothers) speak very little English, so I mention this. But it's obvious he has NO IDEA what a rotating pace line is and is completely confused; pulling off in the opposite direction of everyone else, shooting to the front and riding erratically. Basically screwing up the rotation and actually hurting any momentum we're trying to generate. Ahhhh, cat 3/4. Although based on Marc's posts, some people in the 123's never figure it out either.

Anyway, the Hudson guy gets stuck at the front on the long home stretch and cat/mouse begins. I'm second. He goes pretty late, so I unleash my devestatingly crappy sprint. I'm expecting the bunch to come around me, but the sound of carbon scraping the ground can be heard behind and only the unattached guy does. Got me by a wheel or so. Scottos guy was coming but cramped up, got third I think. I suppose the 8 lap break sucked the kick out of some of them, b/c they were definitely more muscular than me. But there's a little justice there, since we 3 were doing 75% of the work.

Fun fact: took about an hour to get results. Even though EVERYONE had left, we waited the additional 15 minute protest period on top of that. Damn rules and regulations! It was f'n cold. My waterbottle was frozen. If you stayed home in a warm bed, you are smarter than me.

nice work dudes!

michael: awesome to seeing you trading punches with the big dudes - you've officially stepped it up!

red hook was awesome last night, but i'm a little sad i missed this weekend of racing with you guys.

next week i'm in philly. weekend after that: battenKILL!

Posted By: Marc Bertucco

.. seeing JP clear and away--if I'm honest with myself--I would have sat-in seeing that we had one guy up. And while that would have been tactically acceptable and correct, ultimately it would have left us with only one Kissena to place instead of the two.

So congrats to Mike for aggressive riding on both Saturday and Sunday, for which he was rewarded by being in position to sprint for money at the end of the day. I think in future weeks, I'm going to have to kick my own ass a little and adopt some Perlberg strategery, because I'm sick of suffering in the field. I'd rather suffer in a break!

Saturday I followed a move up to JP, and Sunday I followed him getting into a move, so it is more that I am watching JP and the other strong riders and pretending I have "instincts." Today, I had a very brief "oh shit, did I just really fuck up and pull the field back to JP?" moment on the hill. Luckily over the crest the guys got organized quickly and got moving along before the field reacted.

Posted By: Marc Bertucco
Epilogue: JP is rocking it too. But today was rough. I swear I had to yell at that guy like 5 times to get out of the wind. I feel for him, because there's just too many moves for just two "soldiers" to cover, and he's not going to let stuff get away, just because I've dropped anchor after a hard pull and have to push my way back to the front. We've been averaging 3 racers including JP on each of Spring race weekends in the 1/2/3s and that's just a little sad. I missed one weekend, so I've got to take some responsibility here too, but lets rally and get some more cat 1/2/3 Kissena racers out there in upcoming weekends, okay?

For a team of 3, we were doing a lot of work today. Not sure if that is smart or not. While working to bring the break back is good positive racing, United, Jordan, Mengoni, and I'm sure a few other teams all had someone sitting back out of the wind waiting for either the sprint or the big move. Maybe in the future, we do the same, especially if there is a lack of cooperation chasing? I dunno. I'm not sure it makes sense to do work for the field if our work 1) brings it to a group spring that we don't have a guy to contest competitively or 2) tires us out so much we miss the winning move.

As for having more guys, I'm definitely a no for next Sunday. I have to figure out Saturday still.

Mike

Nice job out there today, Jeff! The moves went early and you were with them. Hudson & scottos both had several guys out there, and both had men in the break so they were doing most of the tempo work. in retrospect perhaps I should have tried to jump and bridge the gap early on but worried about prompting a chase. It may have kept me from flatting due to limited visibility later. 2 races this weekend, 2 flats. Yawell, it's still early in the season!

nice works jeff and dudes!

what is it about riding a paceline that turns being into idiots?!?

That's great to hear Jeff. With all that helper bee stuff you do you're more than overdue for some results of your own here and there!

A few thing to add, mostly for thought:

Saturday. Floyd in the cold might be longer than in the heat. I rolled off at the gun, did a lap solo, and shortly after I came back (wasn't trying to kill it, just out there to tempt others), Jermaine went. After he was out there maybe for a lap, I went out to get him. Scot Willingham came up, and we caught Jermaine. We were checking our gap and trying to ride steady, though it was clear Scot wasn't on a good day.

When we saw Mike's split, we weren't going to hammer away, but we decided not to make it too easy to catch us. If I were in Mike's shoes, I would have done pretty much as he did,and if I were in Jared's, I would have made the same suggestion.

our break wasn't super even. Jermaine, Mike, Jared, Alex Bremer, and myself were steady. Scot and Igor (Adler) were uneven. Igor pulled once a lap. I was thinking about trying to take him off the back, but figured he had a team behind and he was probably going to get dropped anyway. Scot ended up cracking and dropping out.

When we saw the threesome chasing, Mike asked if we should start going harder. I didn't think so. Five vs. three seemed to give us a real edge. When Jermaine flatted, we were all happy to lose the best sprinter of the group, but the loss of his engine made it possible for the three to catch.

When Alex took off with less than two to go, I tried to go, as did Ben Woodbury, but neither of us had it. I figured Alex would start to die in a lap, and with two kissenas, two adlers, and two mengonis, and a straggler, we all six guys who wanted to get him back. Igor was no help--he was content to not help his teammate and just float the back. The straggler attacked us, then went to the back, rested, attacked, rested. We probably weren't going to catch Alex, but that made it impossible. I thought I had more left than I did, ended up yo-yoing on the back and figured my last effort would be to either attack or string it out going into the last turn. Didn't quite make it that far.

I chatted with Bremer after the race. Even he saw the headwind sections as mountains. And we were all using our 21 and 23 sprockets into the headwind.

Also, watch the wind! The wind shifted during the race a few times. And understand how to ride an echelon.

Sunday. I was pretty disappointed to miss Gavi's first-lap move. good on him; bad on the rest of us. With small fields, I've found early aggression often pays off. I wanted to get up there and attacked up the hill on lap two. Mike got into the split and I tailed off the back. I figured the field was on it. They weren't. Sorry that one didn't work--that was the best chance of catching the break.

I wasn't feeling great, but the pack was terrible; too many guys gave up before they even tried anything. I was certain Brian was going to attack up the hill with what we were told was three to go (turned out to be four to go). He went on the right, I went on the left, the right guys followed and we had our group.

We had two sprinters who had taken the bare minimum of efforts (Franklin of JV and Will). Brian, Mike, and I had all made efforts today and were tired from yesterday, though I was guessing Brian had done much less than we. I was concerned about him attacking the last time up the hill. I preferred for the festivities to begin just before the downhill on the last lap (once the games begin, the pace often slows and I don't like getting caught) and Mike and I would hopefully take turns attacking and letting the other guys chase back on. I should have communicated this to Mike during the break, sorry I didn't (gotta get better at this). Will already was soft-pedaling before the bell and skipped a few pulls. I tried to ride him off the back briefly; turned out to be a wasted effort. There was one move by the ampitheatre, we went down the hill moderately, and then Mike and I were at the front with Will. I assumed Franklin was already playing games. That's why I told Mike to go. Will started chasing, but was having trouble. I was closing on will, but saw Brian coming from behind. I moved over and got on Franklin's wheel behind Brian, and then let Will take Franklin's wheel. Mike was out there for what I'm sure felt like forever. I was getting itchy to sprint, I prefer longer sprints, but I didn't want to be the first to go. Brian caught Mike and was able to take a breather. This helped Franklin and Will, but hurt me, and probably hurt Brian. In other times, I would have used that as the time to go, but I was concerned with the false flat that they'd get on my wheel too easily.

It's frustrating finishing at the back of breakaways. Gotta work less and improve my sprint. At the same time, it's better than being stuck in the field.

And it's worthwhile to note that not a single race I've done this year has finished in a field sprint.

Thanks to Mike and Marc for Sunday and Mike, Marc, Rene, and Jan saturday. Good riding. While we had good numbers on Saturday, we didn't Sunday, and we still made a huge difference in the race, and the hard way.

Hi guys,

Today was a bit of a mess. Not totally sure what happened but this is my view. First few laps were a fast pace for cat 5 races. From what I could see, John, Mitch and 'Blue Jersey Guy' (an unattached rider in a blue jersey) spent 2/3 laps putting a bit of pace in. After the third lap or so this seemed to have halved the pack. Then, from about 15th in line up the hill in PP, we could hear a crash at front. Unfortunately, several riders were caught, including John and Mitch. As I passed I saw John on his feet and saw Mitch face down and stirring. In hindsight should have stopped for John to make sure he got back on.

That left Jorge and me in the field. The field was a mess for the rest of the race: very stop start with the pace stopping and starting. Everyone had to do a few pulls at the front at one point or another and it came to a bit of a sprint at the end. I made a mistake and lost my line and position in the 1km before the finish. Also, totally mistimed my sprint (thought the line was 400m loser than it was). Unfortunately, I ended up a rather tame 10th. I think Jorge came 6th or so??? Lesson learnt: hold line on last lap and find a sprint marker to know where I am!

John: do you have any news on Mitch? I have attached the photos we took of his bike. He may or may not need these for insurance things. If not, just for the forum!

one more...

Geez. What's the deal? Is everyone ok?

Thanks Adam for the report and pics. Out of the gate there were a couple of riders doing hard accelerations. I felt good and decided to go with a few of them to try and soften the field up and drop a few of the sitters from last week. Big blue guy (name?) was doing some monster pulls and we were away at one stage, but he wasn't keen on a 6 lap two-man.

The crash: Nolan Montel (who was first last week) pipped off the front. I asked Mitch to chase, he pulled him back in and Nolan was on the front going up the hill. Mitch was second wheel and I was behind him. I think Nolan wanted someone to come through up the climb but there were a lot of people recovering and no one came through (which I appreciate can be frustrating). Nolan was hugging the cones just where it starts to level and for some reason—even though the wind was coming hard left to right—decided to suddenly swerve right all the way across the lane. He collected Mitch's front wheel, and I caught Mitch's bike as he cartwheeled in front of me and came down, red team (Brklyn Gorilla?) hit me from behind and came down. It happened so fast Mitch couldn't get his hands in front and did a face-first landing. I was tangled up eager to get back in it, but ran back to Mitch who was being helped by a runner (who later turned out to be a trauma center doctor—awesome!). I asked him if he was OK because he was spread eagled, he was immediately responsive so I made the call to give chase to the bunch. I made up a fair bit of ground but when I came around the next time Mitch had blood all over his face and that freaked me out so I stopped to help. The EMTs came (count on a 20 minute wait here) and were very thorough. Because Mitch wasn't clear on what happened in the crash they decided to take him to Kings County which has a proper trauma unit. I went back to the start/finish and had some words with Montel. He told me he signaled with his elbow for Mitch to come through as if that explained his riding and I told him I thought he was categorically in the wrong. I'd like to hear from the other Kissenas if there's any appropriate further action we should take here. Mitch is in hospital tonight with three fractures to his eye, cheek and brow. They're operating tomorrow and will likely put a titanium plate in there when they push his cheek back into position. He's pretty bummed. But hopefully he'll be home tomorrow night or Tuesday.

I'm kind of scratching my head a little, is that six crashes in 5 races!? Regardless, I'm excited to be racing with the crew, we have a great bunch of guys and there's a good team vibe. FB course soon. Cheers to you all for toughing it out today and best wishes to Mitch for a speedy recovery!

Thanks John. Really sorry to hear about Mitch's injuries. Best wishes to him for a quick recovery.

Yikes. Those are some serious injuries. The flip side is that he'll be internally plated up with titanium, making Yacks think seriously about taking an intentional swan dive off his bike during some solo training ride.

Related to this post the question of "to stop for an accident or not?" comes up not too infrequently.

And the answer is, "it depends." Namely will your stopping, in some way, help the situation? And that doesn't mean, you have to be a medical person either. For example, if you saw the accident and how it went down, EMS will want to know. Because knowing--in medical jargon--"the mechanism of injury" is very important for thorough treatment.

In another situation, even if the tale's been told by someone else, and the patient is snug as a bug in the stretcher and off to hospital, he/she will no doubt appreciate that someone took care of his bike. And of course, if you see an accident and you are the first responder, and the person is gushing blood, grab some clothing or anything and put pressure on the wound to help slow the bleed. (of course if you have abrasions or cuts and wounds on your own hands, and you don't have gloves, that's probably not a great idea for your own safety, but...honestly that kind of intervention will rarely, probably never, be required.

Now if there's already a sea of people milling around, the guy is sitting up holding his arm/shoulder (e.g. collar bone injury), talking, then your added presence is probably not going to help and you should continue on. Crowd control can be a problem at the scene of accidents, with too many onlookers getting in the way of EMS providing prompt care.

John, to specifically answer your question about the rider's conduct who may have caused the accident. As a general rule, the only time sudden, wide left to right swings across the racing road are acceptable is NEVER.

You will see dramatic swings like that on the track in events like the team pursuit, where there is no wheel crossing over, and the front guy pulls off and up high up the track and dive bomb back down to the back of his pace line after his pull is done.

Rich,

you know how you go thru cycles of flats. I had a two week period last year where I got 4 flats, and I've not gotten any since. Sometimes your number just comes up for flats and you have to accept it. No fun, but it is what it is.

Dan

Best wishes for speedy healing to Mitch.

John --I hope you're OK too.

Real sorry to hear about the ugliness out there yesterday. Echo everyone else - best wishes to Mitch for a speedy recovery, and props to the others who stuck it out and finished strong (John, Adam, Jorge....)

Lack of sleep finally caught up to me. I was feeling cold & crappy from the start from a late night out, probably shouldn't have lined up in the first place, dropped out after a lap, went home and crawled my sorry ass back into bed. I'm about finished with these sub 30-degree mornings at this point.

I find it frustrating how so many cat 5 racers ride like maniacs, instead of focusing on riding safely, improving fitness, and learning race tactics. No money is at the line! 30 seconds in the wind will not ruin your cycling career!
Mitch wishing you a fast recovery.

I'm really sorry for Mitch, I didn't know how bad it ended up being...I'm kind of shocked.
My best wishes for a strong and fast recovery Mitch!
At least for me, in these first two races in my life that I have participated (CP and PP), is very hard to narrate what happens... Everything happens so fast and I'm so focused in trying not to mess it up, hold my line and keep the position in the front group. As Dan says, you should be trying to learn the dynamics of riding in the pack and improving fitness.
I thought the pace was really hard from the beginning of the race, with Mitch and John putting a lot of effort in the front. I think the pack got split in two and after a few laps in the middle of the climb (if you can call it a climb) this very unfortunate accident happens. Doesn't make a lot of sense that something like this might happen, specially at that stage and place in the race...don't remember what lap was 3-4?? I was right behind the group of 4 or 5 that went down, could escape it by an inch (moved to the left into the cones, lucky there was no one on my side) and then looked back and saw John standing up and Adam going by as well. I thought it was not as bad, and really didn't know what to do... In hindsight I maybe should have stopped to check for Mitch and John, we discussed it with Adam and followed on with the group of remaing riders...The race continued with Adam and me in the front group and came down to a group sprint where the guy that took Mitch down sprinted aggresively with 150? yards to go and everyone followed...Tried to do the best I could, but definitely my sprinting skills suck and I need more practice. I think I came in 8th, don't know who won at the end...Hope Mitch can recover and come back to the group soon. As John says, Great group!! I'm hoping to race this Sunday again and try to get all of this out of the head...

Thanks Marc for the crash 101. I'd like to hear your thoughts on what to do if a riders does something that is obviously dangerous like this. Apart from having a chat with them about technique, is there any further action that a Kissena rider should take? Try get him DQ'd/protest? Inform race organizer? I was a bit too preoccupied at the time to think this stuff through.

Jorge, I didn't expect you'd wait, although I was hoping you guys might look back and see me when I was chasing. I'd only expect Kissena riders to stop if there is no one there to help with the accident or the points or GC were super close. So definitely no worries.

Norm, I'm doing fine thanks, just nursing the standard hip and knee road rash.

John,

As for your question. If there was dangerous behavior that was advancing a rider's position, or part of a consistent pattern of dangerous behavior from a single rider, then usually it is something to bring up with the officials immediately after the race, and discuss it with the rider. If it was dangerous behavior that was not necessarily advancing a rider's position, then the question really is, was the damage so severe to make it worth going down the path of seeking officals out to pursue a sanction against the rider. I think the most important thing is to do what you did and discuss it with him after the race. Beyond that you're really talking about escalating the issue.

The rules that are apply are really in the conduct section of the rules:
1Q7. No rider may make an abrupt motion so as to interfere with the forward progress of another rider, either intentionally or by accident [relegation or disqualification; possible 20 days suspension if a crash results].
1Q8. Dangerous Rider. Any rider who appears to present a danger to the other competitors may be disqualified by the Chief Referee, either before, during, or after a race.

We all sign those waivers saying quite explicitly that bicycle racing is dangerous and we take responsibility for accepting that danger. I think we try to instill in Kissena riders the means to try to reduce the danger by being safe predictable riders, but there are always conditions out of your control.