usacol

Hey guys so I recently started cycling, 4 months ago and I love it. Two months ago I joined a team which has been great and two weeks ago I did my first race which was a 71 mile road race of which I placed 39/75. It was 4/5 50+. I usually train 5x per week including 3 team practices and one fast group ride (more like a race in a peloton). So my question is how can I get to the next level of cycling, ie. elite level races/teams, us national team etc.

ps. I'm 16 6'1" 165 lbs

brianmcg123

Just keep doing what your doing. Ride lots.

Alaska Mike

What he said.
You have quite a bit to learn, and a lot of it can only be learned through miles. Ride with people faster than you. Do as many types of rides as you can, because you never know what you'll be good at, ad all of that can change.

If you want to start "training", pick up any one of the numerous books out there with canned training plans and follow one for a while. At this point, even the ones in Bicycling could be of benefit.

But mostly, just ride.

usacol

Is it a reasonable goal to be able to get to cat 3 so I can go to national championships before summer 2016? Also should I consider USA cycling talent Id camps for next summer?

rideaz

I'd assume the first part of your season will be spent getting your 10 starts to upgrade from cat 5 to 4. Upgrading quickly requires picking the right races for your riding style (crit, road race, hilly etc) and requires you to place well at those races. Some guys can upgrade quickly by just doing every race and getting a few points here and there but there's a lot of factors such as field size and who shows up to consider. If you check out the USAC upgrade criteria, it explains how many points you need to upgrade 4-3 and also gives info on field sizes, minimum distance/time etc. You should probably see how the start of the season goes and see if you think Cat 3 is within reach in your first year racing! Best of Luck!

usacol

thanks !

Ygduf

don't oil your dropouts is the best advice I can give.

Hermes

You mean that is the wrong thing to do.^^^^^

BTW, OP is 16. Where is Doge when we need him.

And there is a junior racing forum. FWIW.

usacol

Ya i saw the Junior forum but I guessed there'd be more help here.

Ygduf

never ride mercury wheels in europe.

Homebrew01

Within reason. Listen to your body. There's a saying : "Train hard, rest hard" ... meaning pay a lot of attention to recovery, and not over training.
As a new rider, racer, you may let your enthusiasm lead you to over train and burnout, mentally or physically.

Hermes

I am not sure what a 4/5 50+ is. I know what a 4/5 is but what is the 50+?

Since Doge is a no show, I will take a crack at this. First, at 16, one has a lot of recovery capability. I like the the work you are doing right now. To get to US national and etc, IMO, there is a lot of politics and knowing the right people and coaches.

What are your strengths? Sprinting, time trial, hit and recovery, climbing and etc. More than likely, you do not know yet. That is not a problem. I would suggest getting in with a good coach that works with juniors so that you will get focused in the right area. If you were here, I know a guy that would be perfect. I used him when I started but more importantly, he has a track record with juniors. He coached Vasil Kiryienka when he was a junior and Vasil in on Team Sky and recently won the Pro World Time Trial Championships. Likewise, if you were a trackie, I would send you to Roger Young in Carson, CA. He has a track record with training juniors that go to nationals and worlds.

So at this point in time, as others have said, keep riding and doing what you are doing. Try to get plugged in locally with a coach and talk with your dad and or mom about this.

I would hang out in this forum and read the stickies on racing and time trials and read what others write in race reports and watch the videos. Disregard the noise and comments such as Fudgy and I made.

It is very hard to offer advice or training plans over the internet. However, stick with it.

usacol

Thanks man,
ya honestly I don't know what my strengths are yet. I like to sprint but don't know if Im good at that. My coach is a pretty good coach, he trained Talansky when he started cycling and a few others. Maybe I'll try out track racing, idk yet. The race was cat 4/5 50+ age group

caloso

How does a teenager get placed in a 50+ field?

usacol

There was only 2 categories in the race

Pro 1-2-3, 35+

and Cat 4/5 50+

Since there was no junior field I raced cat 5 which happened to be grouped with 50+

Homebrew01

Probably a missing comma between 4/5 and 50+