First race ever

[profàvélo]

We are lucky enough to have a a series of training races here. They started this past weekend. My training buddy did one of them last year and survived, so I decided, what the heck? My husband was riding in them and encouraged me to do it. The course was a rolling 7-mile loop that I am very familiar with, so that helped. Nevertheless, I was very nervous at the start. My goal was to finish the race without taking anyone down. I have decided that drafting is a great invention. I have drafted in groups before, but never in such a tight, consistent group. I was amazed at how much the draft pulled me up the hills, such that by the time I had to really pedal, we were almost to the top. I was surprised at how much fun it was! I had thought that I would have to really push myself to keep up, but it wasn't that bad. After the first lap, I was still with the pack, so my goal changed to staying with the pack for a second lap...and then a third, and so on. There was a breakaway that succeeded because the women in it had teammates in the race, and, of course, their team members sat on the front and slowed the group down. That was quite frustrating, but I just don't have the power to go chase down a breakaway by myself. All in all, it was a great experience, I finished with the pack, I didn't cause any crashes, and someone even asked me to come be on a club team with her! I'm thinking about it...more races this weekend, different course. Will report.

[yellow]

I'm not all that versed in racing, but I assume this was a criterium? Or?

That's great that you had such a good experience. I might actually try something like that if it were a "fun" race only. I did a couple of TTs last year and enjoyed it because it drew all levels, from the bug suits on down, and was pretty laid back and fun. They have tons of TTs here in the new place that I live (I moved in Oct), but they are USCF races. I'd get laughed off the course with my triple.

Looking forward to hearing about your adventures.

Maybe I'll start my own "fun race" night!

[runnergirl]

Congrats on the first race!!! Getting out there in a pelaton for the first time is the toughest part.

Keep us posted on your racing-it's very addicting!

[Nanci]

That's so exciting! What was your average speed? And you finished with the peloton? So then does the peloton all get the same time? How cool! I would _never_ be brave enough (or fast enough!) to do that!

Nanci

[profàvélo]

Nanci, if I could do it, anyone can. You just have to make yourself be brave enough. I am not a 'racer type,' whatever that is. I don't think of myself as a racer or even a very strong rider, just average. Our average was 20.9 mph. I was 23rd out of 36, sort of in the middle of the main group.

Yellow, I believe it counted as a road race because the laps were so long (7 miles). I think a crit has much shorter laps, and a larger number of them. (Anybody out there want to define a criterium?) I did it with a TRIPLE, and if anyone laughed at me, I was unaware. Who cares? We had to have a USCF license. There were all types there. The men raced in lots of categories: cat 5, cat 4, cat 3, and the pro-1-2 group. They lumped all the women together, regardless of category, so there were some teams, but also a bunch of individuals. As a woman you get to start out at cat 4.

[Nanci]

You may not be a "racer type," but you're FAST!!

Nanci

[CorsairMac]

how exciting Pro! and congrats on all your accomplishments And the compliment of being asked to join a team! Keep up the good work.

[Pink Kona]

I think a crit has much shorter laps, and a larger number of them. (Anybody out there want to define a criterium?)

Usually Crits are less than a mile and are based on time rather than laps. For instance, the typical Northwest Cat 4 Women's crit will last anywhere from 20-30 minutes. Of course that time increases as the difficulty goes up - I believe world cups are 130 minutes. Talk about painful! You become very proficient at sprinting and anaerobic threshold.

Nice work on the racing!

[profàvélo]

You may not be a "racer type," but you're FAST!!

Nanci

That's the beauty of the peloton...I'm not that fast by myself! I'll go out and do a few laps sometime soon to see what my average is by myself, but I am guessing it will be 16 or 17 mph max.

[profàvélo]

Okay, so my second race ever was much closer to what I imagined a race to be...me getting dropped! The course was very different, with one significant hill. We did 5 laps, about six miles or so per lap. I made the mistake--which I knew from the beginning--of starting in the absolute back of the race. I believe, or at least tell myself, that if I had started in the middle of the group, I could have lasted for at least two laps. Each lap ended with the hill, and I was still with the group (at the back) going over the hill at the end of the 1st lap, but I just couldn't recover enough to keep up as the group took off down the other side.

I continued, sort of bummed, and wondering how on earth I was going to make it the rest of the way. There was a nice head wind on one side of the course which was quite discouraging. At one point in my second or third lap, I pulled over to let another race group go by. Then another lone woman behind them yelled at me to ride with her. So I hopped back on and met a very nice woman with lots of racing experience. She was just getting back into it after not racing last year. She was so friendly and encouraging; we took turns pulling, and we completed all five laps, so it turned out to be a great experience anyway.

The next day--my third race ever--was entirely different from the first two. It was what I think qualifies as a crit, 35 minutes plus two laps on a great course (a test track for a car manufacturer--very cool!). It was lots of fun--when I wasn't totally freaked out by how fast we were going and how close together we were! It felt so dangerous, I still can't believe I did that. I quickly learned that it was all about holding my line and keeping my cool. I don't think I screwed anyone else up--that was what I was most worried about, other than just crashing in general. I didn't want it to be my fault! We all made it to the finish with no crashes, although there was a touch of squirrely-ness in the last corner before the finish, but everyone stayed up. And this was a mixed group, all the women, all categories.

I think I finished in the front third.

If I never do any racing again, let me just say how great it is to ride with women. Even my DH said that we looked much better as a group, more well-behaved, than the cat 5 race he did. If you have any inkling at all that racing might be fun, go try it. I always thought and said that I would never be interested in it; I am very surprised at how much I like it.

[Pink Kona]

Wow - how inspiring! Your last paragraph gave me chills. Thanks for sharing!

[RoadRaven]

Very cool, Profavelo... excitement like this makes me so very keen. Maybe when I've completed a couple of rooad races, I'll change my mind too... although population of cyclists in the region I live in is too small to support womens only races...

Thanks for sharing

[profàvélo]

We just had the third and final weekend of the local spring training races, six races total (for each group). On Saturday, we went back to the same course that we used for the very first race, but the race itself was harder. First, it was faster; last time we averaged 20.9 mph, this time the average was just over 23 mph (over the same 35 miles). We had two crashes--the first was low-speed, on a climb, and the last was on the uphill sprint to the finish, and took out my friend (she is fine, got x-rays despite her protests--she actually raced the next day, as well). We did not, however, let a break get away, like the first race. I finished with the pack, 17th out of 39. Not bad for a mixed field, fourth race ever. (By the way, this 7-mile loop was considered a road race.)

The race on Sunday was a crit; the loop was around two miles or so. Our race was 40 min. + 2 laps. It was killer! The loop had one uphill in it that wasn't so bad in itself, and none of the corners was too difficult, but the back side had a killer headwind. I got dropped after about 5 or 6 laps, I think. I was ready to quit after one lap by myself--that headwind was very demoralizing--but saw someone ahead of me--my friend who crashed the day before, actually--and picked her up, and we kept going. We eventually picked up three others, and worked together to finish. We even got lapped by the pack--or what was left of it--but it was good to finish and meet some other women. I got some cornering tips from one of them.

I had such a good experience overall that I decided to join the club team that I was asked to join. One of the women is cat 3, and she and another woman have lots of racing experience that the other three of us can learn from. I'll be racing as time allows--between teaching and dissertating--so I'll let you know how that goes. Anybody have training tips you want to share? I won't race again until April. I'm lucky in that my DH is going to be racing this year, as well. He is very supportive.

I still can't believe I'm doing this! Never say never...

[gromit68]

Pro I see you aren't to far away from me and was wondering if you had or will be doing any Time Trials. They hold a series of them at Lowes Motor Speedway in the spring and summer. I'm volunteering to work there and may try one later in the summer.

[profàvélo]

I don't know, I hadn't thought about it. This is all still new to me. For now, I know I'm doing some races in April (Charleston, SC and Athens, GA). I haven't thought about the summer. If you have a link to some info, please post it. Thanks!