wait and see what tehy say on cycling news about it... but it was another case of stupid racing and people tanking their own race just to help another guy win... i like the track and i come out to have fun and support it.. but shit... its just sad to see guys not racing their bikes to win...
me and bahati were third and we thought we had a shot till the shit hit the fan and we went from second with a chance to third with no hope at all.. but all in all i am happy with our ride.. we did the best that we could do in some really odd circumstances...
we havce never ridden together before and i am not super experienced in madisons even though i like them so much.. so our timing was really off... we were faster and stronger than freidman/lee and faster but not stronger than pierce/hartley... if we would have been better on the timing we could have been second but lee and freidman had a lot of expereince and it showed... they were exchanging at the right moments to beat us in the sprints and me an bahati were just not that aware of what was happening...
but i will see what comes in cyclingnews.com and then have some more comments and interpretations...
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5 comments:
Congratulations on some great riding. Forget about the team stuff and focus on the positives. The only thing you can do right now is game the system like the other guys and bring more teammates.
i am not excited to do that... its not right and if i have to bring 5 guys with me to win then i am ok with not winning...
and as it is thats what you have to do.. so i am ok with not winning... really... i didnt win and i feel ok about it...
i would like to see a change in the way this is all done.. that would be best...
i am out here to race and have a good time and to support what i think is a really great part of the sport... and i dont want to be a part of what i think is really wrong with it...
guys do other guys favors all the time and thats ok... but i dont like to see it get so out of hand that guys are just not caring about winning at all.. or that they are shuting the race down by plain NOT riding their bikes hard...
Erik,
What kind of policy solution do you think could prevent this sort of thing from happening? One could argue that limiting the number of racers from a given team will have the effect of paring down field sizes. It would be sad for USA Cycling to be turning down riders at the elite level of competition. That wouldn't be good for the sport, either (in my opinion). What do you suggest?
Hey Erik,
Man these nats are turning into the Springer show. Speaking of T.V., where in hell is the coverage of this event! My only sources of info: boyfriend and FGH.com/cyclingnews. As for what is sad with USA cycling :
1. Website sucks. Besides getting names wrong, they are the slowest in updating info. How about some streaming/ realtime video footage (you can charge a couple of bucks like ariatv.com does). I realize this is expensive but you got to spend money to make money. If televion networks can see that there is a demand for this coverage, maybe I won't have to go online and search in vain for the few photos that are out there. Anyway my point is - More/better coverage is needed from a website that is supposed to be representing the sport in this country. They should also get a better promotions team.
2. $37 per race! you got to be kidding me. You don't even stand a chance of winning some of it back. In other sports, championship = prize money. In track cycling, championships = maybe a trip to world cup if you meet the time standard but you still might get flicked anyway. All I have to say is "show me the money" cause a medal is not going to pay the bills.
Sorry for the rant Erik. It just frustrates me to see such an exciting sport not get the attention it deserves.
Long time ago the Casper Classic stage race had a rule where they didn't let an organization enter more than one team. This meant that Subaru Montgomery's Lance Armstrong couldn't enter and ditch out after 3 days to do nats in Utah, but that's ok, his career seems to have gone well enough. And, limited entry per club/team is how it should be. If you don't make the cut for your team, train harder or form your own team so you're at the top and you get to ride. If it's Nats track and you've got some chump team stacking the field, or... even a cat 3 or 4 race where you've got some chump who won't upgrade it's all the same because it's ultimately not good for the sport. Either way, it's somebody who's showing how lame/weak they can be. If it's not hurting the sport, it's sure as hell not helping.
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