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!!!