heeeelp, first race tomorrooooow...

First race tomorrow. I'll with my club, in a pretty laidback team that suits me fine (I'm just above the average, I think) but I'm starting to just freak out a leetle here... ok, a lottle... :o :) Anyone have some nice tips for how to survive your first race?

I've gone over the bike, cleaned and lubed it, cleaned+tightened brakes and rims, changed to new tires+tubes, and then rode 100 km on it. So everything works. I even managed to get a cyclocomputer on it to work, the 3rd one :rolleyes:

I think I've got food+drink I need nailed, it's all stuff I usually eat on training rides. Clothing too. Weather will be ok, but quite a bit of tailwind which may mean gaps will open up easier.

Race is 80 km, and it's the first one of the season, so I've been told it gets a little "crazy"... I'm a bit spooked by the idea I might get pushed or bumped and crash... I'll be in my teams paceline, but there are a lot of "teamless" riders that glom onto any pack they like. I'm going to try and make sure I have a nice steady wheel ahead of me, but I guess I may not be able to choose.

Eeek. All friendly advice welcome.

lph, you're my hero, no matter the outcome. I love that you're doing this now, after all these years of riding alone. Way cool!

Get a good night's sleep, and during the race, pretend you're riding your commute, and you're late for an important meeting :D. You're going to blow them all away!

:Dgood luck!:D

Karen in Boise
(Idaho, USA)

Counter-attack every attack. The fewer people you have to sprint at the end, the better your chances of winning :D

Don't let anyone intimidate you because they have a fancy team kit or a super awesome bike

If there's someone that everyone says is fast/always wins, stay on her wheel (also, along with #2, don't let this person intimidate you!)

Don't worry! Just go out & ride like your life depends on it. Good luck!

I have never ridden in a team, so can't offer much advice on that count.

But if you are on the wheel of a stranger, make sure you have plenty of space until you get a feel for how they ride.

80kms... take 2 bottles of water, and have an easy to eat snack with you.

And yeah, don't worry - just ride and enjoy the whole experience

Looking forward to hearing about it all

wheee! whooo! I did it :D :D :D

I'm back, safe and sound, and my legs are aaaaching.... It had to RAIN of course, so it was bit hard to get warmed up and I lost touch with my toes after half an hour :rolleyes:

Boy, am I glad I was with a team, though. We'd decided what to do, who goes where and who decides what, and even though it wasn't perfect there was never any doubt about what we were trying to do. So when we caught up with a stray rider or something there was no quibbling about what to do, we just stuck together, passed him, and let him tack on the back if he wanted to.

Clothes - a bit inadequate. I did warm up but I think I work better if I'm warmer and dry. Drink - not too bad, but I will try out using a camelback, Freda be d*mned, at high speed I don't really want to reach down more than necessary. And for me this was high speed, I really had to concentrate and that got harder as I got tired. Food - how the heck do you eat?? Managed to stuff a banana down my throat on one long slow hill in the beginning, tried to eat an energy bar later on but only got down half before I started wheezing because I was so out of breath.

But the best part: my team knew it was my first race and they were SO supportive, little bursts of nice comments all the way. And my dh and son had set up a huge red banner with my name on it on a bridge close to home, and were standing there waving! How sweet is that! :D AND they turned up, with dhs parents, on the final killer hill in to the finish line. Where my team started yelling for me to go ahead and take that hill, since they know I "like" hills (I weigh about 2/3 of these guys, so not too surprising). So never mind the rain, I was cosseted and pampered all the way :D

Okay, I'll go post this on race results. Ooh, I've so been wanting to post there.

Thank you! for your advice - especially redrhodie - what a terrific thing to say :) Thanks!

Oh, and hard facts: 80 km in light drizzle, rolling hills, in 2 hrs 21 min.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lph

I'm a bit spooked by the idea I might get pushed or bumped and crash...

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I replied in the race results section, but am just now seeing this post.

If you get pushed or bumped when you are in a race (and in most cases, it's a matter of when, not if), keep your body relaxed/loose. It takes a pretty good shove/bump to cause you to actually go down from this. Oh - and push back :D.

Touching wheels is a little tougher. Typically if wheels touch, it is the rider behind who will go down. But this, too, is avoidable! In our club, we actully go out in a clinic to practice these drills. Find a nice grassy area (so it won't hurt if you DO go down), and with a teammate or riding partner, practice riding along and bumping into one another. I can ride next to another person completely leaning on them, and steering them in the direction I want to go, all without crashing. Also practice touching wheels - direct hit from behind, and from the side in an overlapping fashion. You will find that you can, if you keep your body relaxed and loose, recover from this even if you are behind (typically the person in front won't even feel this happening).

Sorry for the long-winded response! The key, really, is to be relaxed, and to make sure you don't have a death-grip on your bars.

Congrats on the first race!

SheFly

Fantastic! Sounds like you're hooked. Were there other women on your team?

You've been my hero since you told us all you eat 2 sandwiches for breakfast! Oh, and the million miles you ride every year, through winter in Oslo are impressive, too!

ooer, have to find a grassy field to practice - oh, hey, I know of one, and my dh can come touch wheels with me. He weighs less than I do so I won't get squashed too bad if we go down :).

Funny story: met an ex-colleague of mine after the race. He told us that somebody had crashed/fallen over right in front of him on the final killer hill. Ex-c had a new bike and was so focused on not crashing it that he tried to ride OVER the guy who was down. Didn't make it, but did manage to crash with his body dwon and his new bike up in the air... :D

No other women in my team, or the level above either, actually. So I get to be a bit of mascot to all the middle-aged guys :) Which is fine with me, so far.

(Actually it's a little bit funny, because one or two of them have had a little trouble wrapping their heads around the fact that I can keep up with them and even outride them, even though they're 30 pounds overweight and haven't ridden a bike all winter... Being male isn't *always* enough. ;) )