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Am I physically ready to attempt my first cat 5 crit?

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Am I physically ready to attempt my first cat 5 crit?

Old 09-03-15, 08:11 AM
  #126  
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Originally Posted by mikewaters
that little lightning bolt next to his segment of 391 watts over 20:26 indicates "real" watts from a power meter. I'm saying that his 391 wasn't the "weighted average watts". It's the actual watts. When I do a hard ride, my weighted average is higher than my actual watts because I'm doing a fair amount of accelerating and free-wheeling.
Sorry, I hadn't clicked through to the segment leaderboard and never realized they removed the indicator from the ride level. Could be pedantic and point out that ftp testing takes 5% off 20 minutes after a 100% 5-minute effort, or more like 8% off a fresh 20 minutes which moves 390 down to 360 which is still generally very high but miles from 400. I hope your guy's effort was on a road bike, that cDA has got to be ~.4, his breaks are rubbing, or the meter is off.

Originally Posted by Racer Ex
Farg it.
But really, this is the wiser answer.
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Old 09-03-15, 08:15 AM
  #127  
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The truth is I can't do anything for at least two days after a 100% 5 minute effort. So I always think 100% doesn't really mean 100%. I vomit. Cry about the lactic acid cramping my hands and eyeballs, and limp home.
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Old 09-03-15, 08:37 AM
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Time to race...

Crit tonight in Dallas, via King Racing; and the last one of the series is next Thursday....

https://www.txbra.org/db/events/2015K...NightCrits.pdf

4 more races left in this series:

Wednesday Night Crits | Home

Tell us how it went!
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Old 09-03-15, 08:58 AM
  #129  
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Originally Posted by mikewaters
I'm not expecting to win anything. It's just a lot of hurdles to go from someone who just rides to someone who races. I need to buy a racing license or something. I need to show up and get a number pinned and sign up and pay. It's just easier not to do it. I'm old, I'm fat, I'm modestly fit at best. I don't want to break any bones. No I'm not used to being in a pack of super aggressive riders. Why? Because I have never raced. I have actually done a drill (track) where we ride leaning on each other's shoulders. But am I going to grab a wheel by aggressively going shoulder to shoulder as a turn approaches? The guy on my team I talked to, he's been out much of the summer because of a broken collarbone. Another guy on the team I talked to who had started racing last year gave up this year after breaking bones in his face and having a shoulder reconstruction.

So yeah, it's a MENTAL jump to take this leap. From what I can tell most guys never do it, or if they do try it, then soon quit. I was talking the other night to a successful racer in this scene (Cat 2). He says many people race just 1 season, get discouraged, and never do it again. Addictive for some? Yes. Disappointing and unfulfilling to many? Yes.

I would like to race on a team, make my contribution. I would like to have worked hard enough to be fit enough to do it, after being on a bike for 14 months. But I do apologize if I'm acting like a big crybaby by not just immediately jumping into the mix. I apologize for being deliberate. For checking out the scene, seeing who's riding, what their fitness is like, comparing myself to others on common group rides. I guess I am a "stalker". Sorry.
If this is the way you're thinking about it, I have to question why you want to try racing at all. It's not sounding like you're not up for it. Some anxiety is normal. You're just finding endless excuses to avoid committing to action. It's really simple: want to try racing? DO IT. Don't want to try racing? DON'T. Right now it sounds like your course of action is "don't."
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Old 09-03-15, 10:34 AM
  #130  
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Originally Posted by mikewaters
I was on an aggressive group ride on Monday. A ride where the group leader talked to the group about not doing dumb things that get people hurt. Anyway, at the very end there was a small group of us that was behind the main fast group. Started to stretch to a single line, and it was me and a woman riding side by side with about 4 riders single file in front of us. We were inches apart. Didn't touch. I felt comfortable, but I'm not sure if she did. I'm certain she must be a racer to be on this ride. I could have moved more into the wind, but I just held my position. Didn't grab the wheel. She had "more" of the wheel than me. Maybe it's like that, I don't know. Maybe she's cussing me out after the ride, I don't know.

I feel like if I do the group rides that racers are doing then I am ready. If I'm doing the group rides that the old fat/fit guys are doing, I'm not ready. ANd I've started making the transition already from the latter to the former.

I AM going to do it. Because it's my goal.
sounds like you'll be fine. you may even have a mentor in your race that will tell your field to knock off any shenanigans should they occur.
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Old 09-03-15, 11:29 AM
  #131  
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Old 09-03-15, 11:38 AM
  #132  
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Originally Posted by mikewaters
41 years old, never raced. Been back on bike about 14 months after 5 years off, and never fast before that. Total mileage in 14 months about 2200 miles. I know I'm nothing to brag about, but I'm wondering if I'm both physically ready and/or psychologically ready. It's actually more likely that I will try my first race on the track at the C level. I keep looking up local crit results in the Cat 5/C races, and seeing guys who are way better/faster than me (sandbaggers?). I'm 5'10", 190lb, so I know that improvement will rely on losing weight.

5s - 13.11 w/kg
20s - 11.63 w/kg
30s - 8.94 w/kg
1 min - 6.95 w/kg
5 min - 3.31 w/kg
20 min - 2.48 w/kg
When i was struggling to keep up with CAT5, I looked at other CAT5 racers on Strava and noticed the common theme is everyone had a minimum of 7k miles total.! I had 2k miles but even with intervals, it was still a struggle. You will probably struggle but remember, learn and keep on riding esp during winter. REST when you body tells you so.
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Old 09-03-15, 02:39 PM
  #133  
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Yeah I didn't ride at all last winter. Like 4 months. So I'm just now rounding into better shape when the season ends for crits. But track season will be starting up again because the track renovation is just now completed.
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Old 09-03-15, 03:03 PM
  #134  
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Originally Posted by mikewaters
It's just a lot of hurdles ... I need to show up
If you are counting "need to show up" as a "hurdle" then it sort of devalues all of the thoughtful advice people have offered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPouuA0KMO4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCM2nEBE0RY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEMF02gg9N8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u51sWz-f3zM
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Old 09-03-15, 03:07 PM
  #135  
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most experienced racers here have already chimed in on this: Just go race.

All this data-driven anxiety is a bottomless pit, and won't mean jack once you actually go do it. Racing is ....

Well, you just have to experience it. It's kind of like the first time you have sex. You can talk about it, study it, whatever. It's gonna be different.
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Old 09-03-15, 03:15 PM
  #136  
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I'm looking at these results here in the C race.

4 2015 KRG Week 3 - Bicycles Plus

12 riders. 9th place rider. I'm pretty familiar with him. I know people who know him and ride with him. And I know he's way, way stronger than me. He's a strong cat 4, probably should be a cat 3. He goes on group rides where I'd be off the back very quickly. So I get it, I need to try it. But $40 and immediately off the back is no so attractive. Where are all the slow riders, LOL? 12 riders, there's no place to hide. There's no pack to draft in.
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Old 09-03-15, 03:27 PM
  #137  
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Originally Posted by Ygduf
Sorry, I hadn't clicked through to the segment leaderboard and never realized they removed the indicator from the ride level. Could be pedantic and point out that ftp testing takes 5% off 20 minutes after a 100% 5-minute effort, or more like 8% off a fresh 20 minutes which moves 390 down to 360 which is still generally very high but miles from 400. I hope your guy's effort was on a road bike, that cDA has got to be ~.4, his breaks are rubbing, or the meter is off.



But really, this is the wiser answer.
He weighs 220. Maybe he is not very aero, have no idea.
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Old 09-03-15, 03:29 PM
  #138  
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Originally Posted by mikewaters
12 riders. 9th place rider. I'm pretty familiar with him. I know people who know him and ride with him. And I know he's way, way stronger than me. He's a strong cat 4, probably should be a cat 3. He goes on group rides where I'd be off the back very quickly. So I get it, I need to try it. But $40 and immediately off the back is no so attractive. Where are all the slow riders, LOL? 12 riders, there's no place to hide. There's no pack to draft in.
I got dropped so hard in my first race (and every race for like 4 months). Not even 1/4 of the way through lap 1, I spent the next 25 minutes or so riding on my own, getting lapped a couple times in the process.

Yet I still kept going back to try and do a little better each time. And now Im not getting dropped as often as I was.
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Old 09-03-15, 07:24 PM
  #139  
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Originally Posted by mikewaters
I'm looking at these results here in the C race.

4 2015 KRG Week 3 - Bicycles Plus

12 riders. 9th place rider. I'm pretty familiar with him. I know people who know him and ride with him. And I know he's way, way stronger than me. He's a strong cat 4, probably should be a cat 3. He goes on group rides where I'd be off the back very quickly. So I get it, I need to try it. But $40 and immediately off the back is no so attractive. Where are all the slow riders, LOL? 12 riders, there's no place to hide. There's no pack to draft in.
For one year, go out for dinner one less time, or don't check a bag on your next air flight, or let someone buy you a few rounds, or suspend the cable total-premium package for one month, or bet one of us $40 that you'll race this weekend, or join REI and then buy $600 worth of stuff there (will cover membership fee too), or go play your guitar on a sidewalk downtown and open your case for tips (and post a sign: need $40 to race my bike, any amount appreciated), or tell your group ride friends/members that you are going to keep talking about wanting to race until they take up a collection of $40 for you.
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Old 09-03-15, 07:40 PM
  #140  
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Mike - if the group of folks that have responded to you in this thread were sitting in a bar with you right now - we'd be making fun of you and calling you a f**k*** p**** and telling you to grow a pair.

Good luck!
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Old 09-03-15, 08:12 PM
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can you give me a couple of weeks to make it happen, LOL?
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Old 09-03-15, 09:10 PM
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@mikewaters As someone that took the plunge after a lot of hemming and hawing, I understand.

Plus I understand the reluctance to shell out $40 for a race where you may not make more than a few laps, even if it's the principle of the thing, not the affordability. If I shell out $40 to race I'm not going to do stupid things that might get me shelled in 2 or 3 laps. $15? I've done stupid things and gotten shelled in 3-4 minutes, and I'm okay with that. If I get shelled in 2 laps of a $40 race, and it's happened, I try to roll it up into the overall weekend experience. So if we just drove 4 hours, I did 4 minutes of racing, and we drove 4 hours back, that's not great. If we do an overnight trip, do something before/after the race, then that $40 gets buried in the weekend's overall expenses and it doesn't seem so ridiculous.

Any way you can find a midweek training race? Sanctioned, preferably, entry might be $15-20. If you put a location in your profile that would help, someone may know the area. For example if you were in CT/MA/RI then a bunch of us would be telling you to make it to one of the three? midweek races in those three states. Entry is in that $15-20 range, and at least the one near me actually has neutralized start laps, some more experienced riders giving some advice, etc.
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Old 09-03-15, 09:31 PM
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Yeah these races I am talking about. The 400w rider, the 12 person crit, etc. they are the local weekday races. I can afford it. Plus my club will defray some of the cost. I do appreciate the encouragement and I'm going to do a race of some kind pretty soon. I'm not worried about being embarrassed.
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Old 09-03-15, 11:40 PM
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Yeah, it's tough to do something worthy of true embarrassment. But at the track a few weeks ago in elimination (last wheel across each lap gets pulled) I lost a 3 man sprint and pulled myself out - then realized there were 4 of us left and one guy was already off the back! It was stupid and I should have known better. The most embarrassing thing I've done. But really hardly anyone notices, those that do laugh and commiserate with you, you laugh, they laugh, and no one remembers the next week. (Sure, I still remember, but more in a kicking myself kind of way haha)
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Old 09-04-15, 06:18 AM
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Originally Posted by aaronmcd
Yeah, it's tough to do something worthy of true embarrassment. But at the track a few weeks ago in elimination (last wheel across each lap gets pulled) I lost a 3 man sprint and pulled myself out - then realized there were 4 of us left and one guy was already off the back! It was stupid and I should have known better. The most embarrassing thing I've done. But really hardly anyone notices, those that do laugh and commiserate with you, you laugh, they laugh, and no one remembers the next week. (Sure, I still remember, but more in a kicking myself kind of way haha)
Local guy, very strong rider. Cat 2. Sprinted and posted on the 2nd to last lap. That's probably the worst kind of embarrassment, haha.
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Old 09-04-15, 06:57 AM
  #146  
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This feels like a 41ish 33 thread. Mike, I wish you only the best should, or whenever, you race.
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Old 09-04-15, 07:13 AM
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Originally Posted by mikewaters
I'm looking at these results here in the C race.

4 2015 KRG Week 3 - Bicycles Plus

12 riders. 9th place rider. I'm pretty familiar with him. I know people who know him and ride with him. And I know he's way, way stronger than me. He's a strong cat 4, probably should be a cat 3. He goes on group rides where I'd be off the back very quickly. So I get it, I need to try it. But $40 and immediately off the back is no so attractive. Where are all the slow riders, LOL? 12 riders, there's no place to hide. There's no pack to draft in.
Just. Go. Race.

I regularly crush people way stronger than me (I have to: most everyone I race against has a higher FTP than me). 'Strong' doesn't mean much when it gets to racing.
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Old 09-04-15, 09:02 AM
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Crit series

How did it go?

Originally Posted by MikeTé
Time to race...

Crit tonight in Dallas, via King Racing; and the last one of the series is next Thursday....

https://www.txbra.org/db/events/2015K...NightCrits.pdf

4 more races left in this series:

Wednesday Night Crits | Home

Tell us how it went!
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Old 09-04-15, 09:05 AM
  #149  
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Curious as well.
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Old 09-17-15, 12:09 AM
  #150  
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OP - you'll never, never know, until you give it a go! There is no shame in being shelled - it simply makes you more determined!

On another note, do you have Handicap races over there in your road-racing? They are a great way to get into racing and everyone gets a chance.

For those who don't know, a Handicap works like this:-

Weakest riders start on Limit bunch at 0 minutes;

Strongest riders start on Scratch - which has a time gap of x minutes starting AFTER Limit.

Middle bunches are spread throughout between Limit and Scratch, according to ability.

If the handicapping of riders is well-planned and they ride to expecations, the bunch generally comes together in the closing part of the race, ie in the final 10-15% of the race distance. If the handicapping is a tad out of whack, anyone can get up for the win.

Naturally, all participants are properly licensed under our national cycling body's scheme, so it isn't a free-for-all, which could create issues regarding safety, etc.

Handicaps here that have developed strong reputations over the years are the Melbourne to Ballarat, Melbourne to Warrnambool, etc.

The Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic

Sorry to go OT, just curious as to whether such events exist in the US.

cheers
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