omg, first race...I hurt!!

[Lynne]

LOL. So here's the thing, 5 mos of actual riding time under my belt, the BF had recently decided to try racing. There is a great forum for newbies here... you can race on the local car racing track. And, experienced people usually ride along and teach you stuff. So, I kept going out to the track w/the BF and riding around beforehand and then watching him race. But everyone kept asking, "why aren't you racing? you should race! You'll do fine." Uh,yeah. So anyway...

I decide to give it a go tonight...my only goal being "don't get dropped, don't get dropped, I hope I don't get lapped...PLEASE don't let me get lapped."

The results, I came in somewhere in the middle of the pack (yay, didn't get lapped!). I checked my HR monitor, turns out I hit 193 BPM. Why yes, I did feel like I was going to throw up I'd been checking it along the way and it stayed in the 172-178 range, so I'm sure the 193 was the sprint. Obviously, heart rates don't correlate with age or fitness...I haven't had enough time to build the fitness and I'm 39 yrs old. But I *am* proud of the fact that by the time I came back from the cool down lap, I was back in the 130's! That's taken a LOT of hard work! Previously, I'd been hitting 183 BPM on every ride, hit 186 once.

Did I mention that I'd expected the first 5 laps to be easy drafting (it's only 6 laps of 2 miles each) and then to work my butt off on the 6th lap? Did that happen? Uh...no. Worked my butt off to keep up the whole time!! And that's my lesson for my first race...

That's my story and I'm sticking with it!

[nuthatch]

How exciting! You're a brave girl - I'd be afraid of wiping out, never mind about getting lapped!

[betagirl]

That's so cool! Congrats on your first race. Many more to follow I'm sure

[bikerchick68]

OMG... I'm exhausted just hearing about it... 6 laps of 2 miles each??? Do you warm up on a trainer before hand or do a few laps? I'm not even warmed up until I'm at least 12 miles into a ride...

way to go on not getting lapped... I'd want to throw up just worrying about THAT let alone my heart rate! Good job... looking forward to hearing about your first WIN!

[Lynne]

OMG... I'm exhausted just hearing about it... 6 laps of 2 miles each??? Do you warm up on a trainer before hand or do a few laps? I'm not even warmed up until I'm at least 12 miles into a ride...

way to go on not getting lapped... I'd want to throw up just worrying about THAT let alone my heart rate! Good job... looking forward to hearing about your first WIN!

LOL...hehe...I checked max heart rate websites (the ones that take into consideration the sport and generally come up with a higher max rate than the old standard 220-1/2 or age or some such thing). Apparently I'm either an average 23 yr old or a fit 19 yr old Gotta love that, even if it's SO wrong....

Seriously, with all the reading I've been doing on heart rate lately, I don't think it's any kind of accurate measure of fitness. I think how quickly it calms down is a good indicator, but not how high it can get. Let's face it, I have the heart of a bird and would rather have the heart of a horse...

Yep, you do get to warm up. The racing starts at 6:15pm, but you can get out on the track at 5pm. So I rode around for about a half hour before the race started. Isn't this a great way to get into racing?

FIRST??? roflmao....I can't believe how fast everyone rode...19.2mph avg with a HEADWIND on the starting straight (that includes my cool down lap)!!! I'll be happy to continue not getting lapped for my next 3 or 4 races

[RoadRaven]

Fabulous Lynne...

*thinks to self... I wonder if the local tracks will let the club use them...???*

You have the bug truly now, huh?

Apparently it is one the cards to get a velodrome in our region... that would be awesome...

So tell us, Lynne (well, me please... I'm very interested...) how many in the pack you set off with? It was a pack race, yes? Or was it more like a criterium?
And what kind of speeds were you doing? Going round corners worries me a bit...

[runnergirl]

I too could benefit from some clarification...

Was this a women's cat 4 crit? Was the overall average 19.2, or was the the pace on the straights? I'm trying to decide about a race in 2 weeks...

Congrats on the first race!!!

[Lynne]

Well, I had to look up criterium, so I think it's closest to a crit. This was an amateur race, no category. I guess the closest would be category 5.

I'd guess we did closer to 19.6 mph average when you take out my cool down lap. And yes, that was the average...so of course, the headwind we were slower, the tailwind we were faster.

LOL, yeeeaaahhhh...I guess I've got the bug

There were only 12 women...I just checked the results and I was dead-center, 7th place. I was in 10th almost the whole race, couldn't figure out how to get into the middle of the pack. Then when they sped up on the last turn, I pulled out and figured out they were sprinting and gave it my all. I couldn't even get out of the saddle, too tired and wobbled like crazy immediately. But I caught up a little.

I thought a criterium is a pack race? We were all in a line (pace line?) until the last lap.

Hmmm...speeds....like in the mid teens to low 20's, depending on direction and wind. The corners were fine since we were all in a "pace line" kind of thing the whole race. We had a few very brief moments out of the line and had some issues w/tire overlap, but cornering was kind of fun!

The men's amateur had a nasty crash, from what I heard. I'm sure this is one of those things that the more I learn, the more scared I'll be. (Kind of like going downhill).

[RoadRaven]

A crit is a series of laps on a track, or over a short course, each lap you print for points... its fast and hard and too dangerous for me.

By the sound of it yours wasn't a crit... I was just wondering

Glad you have the bug Lynne... can't wait til I deem myself ready to get into "proper" races too.

[Lynne]

Hmmm...the racing I did was on Monday nights. But they also have a more "official" race on Tuesdays. This happened on Tuesday, the day after I raced:

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/orego...oll=7#continue

Kinda scary, actually. Poor guy, he was only 28 yrs old. I wonder how often this type of thing happens?

[nuthatch]

WOW - they need to have mattresses wrapped around those poles!!

[alison_in_oh]

Hmmm...the racing I did was on Monday nights. But they also have a more "official" race on Tuesdays. This happened on Tuesday, the day after I raced:

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/orego...oll=7#continue

Kinda scary, actually. Poor guy, he was only 28 yrs old. I wonder how often this type of thing happens?

The AP article reports that this is the first OBRA fatality since the 1980s. Crashes, yes. High-speed crashes, yes. (I'm pretty sure it was at PIR that another rider clipped my husband during the 30+ mph sprint and sent him head-over heels into the pavement, separating his shoulder and causing a pretty bad concussion.) But this kind of serious injury is pretty rare.

[Lynne]

Thanks Allison, that's good to know. The day of our race, there was a big crash in the men's amateur event...something like a 6 bike pile up because some guy swung ahead and intentionally cut the other riders off (I think, it was hard for me to follow the explanation as I was racing at the time and didn't see it).

I definitely want to talk to people next week and see if I can learn what actually happened

[BikeMomma]

Well, I had to look up criterium, so I think it's closest to a crit.

I thought a criterium is a pack race? We were all in a line (pace line?) until the last lap.

I'd classify this as a circuit race. They are usually very similar to criteriums in that they are "lap" races, but crits are generally less than a mile in total lap length.

Regarding the stringing out of the pack....this happens in every type of race, whether it be road, crit, track, etc. Crits are generally "bunchy" in nature, especially when the speeds are slow and as the race is nearing the last couple of laps when everyone is preparing for the sprint to the line. But, as you may notice, they do lengthen out as the speed factor kicks in.

Good job on your first race, Lynne. Sounds like you had a blast. Keep it up. Don't let the crashes scare you. It's all just part of the game...you just have to stay out of them to keep playing.

Very tragic for the rider the next day, however. That hurts the soul.

Speed rules...
BikeMomma