2009 Road Racing Goals

[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

[Pedal Wench]

Race was last weekend - just did a slow 61 miles today! And, nothing really hurt!

[Eden]

Not really a racing goal.... but a worthy goal, I think...
years ago, before I started racing we went for a little ride following a "suggested bike route" on our county bike map.... Well there was a little 26% grade hill on that route... It's been years since I've been back to there (its out on an island) and I decided that today, I wanted to go back over there and tackle that hill again. The first time up it was on my old steel touring bike that was a bit too big for me... I didn't make it, my front wheel wouldn't stay on the road...
Made it to the top without stopping today! It's followed up by a shorter, but I think just as steep little brother. That one was still a bit covered in sand from our Dec snow and I almost lost it on that one. Rear wheel started to slip and I had to sit to put more weight on it. Once I was sitting, standing again seemed a bit impossible, but I made it the rest of the way seated.

[Pedal Wench]

Eden, what a great feeling!

[tribogota]

Oh, this is a cool thread, ok, so here are my goals and doubts, hope you don't mind.
Have a tri (olympic) in 13 days, have had an injured calf muscle, so may not do the run, and only do Aqua-bike. Am hoping that it feels better and can run slow.

May, a very difficult tri with a hilly bike course, did it last year, came in second to last overall, this year would like to do much better.

June, have a sprint, at home, so it's like a training day.

JULY, FIRST half ironwoman at Vineman, am worried since I haven't been able to train as aggressively as I was last year when I signed up, because of calf muscle, hope march to july is enough. Am still an intermediate cyclist, so the 90k is daunting, and the run, 20k, it'll be the first time I ever run that much.

Finally, I have the physical shape to be a great athlete, but for some reason I don't have the competitive gene, and my adrenalin just doesn't push me to go faster, I go at my own little "fun" pace. While, I enjoy "enjoying" the races, I would like to try and do well in my age category (39), but don't have the drive DURING the races, although I train as if I did. Is this just who I am? or is it some sort of "writer's block" in sports?

[letsride89]

i like this!

well, i'm no racer, yet. BUT i do still have a few goals this summer!

1. Tackle that stupid Pirate Hill. I rode 60 miles of crazy hills and was doing good until this massive hill. I finally got off the sattle and could barely pedel one more stroke when i had to freakin get off my bike and WALK IT UP. yeah, i walked it up. i can't believe it! Guess what girls, emotions meet cycling. I CRIED! lol, BF laughed at me and gave me a hug. That being said, i'm going to get that hill and beat it to the ground by the end of the summer.

2. I want to average 25 by the end of the summer. Right now i'm getting about 20-22 on average but i'd like to bump that up. Maybe a new set of wheels will help me =)

3. As of now i'm handling about 120 miles per week. eh, i work three jobs and school full time so i'm having problems finding time! I get off at 7, i think i'm going to be riding in the dark this summer so i need to find a group of girls in my area with the same goals that wouldn't mind riding in a pack with a huge lantern =)

4. I want to have fun. I tend to get very tense when i ride and i constantly hear BF saying "LANCE, RELAX!!!"! He usually has to ride next to me and get me to smile by pretending to be an interviewer "so mandi, now that you've won the tour de france, how does it feel!!!" So this summer i'd really like to have fun on my rides, not just tense up and worry about my speed as much!
turns to


=) dang, now i'm ready to ride!!!

[Trigress]

Oh dear, this is probably going to strike back at me - hard!

Right, I'm going to ride Enebakk rundt, 1st of May.

I have a half marathon trail run coming up in late May, and then there is the Frøs triathlon 21st of June, which is this season's main goal, being primarily a triathlete. Then there is the Norwegian championship in triathlon, Olympic distance, some time in August.

Then there are some plans, and these are the ones that might backfire: I would like to participate in the masters' cup, and particulary the team TTs. I'm not sure I'm good enough, and I don't know if there will be other summer plans that interfere, but I do want to race more this year.

[papaver]

my goal: I want to cycle to my parents house. They live 160-170 km's away and I hope to pay them a visit on my bike this august/september.

First part of the course is hilly and the second half is very very flat.

Mama, here I come!

[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!

[aicabsolut]

I did 2 collegiate races in Feb that went ok (6th and 5th, and in the crit, I was in a small group that lapped the main field once and everyone else twice!) Then I got sick. Then we had many cancellations due to weather and promoter snafus. Then I hurt my left shoulder (who knows how) and have only been riding about 2x a week and doing PT.

First race back from all of that was the first big race of the non-collegiate calendar. VA masters RR championships / VA and MABRA bar race in Charlottesville, VA. It's a big triangle course with one significant climb (relatively), one kinda big-ish climb, and some rollers. High winds.

Mediocre day for me, but I stayed upright, my tires remained intact (a huge problem for many, because kids were smashing beer bottles on the course the night before), and my injured shoulder didn't bother me.

It was a huge field for us: 44 cat 4 women! I wasted a ton of energy on the first lap trying desperately to get in a decent position. There was so much sketchiness going on with people swerving, overlapping wheels, and crashing. I finally found one woman near me who could ride in a straight line, and I stuck on her wheel, even though we were not that protected from the wind. A couple big swervers forced a lot of surges on the edges, and I wound up riding on the shoulder more than a few times.

I used the less windy final 2km of lap 1 to get in good position around some Vanderkitten racers. Then there was an attack on the first climb. I couldn't respond, but I wasn't too worried. I needed to rest, and there was a fast downhill afterwards. Only they must have hit that descent at 45mph, because the top 10 were GONE. Cue my usual move of trying to drag the rest of us up to the group. The wind got to me, and one Vanderkitten racer came up to help. I was steadily gaining on them by about 1/2 way up the big climb when the headwind ended that. By the time I crested that hill, there was no hope. The wind was too big of a factor. 2 caught me: the Vanderkitten woman and the woman I'd followed most of the first lap. The latter took one good pull and was toast. So V and I start the TTT. We pick up a 4th from a Richmond team near turn 2. She tried attacking us a couple of times and then just sat on for the ride.

On the 2nd big-ish climb about 1/2 way though, I broke away from the group (not on purpose). V caught up to me eventually near turn 3 but towed the others with her. In the last 2+km, V kept attacking, and I helped her keep the pace high. Going into the sprint, the Richmond one jumped really early from the back. I was ready (she was loud about it). I was gaining on her, and even had the time to think "I've got this!" I had another jump in me for 50m. Then I see an SUV stopped at the S/F line on the right. Our moto zooms ahead and pulls into the left lane by the SUV, and stops (probably telling them to move). We hesitate. I move to the left and see cars stopped in both directions less than 50m on the other side of the line, plus a million people and bicycles milling around in the road. Moto still not moving. I sit up, never putting in the 2nd acceleration. The other screams at the moto to "Watch Out!" and threads the needle between moto and SUV. As much as I wanted to stick it to that wheelsucker and finally have a sprint I was proud of (I've been getting killed in sprints but working hard on my technique), but it was only 11th place. Not worth it.

A local photographer took a great picture of me suffering on the big climb after I got gapped:

[LadyDian]

This was going to be the year that I was going to compete in my first bike race ever. I have been riding for about two years now. I have watched my husband ride amazing courses, I watched my neighbor who had never ridden train and compete in local KOM challenges, I even rode a century. Then I was diagnosed with Spondylosis which turned into Spondylthesis. I have surgery in two weeks (spinal fusion w/disc replacement), but I still have big goals. They are just scaled down. I want to get back on the bike as soon as possible and still ride my first race. It is just going to take me a little longer.
I'll keep reading everyone's goals and being continuously inspired by everyone else.

Danielle

www.ridetorecovery.blogspot.com

[RoadRaven]

Julibird... all the best for your race... its Sunday here, so guess it will be Sunday where you are very soon. I wasn't sure if i would like racing when I first started - and I started with an ITT so I wouldn't have to ride with anyone else. I discovered I am hugely competitive, and quickly became addicted... I discovered I love to ride, to race and to cheer on family and friends who race and talk about racing... I wish you the same discoveries Looking forward to hearing about how today goes for you.

Great photo, Aica
Sounds like your season is going well for you. I really enjoy reading about race tactics and what happens, as bunch racing is still something I feel I have tonnes to learn about (despite having been doing it at club level for nearly three years!)

LadyDian... not such a great post. Really feel for you that your goals have been pushed out a bit and wish you all the best for your surgery. However, after full recovery you will hopefully be pain-free and get really strong and be able to achieve your goals. Keep us 'posted' about how it pans out for you and expected recovery time.

And me... well, wanted to write about yesterday's race. Our club instigated a FEMME grade (complete with the leader's "Maglia Rosa" jersey), hoping to provide a comfortable place for women to race in and to draw more women into racing that were perhaps put off by the stereotype of the 'aggressive male racer'. I did alot of base over summer and rode with either FEMME as a femtor (no men in FEMME grade) or our beginner grade to support and encourage slower or newer members. This has continued into Autumn, and subsequently I have not actually raced in a bunch road race since about November (although I have ridden plenty).
Yesterday I decided to race, and the other 4 women who turned out were all familiar with racing and needed no femtoring.
I wrote a race report for the club website... here it is. I was really pleased with myself. A good day, a great group of women and we raced hard and had fun. I'm MacKenzie.

Avanti Plus FEMME Grade means determination and tactics. Almost ideal conditions today saw the five women working well together on the way out, but at the turn around MacKenzie decided to lift the pace. Weskett answered the call and soon all 5 were riding together again. MacKenzie kept the pressure on but each gap was shut down by steady, strong riding from Weskett, Gough and the Maglia Rosa, Foote.
Whitham, only recently returned to racing, showed her improving form by also doing her fair share on the front. A couple of kms from the finish, Foote, MacKenzie and Weskett began to vie for the optimum position for the sprint. Foote was unable to make Mackenzie or Weskett come to the front and MacKenzie was able to ping off Foote’s wheel close to the line. However, Foote and MacKenzie had been so absorbed with watching each other that Weskett (showing excellent timing and race sense) was able to come round with metres to spare and take the win.

[Julibird]

First of all, I woke up early last Sunday to peacefully prepare for my race. With a hot cup of java, I logged on to this forum for some inspiration and found Road Raven's kind and encouraging words. That was like a gift from the Tooth Fairy!

So - on to the race report. I loved it! Doing it again tomorrow. What I learned:

1. Fitness is essential for racing crits and since I'm fit that is good for me.

2. Even more important than fitness (maybe), is smart tactical decisions made quickly! I did a lot of watching, stayed just under threshold the whole time and got lots of recoveries while hiding in the front third. On the last lap, during one of these lulls, I was sitting up and relaxed, thinking "wow, this was sort of easy - next time I'll try to do something" when BAM! There was an attack and counter-attack - and as I watched, I realized I was under-geared and soon a big gap opened and I didn't react in time to minimize the gap - so the race rolled away as I said "wow, I'll never let that happen again, sh*t!" Leading to,

3. When in doubt, react! It's easier to gut it out for a short effort than to try and gut it out to close a big gap.

4. I love corners! Especially the uphill kind - I can make up about 5 places with less effort that the big people.

5. Recovery spots and lulls in the pack are dead giveaways for where attacks might happen. Don't let your guard down and get in the right gear for when it comes.

So - more crits, and on April 25, a nice hilly road race in Louden, NH - Turtle Pond - with my team in the Women's Cat3/4. Can't wait to see all those fast women!

That's me (the shrimp) in the black jacket and tights - orange, white and red Orbea. I was one of two women. My team mate was with me and and she rocked!