2009 Road Racing Goals

[LBTC]

First attempt this afternoon. Wish me luck

Good luck, RR, may the butterflies help you be FAST!

H&B
~T~

[Eden]

First TT of the my year coming up in about 2 weeks too. It mostly lets me see where I am starting at compared to the year before (well - if they can remember to put the turn around in the right spot....)

[MM_QFC!]

First TT of the my year coming up in about 2 weeks too. It mostly lets me see where I am starting at compared to the year before (well - if they can remember to put the turn around in the right spot....)

was it?

[Eden]

was it?

The turn around was in the right spot, but they changed the course again..... different start/finish/turn around and distance.... not much good to compare to last year

hey aicabsolut - the crit in the stage race this weekend out here had 70 some women in it (combined 1,2,3 field). I'm pretty sure that it was the largest group I've ever done a race with and yes it was a bit freaky.

[RoadRaven]

Good luck, RR, may the butterflies help you be FAST!

H&B
~T~

Those butterflies must have been working hard in the unhelpful cross and head winds... because, although official results are not up yet, according to my bike comp I have a new PB, though not quite the 33kph average I was hunting for. The day was hard and many seemed slower than they should (that didn't stop home-grown Olympian Westly Gough averaging almost 47kph over the 20km though!)



Hey Eden, I look forward to hearing how this goes for you. With seemingly not many racers on the forum, I really look forward to your posts

[Andrea]

So yesterday was the crit for the Valley of the Sun Stage Race. We weren't in the top 10 GC, so we decided we'd go for a stage win. After a blistering first few laps, one of my teammates got away to bridge to another rider who was off the front. One by one, the other 4 of us got to the front of the pack and drove the pace just hard enough to discourage anyone else from trying to bridge. After my few laps up front, I finally succumbed to an attack and ended up hanging on to the back of the pack like a booger for the last 5 laps. It was good enough, though. My teammate won the sprint/race... I couldn't see it because we were on the back side of the course, but it was sooooo freaking awesome to hear the team manager over the radio yelling "HANDS UP! HANDS UP!" when she was finishing

I never even looked to see how I finished- maybe somewhere in the top 30?

[Susan Otcenas]

RR - congrats on the new PB! That's fantastic, especially in the wind. Wind can be soooo soul-sucking.

As for my goals for the year:
Sandy (one of the gals here in the office) and I have made it a goal to win the state championship time trial (40K) on my tandem this year. Truthfully, the competition won't be too steep in the 2-women category, but so what! We think we'll have a ton of fun doing it.

She and I have pretty aggressive goals in other events this year (her in ultraracing, me in several triathlons & duathlons) and between us we've dropped almost 60 pounds, so we figured we'll leverage all that fitness and weightloss to win the time trial. We shall see.....

We also plan to be rocking some of the new TE jerseys from the design competition during the event. Even if we don't win, we'll *look* amazing

[SheFly]

Raven - you are on a roll, my friend! I am so excited to hear that you are doing well. Do you think it was a change to the formal "training plan" that has helped? Can't wait to hear more...

Susan - woohoo on the tandem TT goal! DH and I reclaimed the course record on our tandem last season. One of these days I'll post a pic of the rocketship - it's a TT-specific setup on a tandem! Clearly, we have a few too many bikes . Also can't wait to hear how this goes.

Personally, while it is only Feb (and we are in the Northeast where it snowed overnight), I am already into my self-doubt, I suck phase (I know, Raven, I DO NOT SUCK! ). Went out on a training ride this weekend, after two hard days, and had to put my tail between my legs coming home.... Still just under 2 months to racing season though, so I'm hoping to get some mojo back!

And congrats, Andrea, on contributing to your team's win! Everyone is already having successful seasons...

SheFly

[Pedal Wench]

Great thread!

I won the Female Solo division at Bike Sebring - 344.6 miles in 24-hours. I felt great but know what I need to do for next year!

Looking at the Hoodoo500, but need a crew - not even sure how to begin that one!

[SheFly]

Congrats, I think! How long before you're back on the bike again?

SheFly

[RoadRaven]

Great to see this thread is still ticking along... and a few new names
*Rave waves* Hi folks!

Hey there SheFly - glad to see you know you do not suck
I was in that phase big time as Feb progressed cause I just couldn't lift my times in club time trials.
And Eden monstering that hill - awesome. How'd you go in the TT you mentioned?

Well... have been very busy - hence hardly here at TE... but thought I'd let you folks know about the Tremain Team Tri, which is a corporate tri, and each year I always do (surprise, surprise ) the cycling leg (distance of 19km). A faster time/average speed was one of my 2009 goals.

Last year I flew and while my club TTs were hovering around averages of 31-32kph, my average for the 2008 Tremain Tri was over 33 (on the first page of this thread, my average is wrong. We remeasured the distance and it is 19km not 20km as advertised, so that brings 2008 av down).

So this year, when I have been struggling to even get near 33kph, my average in the Tremain Tri on the 14th March was 34.7kph which is huge for me - I have never averaged 34, let alone close to 35. Thats maybe 15% more power than I out put in a club race... so now I am thinking that I need to think about my thinking. I obviously have the power to be where I am aiming to be - but its not happening consistently.

I have got out a pile of sports pscychology books to try and find the one with the least jargon and see if they offer insights in how to prepare for a race. And I am trying to work out what exactly is different between the two styles of race (the most obvious being that I am riding for a team in Tremains, but in the club I ride for myself).

The race itself was good. I felt prepared. I got a short warm-up and no-one bugged me while I was trying to focus. I felt relaxed. And the road just felt fast. I passed loads of people on the way out, and only had about 4 people pass me. I handled the turn-around well, and the way back which has lots of false flat I handled well and seemed to be quicker despite a slight head wind (breeze). In fact, as I passed people, I had people jumping on my wheel but only one guy was able to stay in my draft. I didn't look for help, because I treat this a TT and avoid drafting off others - but this time it wasn't an issue - because I was the one people were trying to hold on to. Great feeling.

I have two TTs in April so am putting some serious thought into them... trying to identify how I mentally prepared for the Tremains Tri, and replicate that.

So my Tremain Tri goal was definately achieved. Woohoo!!!

[Julibird]

OK - I'll jump in here too. My first race ever (on a bike) is on Sunday. It's a crit series that goes on for the next eight weeks. I have 12 weeks of foundation training, some club rides with sprints, and lots of lonely time on my bike.

I'm so new, I almost don't know what the goals are besides seeing if I like racing. If I like it - then I will sharpen my focus.

I'm racing in some of the TTs in Maine - first one will be the LLBean TT. That will be interesting... at least it's hilly.

People tell me I'm a climber - I'm small - but what they don't know is that I think I just might have good snap and even... a sprint or two. I don't want to just be a climber!

I'm on a women's cat 3/4 team that is in the growth pains of forming. That seems to be the hardest part. Our fitness levels and abilities are wide ranging.

I guess my main goal, if I find that I like racing, is to learn how to read a race. Like how to sense when a surge will happen, who might attack, etc. Tactical thinking is what I need to learn - by doing.

I hope I can find some help here as the season gets underway! I like reading about these goals. You all inspire me!