What Are Your Thoughts on This?

[DerekClouser]

Competed in my first race weekend at OMRL.  Second half of the races were in the wet.  Wanted to know your thoughts on this?

Last lap of the race, I got held up by some crashes in front of me.  I start reeling this guy in.  The brake marker in the wet to make the corner was a little before the finish line and in the dry it was at the black line after the start finish line.  I figured I could run it to the line and brake and go wide entering turn-1 since it was after the lap and wouldn't matter.  Didn't notice the crash.   Realized I wasn't going to 'safely' get the bike stopped and turned without risking losing the front and slamming into the previous accident so I opted for plan B) Going straight into the air fence.  I was perfectly fine. 

 

So I just wanted to hear your thoughts on this.  Was I reckless knowing I'd likely have a hard time getting through turn 1 to drag the guy through the finish line? I was told that the yellow flag was going up as we were closing in on the start finish line.  

I'm just curious if others thought I was in the wrong?  No-one said anything and final standings showed me ahead by .05 seconds @jacobhawkins mentioned that was racing.  

I'm ready for some criticism on the ordeal.  Just want to hear from some other racers perspective. 

 

 

[TwiztedRabbit]

this may sounds a bit contradictory at times but I think its kinda subjective... on one hand racing is racing and i'll do whatever I can to win i'll hold that gas a moment longer or wait to brake a hair later....  though I still do it knowing that barring any outside conditions i'll stay on track. have I ridden of track I certainly have I push my limits and have gone off the surface .. but honestly maybe 2 times a year... I will NEVER purposefully   hold on to the gas or wait on the brakes so long that I know i'll wreck or go off track... if I go off track that means I was NOT in control and I wrecked... meaning even if I do not go down.. and I roll through and back on track. I have still failed and I "wrecked" this is unacceptable to me personally. As I  told another buddy about club racing at our age (young assed impetuous 35) I am not competitive or young enough and chasing points isn't ever going to get me a ride that pays, so I do it for the fun, the camaraderie and the  thrill I get from rolling next to another sharing the same. 

maybe that was a load of drivel but maybe it helps

[DerekClouser]

1 minute ago, TwiztedRabbit said:

this may sounds a bit contradictory at times but I think its kinda subjective... on one hand racing is racing and i'll do whatever I can to win i'll hold that gas a moment longer or wait to brake a hair later....  though I still do it knowing that barring any outside conditions i'll stay on track. have I ridden of track I certainly have I push my limits and have gone off the surface .. but honestly maybe 2 times a year... I will NEVER purposefully   hold on to the gas or wait on the brakes so long that I know i'll wreck or go off track... if I go off track that means I was NOT in control and I wrecked... meaning even if I do not go down.. and I roll through and back on track. I have still failed and I "wrecked" this is unacceptable to me personally. As I  told another buddy about club racing at our age (young assed impetuous 35) I am not competitive or young enough and chasing points isn't ever going to get me a ride that pays, so I do it for the fun, the camaraderie and the  thrill I get from rolling next to another sharing the same. 

maybe that was a load of drivel but maybe it helps

Not at all. It's exactly what I'm looking for... And to be clear, I had no intentions of holding it WOT knowing I wouldn't be able to make the corner... I figured I'd still get it stopped and turned, even if I was wide because the brake marker in the dry was well after the finish line.  Part of the draft, wet conditions definitely pulled me way deeper than I wanted and that's when I knew I wasn't going to safely get it turned without risking slamming into the guys already in the air fence.  With that being said, I was probably stupid for pushing it because the track was super slippery and tons of crashing happened through the race at turn-1... one of the main reasons I got so far behind because we were dodging a lot of crashes. 

[TwiztedRabbit]

it's a catch 22 we all want to win... and we will all at some point do something  not as intelligent to do so... I would be more worried at first about the dude you passed on the left as you then went wide and off track..  he needed to stop too and you could have collected him as well. 

of course it is always easy to arm chair it afterwards

[DerekClouser]

2 minutes ago, TwiztedRabbit said:

it's a catch 22 we all want to win... and we will all at some point do something  not as intelligent to do so... I would be more worried at first about the dude you passed on the left as you then went wide and off track..  he needed to stop too and you could have collected him as well. 

of course it is always easy to arm chair it afterwards

Ahhh... you're right, those are the things I need to process quicker and with experience will come more naturally.  

[TwiztedRabbit]

i've been lucky enough that being a coach my head is on a swivel... I spend most of my time  riding while turned around, its weird I know.  that said I  kinda get used to expecting the unexpected.. I cant tell you how many incidents ive seen on a weekend basis that would make you just shake your head. this has actually greatly helped me in racing .. but your 100% right..   time and experience will help you in the long run

[what]

I think you could have possibly made the turn but if you were uncertain and the choice was chance making it or lose the front and crash into the 2 guys already in the fence or run off straight, 100% avoiding the other guys, I would say that you made the right choice. The guy you passed braked way early so you were well clear of him before he tipped in. That's a real tough situation, with that corner being so slick, but also being 50 feet after the finish line. Of course you're going to go for the pass. 

 

The guy in the fence did the EXACT same thing that you did trying to pass me at the line, and he crashed 2 feet in front of me. I barely missed running him over. The yellow flag was not out when I got around the corner. I'm not sure when it started waving but it was not very quickly. It's possible the yellow wasn't out until you were close to the line. If that is the case, what can you do? You're already WOT passing this guy. 

 

The track was dangerous. If you weren't putting around turn 1, 2 and 3 at almost idle, you were going to crash. Everybody crashed. The guys trying to push crashed 4 or 5 times per race. If they felt it wasn't worth the risk racing there in the rain with the surface being as bad as it is wet, they should have red flagged it. I see it as a racing incident, but I'm not super experienced either so Jason's thoughts probably have more weight.  

[Limitedslip7]

You definitely weren't going to make that turn. That being said, I've done the exact same thing going WOT to the finish line right there in the wet to pick up a spot but I was on the outside. Thought I could make the turn if I started braking right as I crossed the finish but I ended up losing the front as I turned in. Personally I probably wouldn't have tried that up the inside due to the risk of collecting the guy on the outside as he tried to turn in but you did the right thing just going straight into the air fence because you would have hit the other downed guy or his bike if you did try to turn in to that corner at that speed. Lesson learned for next time... 

[TimTheAzn]

Red mist.....

[jschaf]

Looks like you done good to me. Did you pick up a couple more sponsors with that?