Frist Road Race Ever!!

[Wahine]

Well, I've committed to my first ever road race, (non-TT format). It's 39 miles... that's not an issue for me as I've been riding a long time. Racing is not new to me, I've been racing triathlon for years. But road racing is a whole different animal.

Words of advice and encouragement appreciated.

Right now I feel like I might puke from nerves. Funny that, seeing as I've been racing Tri for 13 years. This has got me totally nervous.

[NbyNW]

Very cool! You've mentioned that you were working at improving your cycling times in tri, so maybe this helps further that goal.

I bet you'll wonder afterwards what you were so worried about.

When is the big day? How did you choose the particular race you've entered? Will we be able to follow the race online?

[salsabike]

And where is it?

You are so determined. I bet you'll do great.

[crazycanuck]

Wahine, you're just one amazing Yoda :cool: :)

I'm sure you'll do amazingly well at the race!!!

RoadRaven might have some ideas...

[OakLeaf]

How fun! When is it? Good luck!!

Don't be shy about sucking wheel! :D

[redrhodie]

Stay up front! :D Can you tell I don't race?

[SheFly]

Congrats on taking the plunge!

Remember that road racing will be significantly different from what you are used to in Tris and TTs. There is a lot of strategy involved, and drafting is your best friend. My first year of racing, I didn't understand that concept - would pull the entire pack around for the whole race, and then wonder why I got beaten at the end. Don't be me ;)

Some words of advice - be steady and hold your line in the race. Don't make any sudden moves. Remember that you can have incidental contact without going down - protect your space on the road - elbows out ;) ! If you are on/near the front, do not take a drink, and do not stop pedalling - keep your pedals turning, even if you aren't putting any pressure on them. You need to remember that everyone behind you is actually going faster than you are.

Most importantly, HAVE FUN! Can't wait to hear more about your "first time" :D

SheFly

p.s.
You do know about no clip-ons or anything, right? Your bike has to be a standard drop bar road bike. Also, no sleeveless jerseys, and you can't have a seat bag or frame-mounted pump...

[Eden]

One of the biggest differences that, I think, people from the tri world are often unprepared for is that a road race tends to surge and ebb. Tri racers tend to be used to a steady effort and they are often swinging between frustrated because the pace is too low and hanging on to the back when the pace suddenly becomes very high... Be mentally prepared for that and you'll have won 1/2 the battle.

Warming up isn't a very common practice for tri -folks? (but then you've done TT's and probably know this..) For road racing, especially when the race is short, it is essential. Bring a trainer if you have one or warm up on the road. If you aren't ready to put out max effort right away you can be dropped needlessly - so get in at least about 20 min of warm up and make sure that you put a couple of hard efforts in there (get the legs burning!)

That's about all I can think to add to She Fly's very good advice - oh and watch your cornering - you won't be alone through the corners, so be aware of where everyone else is around you, unless you are first through the corner follow the line(s) of the people in front of you and never dive for the inside of a corner to try to move up (you will probably be cutting off someone taking a good line through the corner if you try this, you could cause a crash and you definitely won't win yourself any friends in the peleton).

Good luck!

[aicabsolut]

If you are on/near the front, do not take a drink,

I disagree with this. In women's races, it is best to be near the front. It saves your hands from a lot of braking, and it gets you away from some sketchiness. If you can keep on pedaling while you drink, then do it. When I'm ON the front, I will do all sorts of things...grab a snack, swap bottles. If I have to stop pedaling for a couple revolutions to get at the seat tube bottle, for example, I still try to keep things steady. I'll move a little to the side or I'll glance around to see what others are doing. When I'm in the pack, I am less likely to be moving my hands around unless I KNOW the wheel I'm on well. BTW, it is good practice to be able to ride around with a bottle/food wrapper hanging from your teeth in case a surge or big slowdown happens when you are unprepared. Always get your hands back on the brakes/shifters (you should have one there anyway) before messing with putting your stuff away.

This may seem obvious, and I'm sorry if I'm lecturing, but a girl last weekend took down half my field (luckily, I was in front of the wreck), because she tried putting her bottle away before hitting the brakes when a big slowdown occurred. She overlapped wheels, the girl in front of her had to do some evasive maneuvering after tapping the wheel in front of her, so bam! Out went the front wheel. She did not have both hands on the bars (nor either one at the hoods).

[DDH]

Best wishes and luck coming to you from me. I bet you will do great!!!

[gingerale]

Congratulations on committing to it and the best of luck!! I have no words of advice since I've never done anything like this. But I just wanted you to know I'm so impressed and I can't wait to hear your race story.

[Wahine]

Thanks to everyone for your responses!!

Jocelyn - that's wy I'm tryign road racing, to get some different types of riding in to improve my bike splits on triathlons.

Salsa - The race is just east of Salem OR.

Shefly, Eden and aicabsolut - I really appreciate the pointers you've given. Lots of good stuff here. Some of it I knew and some of it totally new to me. The ebb and surge is why I'm doing this, I think it'll shock my system in a different way that'll help with my overall speed and power for triathlon. I've been practicing pacelines and riding in some bigger groups but I'm still nervous about the pack thing and I'm thankful for all your input.

As for doing great. Thanks for the vote of confidence ladies, but really the point of this race is some good training. I plan on sucking a lot of wheel and letting the people around me determine my pace. My goal is to stay in the group and hopefully finish with the group. Oh, and not crash!!

[alpinerabbit]

Oh, and not crash!!Yeah, that. Reason why I don't even think about it.

[Andrea]

If the pace feels really slow, attack like heck.

:D





Ok... maybe not in your first race, unless you're just feeling saucy.

[ASammy1]

Go Wahine, go! I have nothing to add that the wonderful peeps of TE haven't already mentioned. I just want you to know that we are rooting for you.

[Red Rock]

I just wanted to say congrats! May you have a great experience. As well as fun going as fast as you can.

Red Rock

[smilingcat]

Everything all the racers have said some are bit contradictory playing around with water bottle upfront...

One thing others forgot to mention. Braking, don't clamp down hard cause someone is always going to be riding on your wheel. If you do have to brake, feather the brakes and go easy.

On the tight turns lean your bike, put pressure on inside hand and press down on outside foot. And try not to lean too much of your body into the turns. Expect someone to jump coming out of a turn. Expect someone to jump on a climb or at the top of the climb.

Oh stay in your drops unless you want to lock up your handle bar with someone else and crash.

tuck behind a big strong rider and make your ride easier.

If you get a flat, sit-up, don't slam on your brakes. slow down gently and let everyone pass you.

Go to a pre-race meeting and make sure you understand the rules. Especially true with crits. check in, staging area, start area, free lap? any preems etc. It may seem like a lot to remember but it really isn't.

Lastly are you attached?

And most importantly have lots of fun.

[aicabsolut]

Oh stay in your drops unless you want to lock up your handle bar with someone else and crash.



I don't get this. In a road race, it can be more comfortable to ride on the hoods most of the time, moving to the drops for descents and corners. Plus, it can help you see a little farther ahead, unless you're a very short person, in which case, you might want to be in the drops to try to peek through below the other racers' hip level.

There's no reason you can't obtain enough lateral room to protect your bars. Unless your bars are much wider than your shoulders, you are more likely to be bumping bodies or bumping bars with bodies (like getting a hood end rammed into your butt cheek) than you are to hook your bars together before a crash is initiated (when you're already on the way down, lots of stuff can become tangled). I would worry a lot less about your hand position for protective measures than about hand position and your ability to control the bike and see what's going on in front of you. If everyone is protecting their front wheel, then they should be riding at least at bars' width with everyone else, so hooking bars becomes a minor concern.

[aicabsolut]

To clarify, look at this pic. This is a training ride, and not a race, but it doesn't matter if it's a double paceline or 3 wide or 4 wide or whatever. (We had a tighter, rotating line on another road, but I guess everyone was working too hard then to take pics). Even if we got as close together as possible, we would hit elbows, shoulders, hips, etc. before we could easily lock bars together. There are many good times to be in the drops, and I think crit racing should largely be done in the drops, but many people prefer to be on the hoods for a variety of reasons, and that's ok, if they can handle their bike well.

http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v273/172/108/5300096/n5300096_36115447_2693.jpg

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v273/172/108/5300096/n5300096_36115448_3048.jpg

[smilingcat]

oops! on a road race, hood is fine and you are not jockying and bumping into one another. On a crit, I prefer (most all of the time) to be in the drops. And no, my bars do not go way past my shoulders. They are 40cm bars. Can't find 38cm ones that fit right. So I compromised with a 40cm bars.

on a long climb, I prefer to be on the hood.

On flat, taking my turn in the rotation, I'm on the hood.

Fast technical descent with hairpin turns, down in the drops.

And yes you're right about not all races being ridden on/in the drops.

thanks for clarification being needed.

[Grog]

I never raced but I've trained with lots of racers and we rode in pacelines which were much closer than those pictured on that photo. About half that distance I'd say, I could easily put my hand on the next person's shoulder/neck area.

Some new-ish riders would make me quite nervous and I instinctively went down into my drops. Even if my bars are narrow, I guess handlebars could lock if the other person arrives at an angle. In any case I preferred to be safe than sorry.

In crits obviously it'd be all in the drops.

One thing I've found in riding with tight packs is: please don't stop pedaling. It sends me the message that you're going to stop, makes me feather my brakes and creates a chain-reaction throughout the whole group. If I feathered my brakes for whatever reason I would keep moving my feet even if it was without actually putting pressure on the pedals... or be yelled at by our coach!! (Unless you ARE stopping of course but that's another matter.)

[Eden]

Drops in crits absolutely. Hoods are fine for road races, especially the slower part. I do drops in road races when it gets fast and tight and for descending and cornering of course.

BUT - as far as hooking handlebars goes.... it is possible. I've never hooked them in a race, but I have done so doing bumping drills. It really depends on the size of the riders. I'm small and its not really all that hard for a larger riders drops to slide just under my tops without our bodies making too much contact to keeping it from happening. In this scenario I'm not sure that being in the drops is really any protection though.

[SheFly]

I agree - in a road race, I am usually only in the drops for a fast descent, tricky corner and the final sprint. in a crit - I am in the drops the whole race.

If you are doing a road race (which you are), I wouldn't worry about snagging bars with someone. A good thing to remember is that your elbows will stick out further than your bars. I said earlier that you need to protect your space - sometimes, that means both hands on the hoods with elbos sticking out to the sides!

As I have also mentioned, don't be afraid of the incidental contact WHEN (not IF) it happens. I have even gone so far as to stick my hand out if someone is encroaching on my space... You will stay upright.

And I will stand by my claim of not eating/drinking when you are on the front of a race. Around these parts, you would likely get shot for that. If you are near the front, fine. Remember that at the Cat 4/beginner level bike handling skills are not always great. I have seen a woman take down a field because she couldn't get her water bottle back into the cage. Don't be that person.

SheFly

[Eden]

I don't think we'd shoot your for eating or drinking on the front here - but we don't encourage it either.... we do tell our newbies to save it for the back of the paceline.

oh.... if you really try to sprint on your hoods you are likely to go out of control and crash yourself if not others too..... so yes always in the drops for a sprint.

BTW - back to the original topic of this thread.... Hey Wahine! was your race this weekend? (the Sublime Sublimity?) How did it go, if so?

[Wahine]

Thanks to everyone for the advice and words or support.

I had a good race. I was so nervous beforehand that I thought I might puke. The category was 31 strong and we stayed in a big group for about 5 to 6 miles. But the course was very hilly, no flats and the hills steep so the group shattered pretty quickly. I thought I was going to die on the first lap. My goal was to stay with the group as long as possible and then just finish the race without crashing. I fell of the back of the lead group at about mile 6. From what I understand, about 7 women stayed together at the front for most of the race. I was in 11th place for most of it but I hooked up with one girl and we worked together to reel in another 2 riders after they fell off the front pack. Then another girl cuaght us and we were a group of 5. I managed to pull ahead with about 3 miles left and held that for a 9th place finish.:D:D

The last 100m were... I am not exaggerating here... a 17% grade to the finish. It was awful!!! But I finished and didn't crash. But I didn't get as much riding in a big group experience as I wanted. When I finished I was so out of breath I couldn't speak for about 3 min. Then I went out to eat a giant bacon cheeseburger!!

So yes, I will live to race again. This type of racing will seriously boost my tri times I think. :cool:

[dex]

Then I went out to eat a giant bacon cheeseburger!!


Yum.

[Eden]

If you want to see what a flat race is like, try to make it to "Piece of Cake" -veeeeery flat. Few opportunities for breaks to form without a lot of teamwork.

[aicabsolut]

Wow that sounds tough! That's also a very good finish, especially for your first race!

[Wahine]

I should add that it was 9th out of 16 starters for the Cat 4s and only 12 finishers. If you add in the masters women we had 18 in the group and I finished before all the masters. I'm happy because it was a tough course and my first race. But that's still in the bottom half. I have loads of room for improvement.:D

[salsabike]

Ha. Pretty cool!

[SheFly]

Congrats! Hilly races will break up just as you described. It sounds to me like you did really well! As I have said to others on this board, remember that 9th is still top 10. You don't need to tell any of us how many there were ;).

Can't wait to read about your NEXT race!

SheFly

[kacie tri-ing]

Congrats! That is so exciting! When IS your next one?

[OakLeaf]

Way to go! Sounds like you did very well, and got some great experience (for a better finish next time).

[smilingcat]

wahoo!!! Congrats.

17% grade at the finish :eek::eek: Being able to finish alone is a prety big feat. And the first time out.

I think the bacon cheesburger is well deserved. :cool:

smilingcat

[Wahine]

Thanks everyone.

I'm not sure when the next race will be but there are plenty of races to choose from around here so it shouldn't be too far off. I'm definitely doing a stage race here at the beginning of April.

That finish was absolutely cruel. But it turns out that I was incorrect, there was a 17% grade on the course but it wasn't there. I just assumed it was there because it was so painfully steep. It was so steep that I had problems keeping my balance because I was going so slow. Someone behind me had to do the hill serpentine style to keep from falling over. Turns out that the last 100 m were between a 12 and 15% grade. Still...:eek::eek::eek:

[aicabsolut]

When your legs are cooked at the end of a race, 12-15% is still pretty steep.

As for being in the "bottom half," plenty of people wind up way off the back in their first race, so don't beat yourself up. Yes, I know you are a strong rider from all the years of doing triathlon, and that certainly helped you, but think about all those people who didn't even finish. There is more to bike racing than just being fit.

[salsabike]

It's very interesting to read the technical advice from those of you who race. Thanks.

[SheFly]

There is more to bike racing than just being fit.

ABSOLUTELY! someone once told me that bike racing is not about being the fastest rider or the strongest rider - it's about who crosses the finish line first.

It took me a couple of years to figure this one out. There is so much mental tenacity required in racing as well - who should be marked as a likely wheel to follow, who is likely to attack, when an attack should be launched... This all comes from racing experience - you can't learn it any other way.

Of course, being fit is certainly a good starting point ;).

SheFly

[NbyNW]

Belated congrats . . . looking forward to hearing about your next race!