Something for Ocala riders to be reminded of

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Mary Verrandeaux

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Apr 1, 2010, 11:12:58 AM4/1/10
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I thought we should take this into consideration, since we also have riders who are trying to stay in rotation longer than they should. Another point of confusion is in what direction to pull off. Always pull off into the wind. Riders will be on the other side of the back wheel and when you pull off with the wind, you cross their back wheel. I have seen and been involved in many crashes because the lead rider pulls off in the same direction as what the wind is blowing and takes down the rider or riders behind them. None of us can afford to be hurt, so lets please be cautious and careful and have fun.


Begin forwarded message:

From: Jared Zimlin <jzi...@yahoo.com>
Date: April 1, 2010 10:44:01 AM EDT
To: Team Gearlink <team-g...@googlegroups.com>
Cc: Pablo Santa Cruz <pa...@topviewinternational.com>
Subject: [Team Gearlink] Follow Up from Last Nights Ride

Team,

I wanted to follow up on the incident we had during the ride last night.  A few riders went down in the last lap with one breaking a collar bone.

I did not see what happened to exactly cause the wreck however i did see some signs with 2 laps to go that did not make the wreck shocking. 

The ride last night was very smooth but did get very fast. Dwayne commented it was fast and if he says its fast, its fast. What I saw as we ramped up was riders who were getting tired were still trying to stay in the rotation while barely hanging on. One rider was helped by Frankie to stay in and that should be the sign its time to go to the back.Another new rider several times got in over his head and tried to go back, but was doing so from the fast lane and trying to drift down the middle of the group.

I want to stress that it is perfectly OK to drift back. Everyone has an off day. Everyone has a ride where they are just over their head. We want everyone to feel welcome to come out and have fun and push themselves as hard as they can. It is important though to understand when you are over your head and how to safely go to the back. 

If you cannot comfortably rotate through in the fast lane its time to go back. Do so in the following way....

If you can make it to the back in the slow lane, that is preferable. As you get to the back, simply signal to the rider in front that you are out and tell them when the last wheel is so they know to get in.

If you cannot make it in the slow lane, do your last pull in the fast lane, if you blow when you pull over, raise your hand and drift to the outside.

If you are in the fast lane and you are done. Raise your hand and pull off to the outside. One of the issues I saw last night was a rider trying to pull off inside after blowing in the fast lane and trying to drift back in the middle or trying to but into the slow line. This causes massive confusion in the pack as most riders are focused on rotating and their pull. Even though you may not wreck, you may cause the wreck by not getting out in a safe manner.

As always. This is training. It is for fun. We need to go out and help one another get better, but we need to do so in a safe manner and we need to each take responsibility for our own limits. There is no shame in pulling off. Believe me, there are days when I am strong but there are days where I am dead. I have no problem raising the white flag. 

If anyone has any thoughts, please feel free to share them so we can make the Wednesday night ride and all other rides safe, productive and welcoming to riders of all levels.

Ride hard and be safe.

Jared Zimlin
President
Gearlink Racing, Inc.




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Jonathan Borowski

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Apr 1, 2010, 1:44:17 PM4/1/10
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Agreed.  Let's keep it safe out there.
 
Jon Borowski
jtbor...@yahoo.com


From: Mary Verrandeaux <ma...@mverrandeaux.com>
To: brick-cit...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thu, April 1, 2010 11:12:58 AM
Subject: Something for Ocala riders to be reminded of
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