Epic Failures: your stories

[drubie]

An example from today that involved over thinking, over estimating ability and ignorance of group race dynamics.

My small group was off second in todays 45km handicap. I overheard some of the times, notably that the fast group was carrying a *lot* of extra time due to the longer (for us) road race.

Now, the last couple of times on this course we've always been hoovered up, spat out, but the "go" group have generally gotten away with not getting caught.

So, in my fevered brain, looking at the headwind on the out part of the course (3 loops of a 15km out and back course) was that I would do my turn in our little bunch on the way out into the wind, make a break up the first hill and chase down the go bunch if I saw stragglers and then I'd be home free for the next two pulls into the wind, shielded and happy.

So, off we go, I do my turns, although at the turnaround I note we've not made much of an impression into the go group at all. Then (yay!) I see the stragglers on the first hill and punch that Orbea up the hill, leaving the bunch gasping. Alright! It's all coming together!

This is fine until I crest the hill and spot the go bunch as tiny specks in the distance. No matter thinks I, I've got plenty of legs today, I get into TT mode and grind off with the tail wind on my back, grinning like an idiot.

Second turnaround, I haven't caught them but I've been caught! No matter, latch on for a free ride...ouch this is starting to hurt. I get dropped. I'm facing into the headwind by myself for a long, lonely 7.5km, at the end of which I'm shattered and my start group plus a variety of other riders have caught me with fresher legs from sharing the load.

OK, so what, just sit back and catch my breath and YOWZA another group comes through, splitting the bunch and spitting me out while I try to find my rhythm again. Another TT with a tailwind has me nearly catching on again but BANG. Last hill says no. Headwind says no. I crawl home, dead exhausted. If I'd only had the brains to hang with the other guys I started with...

What a goose!

[foo on patrol]

What a goose. You should have used the group that you had around you to first, round up the stagglers first, especially with riding into a head wind.

It's great being an armchair critic. It'll come together one day for you Drubie.

Gary

[DanielS]

My biggest epic failure was taking a wrong turn in a crit while off the front...

[puffdaddy]

My biggest epic failure was taking a wrong turn in a crit while off the front...

My wife said I am an epic failure and she has not even seen me cycle

[jules21]

as i used to be told, if you're feeling good - shirk it in the bunch until the others have worn themselves out

of course i couldn't help but do the opposite - if i felt good, i'd be out the front pulling. i used to enjoy more just the racing, rather than the winning (thus the lack of the latter).

[r3racer]

I was riding through sydney city a few weeks ago in peak hour and i thought id be sneaky in the traffic and go around a stationary car on the gutter side, all seemed well and good until i hit the drain grate, my front wheel slipping right between the gap causing me to go head over the handle bars and my bike standing vertical in the drain, luckely neither myself or my pride and joy were harmed, can't say as much for my ego tho.

[drubie]

of course i couldn't help but do the opposite - if i felt good, i'd be out the front pulling. i used to enjoy more just the racing, rather than the winning (thus the lack of the latter).

+1 - can't help myself. It took a lot of work to even reach this level for me and damned if I don't enjoy what my body is capable of. It just feels good!

[gdt]

Thought I had the bike shoes in the bag. But no. Cycled 120Km in my car-driving Crocs on my clipless pedals.

And a tri about 10 years ago. I'd been pushed around by other competitors in the swim leg and I was really hurting where some prick behind me kept stroking into my legs. When I was at the furthest reach of the bike leg I was just out of it, stumbled off the bike, threw up, and just layed down. Took me about half an hour hydrate, keep something down, and get back on. When I got back to the interchange a marshal pulled me up and pointed to my legs, asking if they hurt. I'd been stung by bluebottles in the swim leg, apparently that had happened to a few people, but since I was a quick swimmer I was too early to be noticed by the organisers on my way out of the water.

Epic fail being that rather than withdrawing -- I wasn't keen on a Did Not Finish result -- I insisted that having come this far I was going to finish, an argument stopped by the marshal's sensible disqualification. Of course having DQ against my name was much more of a mark than DNF ever would have been.

[drubie]

No blue bottles up here - the "Hell of the North West" 20/40/100km Mt Yarrowyck road race was on.

The prologue:
Now, earlier in the week when I pulled up at a roundabout, I heard a plastic "ping" and lost a bit from the inside of my front derailleur. Since the bike still shifted fine I didn't give it a second thought.

Yesterday, we had the juniors and my daughter had a stack (minor bark off the shin) but her indoors was pretty dirty on the whole cycling thing when we got back, especially when I had forgotten to remind her about Sunday.

So, I'm in the doghouse, I'm concerned about my daughter but I'm entered in the 40km so I sneak off early before the house wakes.

The 40km race:
The course is a series of big climbs and gullies for the 40km course - 500m+ of climbing, none of it particularly steep but long and relentless.

The go group consists of some ladies (one of whom is faster than me), we're off 5 minutes afterwards with groups at 5 minutes each behind. It's a good group - blokes I race with regularly plus a couple of blow ins. We quickly settle into a rhythm and I'm feeling so good I pull long turns on the front trying to bust the out of towners. It doesn't work but the hilly course is clearly hurting people in this bunch which stays together until the turnaround. I start formulating where would be the best place to start chasing the lead group (who we hadn't caught) and c-r-u-n-c-h a messy front change on a bumpy bit of road has the chain off the outside of the ring.

F*ck. I stop. I struggle to disentangle it but my group is gone up the road. Clearly, that little plastic thing actually does something to stop the chain over shifting.

Finally, I untangle it and give chase for 5 solid mental Cancellara kilometres only to ever catch glimpses of that group. They're gone for good. I limp home. My group never caught go and one of the ladies from my regular training ride wins - I figured she'd got it at the turnaround when they were still 4 minutes ahead of us. Awesome ride from her.

We watch the 100km racers come in looking like they'd been beaten by 4x2s of timber including Peter McDonald who underestimated just how savage the road is. I'll have to do a lot of training before I attempt that course. Still in the doghouse too, although the daughter is just as keen to go back next weekend thankfully.