R
Ronde Champ
Guest
Did you ever notice that davidsommerville.com is always blaming other riders, caravan drivers and
his equipment for holding him back?
Thanks, Ronde Champ
Racing:
Ronde Van Mullica - Got up at a outrageous hour to drive down to the race in South Jersey because of
the time change. Ragot and I left at what would be 5:30am to make the race. Drove, got there with
time to spare. It was "kinda not really" cold at the start but things were to warm up. Sunny and dry
considering it has been raining alot lately. Good sized group of around 90 guys. 6laps on the
course. The dirt which should be interesting.
Lap 1 - Breakaway goes from the start. Pack rides at a snails pace untill just before the dirt
section and then everthing gets all wacky as per usuall rules of Ronde Van Mullica. I move up
passing bodies and bikes in the dirt. I am the 2nd guy out of the dirt behind the break which now
has 1:25 seconds on the group in less than 6 miles. Make a huge attack but nobody wants to ride
hard. Lame wankers Get caught and we all ride slow sincenobody wants to work.
Lap 2 - Ragot is about 3rd guy in line and I am in the middle. He crashed in the dirt while at the
front. Yo, Eric, I thought you were some sort of great cyclocross bike racer so why are you dirt
surfing? AttacK again after the dirt section but nobody will pull through in a group of 5 so I sit
up. Break is 1:55
Lap 3 - Boring, dirt was fine, I was 2nd out onto the pavement agian. Start in 50th and make my way
to the front. Weird and funny. Plan on attacking into dirt on next lap to see what happens. There
is a field split this lap on the dirt section but of course it comes back together since the only
time we are actually racing is when we are of road. Otherwise its a stupid training ride pace of
about 22mph.
Lap 4 - Sommerville attacks into dirt, strings field out but nothing really breaks apart. The
field by now is half the size of what we started with and nothing is going to shake loose. Ok, I
am wrong as just after I hammer the whole dirt section a break goes up the road of about 8 guys.
Lead group is
1:55 and they are 20 seconds.
Lap 5 - The pack is starting to chase and race their bikes for a change! We are catch the break
group and are closing on on the leaders. I sit in and do nothing.
Lap 6 - I havent seen Ragot since lap 2 so I guess he is in the car listening to music. Pace is OK
but still fairly slow if we are to catch the leaders. Placement for the dirt section was in the top
20 and I decide to attack agian about 1/3 of the way through the dirt section. I start to move left
to attack and some dumbass pulls off in front of me forcing me to change my line. He is blowing up
from the pace, I swerve to avoid him and get caught in the worst loose dirt/sand section and loose
my momemtum. I think I can get out of this situation untill the "assclown" decides to once agian
change his line. Game over. I am at a stand still and have to unclip, stop and avoid "buttmunch from
a Jersey Team."
Chase, chase some more and almost regain the pack just before end of dirt section. Now here comes
the good part. I am 4 seconds off the back and the neutral support truck decides he must pass me in
the dirt. This was a bad idea on his part. He passes anyway, now I cant take any good line and cant
see ****. It slows me down and I eventually pass him back just before the road. Time gap is back to
5 seconds.
Ok, 1 "assclown" made me dirt surf and a completly retarded driver keeps me from catching back on
the group. Whats to happen next, of course the wheel truck driver has to pass me on the road just
before the 90 degree turn, which by the way is only 200meters from the end of the dirt section. To
make things even more FU, he passes then stops in the turn to talk with the course marshal.
Dave slams on brakes to avoid a crash and well its game over now. Field is 10 seconds and there is
less than 2 miles to finish.
I ride in and get jack ****.
Damn, I was hoping to get a placing at this race.
Highlights of race : Seeing Ragot faceplant Lowlights of race :
Several - Guys are WAY WAY out of shape. Dirt surfing on last lap. STUPID neutral support drivers.
Seaford Race Weekend Ok this rece report will be shorter for one simple reason. I got 2 flats so
early in each stage it killed the weekend.
Ragot and I leave at 6:45am, he drives his usually crazy way weaving and passing cars the whole way
to Delaware. We get there with plenty of time to spare. It not raining and this makes me happy.
Suit up, pin up, get ready, ride 5 miles to warmup. Line up.
Go!
3 laps into the race I flat. It was fast with average speed of about 27 mph. This circuit race
doesnt have free lap rule even thought the course is less than 1.6 miles. I get a wheel from Mark
Izhak, who got 3rd in the 4/5 race, and jump back in the race. Less than 1/2 lap later Moto
Officials wont let me ride with the pack as per circuit race rules I can NOT draft or work with
The races are done off points so its not needed to finish todays stage.
Goof off, Ragot is dropped 3 laps later and we go ride the road course.
The rest of the day was usuall bike race stuff, eat, check into hotel, move piles of clothes around,
talk bike **** and eat again.
Sunday - 102 miles, flat and very windy.
Lap 1 - Very fast start to the race this year. Guys were getting dropped in the first 5 miles.
Wankers! Lap 2 - Fast, sat in making all the right selections in the wind.
Lap 3 - This was the big selection lap. Total gutter time. I once agian made the "big" selection and
half the field was dropped. Guys just dont know how to ride gutter and are blwoing up left and
right! This makes things extra hard.
Just after the "big" selection my bike feels weird. Yup, front flat. Yesterday was rear flat and I
put brand new tires on for today. I now know it must be the rims strips and not road **** or glass.
WORST WHEEL CHANGE EVER - wont even go into details. Loose 24 seconds and well there is no way to
regain that when the average speed is 26+ mph without "caravan support" which didnt happen. Maybe it
was the same driver in the same truck from Ronde Van Mullica? Anyway I attempt a chase, get within
10 seconds but then the group strings out single file and ride away from me.
Lap 4,5 and 6 Rode "goofy" group of guys who got dropped on lap 3. Mainly Cat 3's that are totally
out of shape or dont know how to ride gutter. The group gets bigger and bigger each lap as guys from
behind catch up and we catch more riders getting dropped. At one time we had about 20 guys. We loose
mad time and I am guessing we are about 10 minutes down by the last lap they let us ride.
Thats about it for Seaford.
Mental Note : This was supposed to be my first "B" race of the year.
No luck with equipment keeps me held back.
his equipment for holding him back?
Thanks, Ronde Champ
Racing:
Ronde Van Mullica - Got up at a outrageous hour to drive down to the race in South Jersey because of
the time change. Ragot and I left at what would be 5:30am to make the race. Drove, got there with
time to spare. It was "kinda not really" cold at the start but things were to warm up. Sunny and dry
considering it has been raining alot lately. Good sized group of around 90 guys. 6laps on the
course. The dirt which should be interesting.
Lap 1 - Breakaway goes from the start. Pack rides at a snails pace untill just before the dirt
section and then everthing gets all wacky as per usuall rules of Ronde Van Mullica. I move up
passing bodies and bikes in the dirt. I am the 2nd guy out of the dirt behind the break which now
has 1:25 seconds on the group in less than 6 miles. Make a huge attack but nobody wants to ride
hard. Lame wankers Get caught and we all ride slow sincenobody wants to work.
Lap 2 - Ragot is about 3rd guy in line and I am in the middle. He crashed in the dirt while at the
front. Yo, Eric, I thought you were some sort of great cyclocross bike racer so why are you dirt
surfing? AttacK again after the dirt section but nobody will pull through in a group of 5 so I sit
up. Break is 1:55
Lap 3 - Boring, dirt was fine, I was 2nd out onto the pavement agian. Start in 50th and make my way
to the front. Weird and funny. Plan on attacking into dirt on next lap to see what happens. There
is a field split this lap on the dirt section but of course it comes back together since the only
time we are actually racing is when we are of road. Otherwise its a stupid training ride pace of
about 22mph.
Lap 4 - Sommerville attacks into dirt, strings field out but nothing really breaks apart. The
field by now is half the size of what we started with and nothing is going to shake loose. Ok, I
am wrong as just after I hammer the whole dirt section a break goes up the road of about 8 guys.
Lead group is
1:55 and they are 20 seconds.
Lap 5 - The pack is starting to chase and race their bikes for a change! We are catch the break
group and are closing on on the leaders. I sit in and do nothing.
Lap 6 - I havent seen Ragot since lap 2 so I guess he is in the car listening to music. Pace is OK
but still fairly slow if we are to catch the leaders. Placement for the dirt section was in the top
20 and I decide to attack agian about 1/3 of the way through the dirt section. I start to move left
to attack and some dumbass pulls off in front of me forcing me to change my line. He is blowing up
from the pace, I swerve to avoid him and get caught in the worst loose dirt/sand section and loose
my momemtum. I think I can get out of this situation untill the "assclown" decides to once agian
change his line. Game over. I am at a stand still and have to unclip, stop and avoid "buttmunch from
a Jersey Team."
Chase, chase some more and almost regain the pack just before end of dirt section. Now here comes
the good part. I am 4 seconds off the back and the neutral support truck decides he must pass me in
the dirt. This was a bad idea on his part. He passes anyway, now I cant take any good line and cant
see ****. It slows me down and I eventually pass him back just before the road. Time gap is back to
5 seconds.
Ok, 1 "assclown" made me dirt surf and a completly retarded driver keeps me from catching back on
the group. Whats to happen next, of course the wheel truck driver has to pass me on the road just
before the 90 degree turn, which by the way is only 200meters from the end of the dirt section. To
make things even more FU, he passes then stops in the turn to talk with the course marshal.
Dave slams on brakes to avoid a crash and well its game over now. Field is 10 seconds and there is
less than 2 miles to finish.
I ride in and get jack ****.
Damn, I was hoping to get a placing at this race.
Highlights of race : Seeing Ragot faceplant Lowlights of race :
Several - Guys are WAY WAY out of shape. Dirt surfing on last lap. STUPID neutral support drivers.
Seaford Race Weekend Ok this rece report will be shorter for one simple reason. I got 2 flats so
early in each stage it killed the weekend.
Ragot and I leave at 6:45am, he drives his usually crazy way weaving and passing cars the whole way
to Delaware. We get there with plenty of time to spare. It not raining and this makes me happy.
Suit up, pin up, get ready, ride 5 miles to warmup. Line up.
Go!
3 laps into the race I flat. It was fast with average speed of about 27 mph. This circuit race
doesnt have free lap rule even thought the course is less than 1.6 miles. I get a wheel from Mark
Izhak, who got 3rd in the 4/5 race, and jump back in the race. Less than 1/2 lap later Moto
Officials wont let me ride with the pack as per circuit race rules I can NOT draft or work with
The races are done off points so its not needed to finish todays stage.
Goof off, Ragot is dropped 3 laps later and we go ride the road course.
The rest of the day was usuall bike race stuff, eat, check into hotel, move piles of clothes around,
talk bike **** and eat again.
Sunday - 102 miles, flat and very windy.
Lap 1 - Very fast start to the race this year. Guys were getting dropped in the first 5 miles.
Wankers! Lap 2 - Fast, sat in making all the right selections in the wind.
Lap 3 - This was the big selection lap. Total gutter time. I once agian made the "big" selection and
half the field was dropped. Guys just dont know how to ride gutter and are blwoing up left and
right! This makes things extra hard.
Just after the "big" selection my bike feels weird. Yup, front flat. Yesterday was rear flat and I
put brand new tires on for today. I now know it must be the rims strips and not road **** or glass.
WORST WHEEL CHANGE EVER - wont even go into details. Loose 24 seconds and well there is no way to
regain that when the average speed is 26+ mph without "caravan support" which didnt happen. Maybe it
was the same driver in the same truck from Ronde Van Mullica? Anyway I attempt a chase, get within
10 seconds but then the group strings out single file and ride away from me.
Lap 4,5 and 6 Rode "goofy" group of guys who got dropped on lap 3. Mainly Cat 3's that are totally
out of shape or dont know how to ride gutter. The group gets bigger and bigger each lap as guys from
behind catch up and we catch more riders getting dropped. At one time we had about 20 guys. We loose
mad time and I am guessing we are about 10 minutes down by the last lap they let us ride.
Thats about it for Seaford.
Mental Note : This was supposed to be my first "B" race of the year.
No luck with equipment keeps me held back.