Road biking rules?

[maillotpois]

I have done this race the last 5 years. I have a lot to say about it (apparently! )

Last year I DNF'ed because of a crash - not my fault - long story. Anyway, after my first time riding this in 2001, I qualified for the platinum start and have pretty much started in the roped off area ever since, so I can answer some of the questions about the special features of this ride/race.

At the start line there are the following groups from front to back:

1. Elite/VIP riders. This is where Floyd started - and Jeannie Longo. He and Arnie Baker actually hold the course record on a tandem many years back. There is a very small group of elite (i.e. famous) riders that get to go to the very front.

2. Platinum riders: Cat 1, and ordinary fast riders like me who qualified to start here based on their times (under 6 hours for women, under 5 hours for men). You have to get a pass the night before the ride. There is a list of qualified riders for this or you show your Cat 1 license. The "Platinum list" is cool http://www.pbaa.com/!ETT/Platinum.htm - it's the only place in the world where my name will ever show up on a list along with Lance, Floyd, etc.!! And frankly, given the course it is not too hard to qualify as a woman. I don't think the one hour handicap (women v. men) is very fair to men, to be honest. But I am not complaining too loudly!!! Anyway, this area is roped off and you cannot get in without a pass. It's great because you can sleep in and still line up at the front of the race.

3. Everyone else is free to line up anywhere they wish, but they have signs posted where you can line up based on where you expect to finish (gold/sivler/bronze). However, the front gold pack you really need to get there VERY early to line up toward the front of the pack.

It's a great ride. I am really sad that I can't do it this year.

1.) My bike is a "beginner" Trek Pilot 1.0 and not the super duper racing bikes that most riders have. I am saving up to upgrade, but that won't be until next year; and 2.) I bike alone all the time (not so much by choice but from lack of fellow cyclists in the area) and I'm not sure if racing in a big group is more difficult. 3.) Are there road biking "rules" that I need to know about before I attempt this? Any help you guys can give would be wonderful. I've been reading a lot of posts on here and have gotten a lot of great advice. Thanks to you all!! You girls are smart .

Bikemad - if this is to be your first century it is a GREAT one. The course is not too difficult, there are a lot of spectators cheering you on at the side of the road and having the intersections controlled is a great feature. Don't worry about your type of bike. People do this on all sorts of bikes.

HOWEVER - please get familiar with group riding beforehand for your safety and the safety of those around you. The suggestions posted by others re group riding are good. If you don't have a chance to ride with a group beforehand, you may want to start in the silver group and just stay to the right at the start, letting other pass you. It is pretty CRAZY at the start and there are a lot of crashes.

This is a great event - but it can be VERY dangerous if you are toward the front in a big pack and don't have racing experience.

I did this one last year and it is both a century and a race. There are elite cyclists that start a few minutes earlier than the pack that actually race for podium spots and then thousands of others that "race" for a medal.

Actually, the elite and platinum riders actually start at the same time. The gun goes off and everyone rolls. It will take a while for the people lined up in the silver/bronze sections to cross the start line, though.

El Tour is a hybird. It's a timed event with several levels: Plantinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze) and 5,000+ riders.To get plantinum on 109 mile course, your ET must be under 7 Hours,. My understanding is that the Platnium and Gold levels have the "racers" and the "wannabees" You have to declare your "metal" before hand. I debating between the Silver and The Gold.

You actually don't have to "declare beforehand" - you can decide the morning of the race between gold/silver/bronze. For platinum, you have to have qualified in advance, though.

I was looking at the web site too - I saw some pretty big names that did this in past years, assumedly as a race. Then I looked at the rules.... I would be really concerned about doing a race that was not at least done with a rolling enclosure. Anyone know if they run the different classifications differently?

They do an informal rolling closure toward the front of the pack, an do stop traffic - for the elite riders. The elite riders pretty much separate themselves in the first 20 miles or so. And these are the Jeannie Longo/Floyd types. There's a river crossing at about mile 10 that also separates. Last year there was a train which split the elite pack and was a bummer for those who got shut out. (Very Paris - Roubaix!)

Even for people in the platinum and gold groups, they are pretty good about stopping oncoming traffic. I don't think I have ever had to wait at a stop sign at ETT. It helps that you don't have a lot of left turns, you know? Most of the turns are right and you can just go wihtout worrying too much about cars.