How did folks do?
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Nate posted his win on strava. He’s his own best advertisement with the podium shots!
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Nate crushed it today!
I flatted out of the 35+ Cat 5 field. Thanks @stevemz for telling me to take a tube. I swapped it in and finished, which got me my final point to upgrade to Cat 4!
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I also flatted in the E5 field going through the mine field of pot holes at the bridge :-/. Got a wheel swap and rode solo for a lap, and thankfully picked up another person on the last lap. Running lower psi next time around.
I took 16/72 in the 1/2 field after flatting out of the 35+ 1/2/3 field in the morning wave. lol
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Congratulations NATE on a big win. With the discussions you’ve had on your podcast, you sort of called your shot and still made it happen. That makes it even more impressive.
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Ha-ha! 
O muh guh!
Relegated! 
Even better!
I’m won races before, but I’ve never won a race & been relegated to last. I mean, seriously, just TRY to do that. It’s not easy.
That’s pretty gutting! Any reason given?
I think it had to do with what does and does NOT qualify as a mechanical that will allow you to take a free lap. But I wasn’t there so…
I’m not kidding, though, I would love to have that story to tell. ‘Did I ever tell you about the race where I was so on…so in control…had such good legs…that I was able to finish first AND last? No, not a race where I was the only rider. There were fifty riders if there were two. Snelling. Snelling was what they called that race…’
Haha…awesome.
Nate made the Vegan Cyclist’s vlog of the race! (kind of). VC interviewed the winner of the 3/4 race and apparently Nate took a free lap to fix his GoPro mount which the officials ruled was not a legit reason for a free lap. They apparently let him back in the race but that is why he got relegated. (I wasn’t there but I have seen some very amusing “discussions” hanging out by neutral support while watching races. Listening to riders with marginal tech issues beg for free laps is highly entertaining stuff).
Got to 3:46 Crit Racing with the Family (A Cycling RACEDAY Vlog) - YouTube
Two things:
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This happened at the Merced 4/5 Crit race
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I raced earlier and was standing about 15 feet from where he pulled in for the mechanical. The official let him back in - see Nate’s Strava for the story. I asked a juniors team coach what was going on and he didn’t know. Bottom line: official gave him an exception and told him to go back in. Nate went back in with peloton and quickly bridged to 3 man break. He crushed the long sprint finish. I left and later found out via Strava that official changed his mind and
relegatedwas ruled a lap down.
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Did he actually get relegated or, was he ruled a lap down therefor not winning because he got denied a free lap? You can stop all you want during a race without penalty (other than falling behind), you just can get a free lap an hold your position under certain circumstances and approved by an official.
Maybe he was technically not relegated and he’s been slandered by random guy in a Vegan Cyclist video . . . . . 
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This was only my 2nd crit (in a month), so still learning…
He was ruled a lap down: https://www.strava.com/activities/2173406925
Sorry for the confusion.
If it were me, I’d stick with relegated. It sounds cooler.
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I thought so too!
You cannot stop all you want, it has to be a legit mechanical. Certain officials will tell you at the start of a race what qualifies. A true mechanical is usually classified as something out of your own control, thus a rider not having something tightened down, is not a true mechanical. The official in his case should have told straight out, he is a lap down.
Exactly. It wasn’t right what the official did, and I fully understand Nate’s frustration.
BTW, “relegated” typically means you’ve done something wrong. Typically, people are relegated in road races for violating the center-line rule; they’re usually placed to be last in their “group”. For example, if you win the sprint out of your group of 4, but you’ve crossed the center line and are relegated, instead of first you’ll be fourth. Being down a lap is different. He should have been told about it when he pulled over rather than at the end of the race.
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but relegated sounds sick / cooler
He said something like “normally this doesn’t count, but I’m going to let you back in”. Then at the end he said he shouldn’t have let me back in…