Just to clear up some misunderstandings starting to form, for the sake of
the peanut gallery here...

Nobody from any team was riding four abreast "blocking" the pack, so I've
been told. Portland Velo had 4 guys in the race, and towards the end of the
race, they were, all four, near the front of the peloton, working to try to
lead out a sprinter to the finish. There was no Portland Velo breakaway, so
I understand, that they would be blocking for. I believe that Mr. Nelson
merely found himself in the back half of a slow moving peloton, unable to
move up, and saw a couple Portland Velo jerseys of guys who were smart
enough to make the move up the front of the pack early so they could contest
the finish. I believe they put one man in the top 10 - not terrible for a
Cat5 team still learning team tactics.

It is well known that it is difficult to move around in the pack on the
Piece of Cake course. Myself, racing in the 4's, I had to start making my
move about 10 miles from the finish in order to complete it by the two miles
to go mark. Then I sat near the front, sucking wind, for the last couple
miles so I could have a shot at a good finish. It's just racing is all.

So, to summarize: No breakaway. No blocking. Just a frustrated racer who
didn't make the move to the front of the peloton early enough to contest the
finish.

To move this thread back on the original topic; I have sometimes wondered
myself why the road didn't open up sooner than 200m. Particularly at Banana
Belt, by the time 200m came up, the sprinters had already picked their lines
and opening up the other lane had no real affect. On the other hand, I can
see that perhaps the opening of both lanes at 200m is meant as a pure safety
matter, and opening the lane up sooner
would eliminate the safety of having extra room to maneuver in a sprint.

Say the lane opened at 500m, what would happen with a 50+ person
peloton? Why, everyone and their Grandma would move up around the
side of the peloton to get to the front and fill the road just the
same
and their would be no safety benefit at all. The way it is now, nobody
seriously contesting the sprint uses the newly opened lane (takes too long
to move across the road after the sprint has started), so the open lane acts
as a safety buffer in case someone doesn't hold their line. If there is a
crash at the finish, it provides an escape route to get around.

On 3/31/08, STEVEN R HOLLAND wrote:
>
> I was in a cat 3 race many years ago in the Seattle area. One team staged
> in the front. Once the race started, they sent two riders up the road and
> put 4 guys across the road blocking the road. They obviously had this
> planned. By the time some of us forced our way up to the front......it was
> to late...the two riders were gone.
>
> IMO you should never have 4 riders on the front [especially from one
> team] just soft peddling. If you do not want to race, move over so others
> can. This happens often in all fields. Why sit on the front? I never
> understand this. What does this accomplish, unless you are doing it for the
> sole purpose of blocking others from racing?
>
> Ty, I'm sure those other 53 riders would have been happy to "take their
> turn at the front" if your fellas would have let them Why force others to
> make aggressive moves just to get by and race?
>
> Steve [I'd rather attack than sit in] Holland
>
>
>
> *Ty Lambert * wrote:
>
> If 53 other riders could not overcome 4 riders from a particular team,
> perhaps you are in the correct field.
> Stop sucking wheels and start taking your turn at the front.
>
> Ty Lambert
> Portland Velo
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On
> Behalf Of Matthew Klahn
> Sent: Monday, March 31, 2008 1:58 PM
> To: Jerald M Powell
> Cc: obra@list.obra.org; Jeff
> Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Sprint
>
> Physically pushing your way through Cat. 5 riders is almost certainly
> dangerous (especially in early season races), and it is unsafe,
> irresponsible and unsporting for a team to try this. If you have a
> large enough team to block in this way, and you can't lead a rider out
> to win a sprint, then perhaps you should rethink your training, etc. I
> think Jeff's comments are spot-on; I didn't race yesterday (and would
> not have been in this category, anyway), but a friend who finished
> top-10 in this race related how this went down in yesterday's sprint
> finish. Seems like PV riders could stand to learn some real team
> tactics rather than employ the ones that seem to have been used the
> last two years (!) at PoC.
>
> Just another reason to get out of the Cat. 4/5 ASAP, IMO.
>
> Matthew
>
> On Mar 31, 2008, at 1:52 PM, Jerald M Powell wrote:
>
> > Jeff... "unsafe" might be over cooking it a bit. "Unwise", or
> > "Ineffective" is probably a fair criticism. "Blocking" by plugging up
> > the road, firstly, doesn't work very well because any physical rider
> > accustomed to a bit of shoulder to hip contact is capable of riding
> > through it (even if it risks criticism for dangerous riding).
> > secondly, it gains no particular tactical advantage and in fact
> > requires just as much energy from the "blocker" as it does from the
> > "blockee".
> >
> > Jerry
> >
> > On Mar 31, 2008, at 10:52 AM, Jeff wrote:
> >> I raced in the Cat 5 race and would say that the problem with antsy
> >> riders and unsafe riding started as soon as Portland Velo riders
> >> began boxing the group on the second lap. It made the race unsafe
> >> and not fun. The first lap was good, riders taking turns pulling and
> >> a safe peleton.
> >>
> >> Kudo's to all Cat 5 riders for keeping the rubber side down despite
> >> the unsafe tactics of others.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Jerry Powell
> > USAC Level 1 Coach
> > 1926 SW Madison St
> > Portland, OR 97205
> >
> > 503 222 7173
> > 503 799 7823 (cellular)
> >
> > jpowell@spiritone.com
> >
> >
> >
> >
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