Beginner to road biking/want to start racing!

[abarensfeld7]

Hi everyone,
New here! And new on a road bike. Been mountain biking for years, on and off. I randomly decided to do a century on September 10, so I had to get a road bike to train! Now I'm hooked, obviously. It was only a matter of time, I guess, before I finally got a road bike -- I've always had a clunker for getting around campuses and town before, besides my mountain bike -- and I've always enjoyed following road racing and all.
Anyhoo! Here I am with my new Trek 1000 (WSD), which I'm happy with, except I've already realized the limitations of the Tiagra grouppo (definitely a source of frustration). Now I need a race!
A couple questions -- hope you all don't mind.

-- I can't seem to find any races! There seem to be few races that include Cat 4 (women's beginner, right?) and what I can find tend to be on the West Coast, or elsewhere on the East Coast. Does anyone have a recommendation for finding road races? I know there must be more, I'm just not searching correctly. It seems like most of the races I turn up are more professional-type, with a variety of men's categories, but mostly only "pro" for the women.

-- If, and when, I do find a race...I wonder how much more serious training I'll need to do. I'm a fit 21-year old (play rugby in college) and for the past two weeks (since I bought my bike) I've been doing short rides a few times a a week (12, 16 miles etc) at a decent pace (about 18-21mph avg on flats, 9mph on the hills, wildly approximating since I don't look at my bike computer enough!) and then about once a week some longer rides (25, 30 miles). Need to definitely build miles and speed. As an indicator: last week I went 31 miles in 2 hours 5 minutes. I wasn't pushing myself to go fast, but I wasn't just sight-seeing either. Is that terribly slow?

OK phew! Thanks for any and all suggestions!

[spazzdog]

Hey abarensfeld7! Welcome to TE...

Go to Cycling Made Real ( http://www.cyclingmadereal.com/ ). They are a group with regional offshoots all over the country whose purpose is specifically cat3/4 women racers. And get yourself a USCF license for road racing.

Good luck!

spazzdog

[abarensfeld7]

Thanks for the help! I also found spokepost.com which had a lot of listed races...

Another Q:
Is it a bad idea to do a crit as my first race? Since I've never ridden in a pack before...

[spazzdog]

I guess you gotta do one eventually... it'll be a heck of a learning experience.

Hey BikeMomma! Are you out there? Newbie racer needs advice.

spazz

[RoadRaven]

Thanks for the help! I also found spokepost.com which had a lot of listed races...

Another Q:
Is it a bad idea to do a crit as my first race? Since I've never ridden in a pack before...

I've never ridden a crit, only watched
With my limited racing experience, I humbly suggest that you do not consider making a crit your first

If you want to jump into racing you must have some experience of pack riding, and if you have no opprortunity to ride with others, then it should be a pack race where you can sit in and learn the protocols of riding with others.

Criterions are fast paced and there is no time for learning about how to ride with others - each lap is basically a sprint and if you do something unexpected it will likely end in a crash.

If you really feel the urge to race, the best one is a TT where you ride against the clock but not in a pack.

I have real concerns about you riding in a pack with no actual basis and experience about how riding with others works.

Perhaps you can join the local club and go out on a few training rides to learn hand signals, protocols like taking turn at the front and so on? Good luck, abaren

[RoadRaven]

BTW, meant to say welcome to TE, abaren

Any one who plays rugby has my vote
We have the Lions here touring at the moment (best of the Scottish, English, Welsh, Irish) and the first test is in a few days. The NZ Maori team beat them the other day - fantastic - it was the first time ever in the history of Maori vs Lions!!! Great start.

And I can't help you with how to find races as I'm at the end of the world in NZ - but good luck in hunting them out. Surely a local club would have listings?

[abarensfeld7]

I'm at home with my parents but as soon as I go back to Ithaca, NY (where I go to school) next week I plan on joining in on the local cycling club's rides frequently!

I am jealous you get to see the Lions play. Amazing.

[SadieKate]

I would get in touch with your local club either in the community or the college. Some of them will have weekly time trials and other events that will give you a good introduction. You really do need to know the skills of riding in a pack before you jump into anything other than a time trial. You could even try a team tri as an introduction since you wouldn't be riding in a pack.

Keep us posted and let us know what you find and how you do!

[BikeMomma]

Aaaahhh....racing! Soooo much fun!

Hi there, Abarensfeld7!!! (Can we call you Abby?) Oh goodie, another racer!

As I'm at work, I can't type you a huge, informative reply right now. For now, though, I just want to know where you are? Midwest?

Right off the bat -- you need to work on bringing everything "up". By that I mean, your ride length, your intensity, your average speed, your technique, your comfort level in groups, etc. You're fit, I have no doubt about that, but racing requires sooo much more, and takes so much more out of you, than going for an average ride. I highly discourage a crit if you're not used to riding in groups....cornering can be tricky in close quarters. There's a reason that's where all the crashes happen.

That's the first paragraph....will write more later - I'll try to get back here tonight, but no guarantees...I have three kids, a new puppy, and a husband - no more explanation necessary! . Have fun in the meantime, go for a ride, and buy a couple books on racing/conditioning.....Chris Carmichael....others. You definitely need to get stronger, faster, and more fit to race. Chris can start you on the right path, as can your local cycling/racing club.

Talk you y'all tonight!
BikeMomma

[alison_in_oh]

Here's a race calendar pulled up on google:
http://www.nybc.net/clubs/calendar/2005raceevents.shtml

Ooh, and another:
http://spokepost.com/calendar/

I strongly suggest getting *some* group riding skills. A good start would probably be a circuit race, which tends to have a longer lap therefore a more technical course that breaks things up a bit, but without having the tedious miles of a road race. Go to the race site, check to see that they have Cat 4 women field, and do it! Show up about an hour before start time, register, warm up, and do your darnedest.

Heck, c'mon out to the Raccoon Rally, http://www.heartrateup.com/ and join the men's 4/5 group like I'm going to!

[abarensfeld7]

Awesome, everyone has been so helpful...keep it up!!!

I went for a relatively "fast" ride this afternoon -- 11.40miles, 40:30 including a huge 8-minute hill. I was hoping for a few minutes less but I wasn't going top effort and I didn't have much sleep last night....

Then rounded up the crew (sis, mom, dad) and got them all out for an 8-mile-slow-as-molasses cruise. My mom just got one of those "cruiser" bikes by Electra and it definitely offers up a lot of wind resistence! ha.

Oh yeah -- and I should have mentioned from the start that I don't plan on entering a race until August or September.

[RoadRaven]

Then rounded up the crew (sis, mom, dad) and got them all out for an 8-mile-slow-as-molasses cruise. My mom just got one of those "cruiser" bikes by Electra and it definitely offers up a lot of wind resistence! ha.

Great that you are going out with others now, but you'll find the experienced cyclists at the club you are planning on joining will be able to share road/courtesy/race protocols with you as well. How to take turns at the front, how to warn others there is rubbish on the road, how to slow down without making evryone else pile into you... etc etc

Oh yeah -- and I should have mentioned from the start that I don't plan on entering a race until August or September.

Great, you have plenty of time to get the pack experience. And when you enter, enter as much for the experience as for the race, as you know from rugby - a training session feels quite different to a match against rivals.

[BikeMomma]

Right off the bat -- you need to work on bringing everything "up". By that I mean, your ride length, your intensity, your average speed, your technique, your comfort level in groups, etc. You're fit, I have no doubt about that, but racing requires sooo much more, and takes so much more out of you, than going for an average ride. I highly discourage a crit if you're not used to riding in groups....cornering can be tricky in close quarters. There's a reason that's where all the crashes happen.

Ok, finally here...
Did you say that there is a club nearby that you can ride with? If you don't know of one, ask at the local bike shop. I guarantee that if there isn't a club, there are a group of guys who like to go fast, even if they don't race. Going a step further, even if they don't go fast, ride with them just to get the group experience. Hopefully though, there are some racers who you can practice and get pointers with. One thing to practice is riding in extremely close quarters - like bumping elbows and such. Do it at slow speed at first, then work the speed in as you feel more comfortable with the contact. One RR I was in, another rider and I were constantly pushing off each other, not in an aggressive way - we were just that tightly bunched.

One thing that helped me was to find a housing subdivision that wasn't too heavily trafficked to where we could do criterium practice as a group, which was an added plus. It was great - we had an "S" turn, a wide, sweeping turn, and a couple sharp corners - a little bit of everything. The residents along the street would get into it - sit outside with their lawn chairs and cheer us on. Fun! We also have a loop out in the country (getting slowly swallowed by development) that has a gentle uphill and a pretty brutal, short one to practice on too. Hopefully, you can find something like those in your area to practice on. If not, find a gravel-free, desolate corner out in Booneysville to practice on. Get a good sprint at it, pick your line, and go. Basically, any way you can do it - get cornering practice! Get comfortable taking them at high speeds - and, get comfortable taking rough corners too. City street corners can be rough - bunched up asphalt, grates, manhole covers & the like.

On that ride you took the other day (the one where you went 31 miles in 2hrs5min), I calculate your average speed to be 14.88. You'll need to bring that up. One thing to do is work on your endurance. Go for longer rides - make sure you have enough water, bring snacks (fig newtons, powerbars, cliff bars, etc) to make sure you stay hydrated and fed, but build that mileage. You'll find that 31 miles doesn't feel like so much work anymore - then you can step up the speed. Also, look for a good hill ride at least once a week. My long ride of the week (65-70 miles) used to have a looong, not terribly steep, but steady hill that would really make me work for that downhill. It was usually a 3.5 - 4 hour ride. I notice some of the women's races now are almost that long, so ride! Ride!

Doing intervals also help. That is, simulating a race breakaway situation, by jumping out of the saddle and sprinting like mad until your legs scream for mercy, then take it back down, recover, and then do it again. I'll do every other phone pole until I can't do it anymore. Intervals work on your fast twitch muscles that give you that edge in getting the jump on those breakaways.

Build leg speed - do some spinning. Build leg strength - hills or weight lifting.

To be honest, Ab, I think doing one race this season for experience' sake might be ok (if, and only if, you get used to riding in groups!!), but I would get some experience and lots of practice (log those base miles this winter!!) and just wait for next season to race. That's actually what my game plan is right now. After 12 years out of it and riding since this last winter, I'm just getting back to the point where I can keep up with the guy racers, feeling competitive with the other women who ride with our group now (yes! we'll have a women's local team yet!) and relatively feeling good. However, as good as I'm feeling, I know I'm not ready to race. Next year I'll be in the Womens Masters 35+....but I'll be there! And havin' a blast.

Good luck to you, Ab! Let me know if you need more info. But you really can get alot from other racers and by reading up on all the different techniques (and trying them!!).

Have fun! Speed rules....
BikeMomma

[spazzdog]

I knew you'd come thru.

Perhaps this should become a regular topic... "Fireside, er Roadside with BikeMomma; training tips for the speed demon in you"

spazz

[BikeMomma]

Perhaps this should become a regular topic... "Fireside, er Roadside with BikeMomma; training tips for the speed demon in you"

Hey I'm game! I'd never in a million years call myself an expert and I really didn't race that much back then, but I've paid attention to how it's done, if that counts for anything (I just have to do it myself!).