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Old 12-31-15, 05:45 PM
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Teams

Context is in racing (not clubs).
What is your experience with them?
Why are you on one / or not?
How does it work?
Who sacrifices for you and who you sacrifice for?
Who decides how the race will be?
Who decides the races you will go to.

While I of course have opinions, this is not a Doge pet peeve thread. I had not seen a thread on this. I'll settle down next week when I have to work again.
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Old 12-31-15, 06:02 PM
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Teams - I like them. I am on one because trying to cover every move solo sucks and it's nice to be part of something. We're amateurs, so it works how it works. "You cover this one, I cover that one, whoever isn't in the break covers bridges and stays fresh in case it comes back together, if it's together at the end we try XYZ". Go to the races you want, but racing with teammates is the best so target these 10 races if at all possible.
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Old 12-31-15, 06:51 PM
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Originally Posted by Doge
What is your experience with them? .
Teams were good to belong back when, we shared travel/driving expenses and worked for each other in races but more importantly they provided a the Chorus to sing "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" during fixed gear winter base miles.

Could use a few sturdy fellows who can ride a straight line, pedal a 70GI FG right smartly and sing on key this week......

-Bandera
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Old 12-31-15, 08:44 PM
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For me, it was all about the money.

I saved money on bike parts by getting pro deals.

They paid my race entries.

I made a boat load of money racing the last season I raced "seriously" on the road. Like, $4k.

I realized that I wasn't strong enough to roll off the front of a 100 man P/1/2 race pretty early on. I did, however, realize that I was adept at working on the front late in the race, getting bottles, and leading people out for primes and the final lap. So, I did that, and did it well.
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Old 01-01-16, 08:46 AM
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Originally Posted by Bandera
Teams were good to belong back when, we shared travel/driving expenses and worked for each other in races but more importantly they provided a the Chorus to sing "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" during fixed gear winter base miles.

Could use a few sturdy fellows who can ride a straight line, pedal a 70GI FG right smartly and sing on key this week......

-Bandera
I can. I spent most winters riding fixed gear. That's how it used to be done way back. I also teach music for a living
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Old 01-01-16, 08:58 AM
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I've never gotten sponsorship per se (kits, entries, travel). A little when in school, but the process for applying for money was such a pain we only did it for big events. I got 3 free jerseys in 5 years from my current team (but the annual dues during that time would have paid for about 1-1/2 of them). Some discounts on parts but nothing unique, meaning other people could get the same price breaks in other ways.

I like working with teammates. It's a two way street for me, I get help, I try to help. A lot of guys, teammates or not (but friends in some way, all of them), offer to help me during a race, stuff like chasing, bridging, or even leading out. I've had guys on other teams, but close friends with me, work for me for entire races.

At the same time I'll not chase friends (teammates or not), depending on the situation (meaning almost never). I like working for other riders but I'm not strong enough to do much. In situations where I can help I've worked entire races for non-teammate friends. I can help most effectively (I think) by offering a fresh Podium Ice full of ice water that will stay ice cold for the next hour in 95 degree temps, spare wheels or even my bike, etc. In one race my bike won (under a different rider) and my spare front wheel (under another wheel) got second. That was kind of cool.

For me bike racing is like playing music or playing games. It's fun doing it on your own but it's much more fun when you can orchestrate things with others.
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Old 01-01-16, 05:06 PM
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At nationals a couple years ago (not my kid's group) there was rider that would not chase down his USA teammate who was riding for another team (no one races for USA at USA Nationals).
There has been some interesting conversation about this.

Last edited by Doge; 01-01-16 at 05:29 PM.
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Old 01-02-16, 05:25 PM
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Teams are good as long as there is a pre-race haka.

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Old 01-02-16, 05:41 PM
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^ Those guys watched 300 a few too many times.
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Old 01-02-16, 05:52 PM
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Originally Posted by Hermes
Teams are good as long as there is a pre-race haka.

Nobody remembers the score that game (that was my sport BTW).
Can be pretty serious too.
[video]https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11553571[/ame]

Last edited by Doge; 01-02-16 at 05:58 PM.
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Old 01-02-16, 08:05 PM
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Originally Posted by Doge
Context is in racing (not clubs).
What is your experience with them?
Why are you on one / or not?
How does it work?
Who sacrifices for you and who you sacrifice for?
Who decides how the race will be?
Who decides the races you will go to.
I was unattached my first year of racing (2009), then found a local shop-based team in 2010. It was great mostly because we had a "team van" (sprinter model) that we often drove to races, and the shop/rides were a few minutes ride from my house.

On top of that, some actual team work came out of it, in the form of leadouts for me, which was great.

After moving to CA in 2013 I joined a series of new teams, and would never go back to being unattached; although I do sometimes go to races as the only one from my team.

Overall I enjoy being a part of something, even if the teams I've chosen/chosen me aren't super-serious, but not super club-ish either.

This year I'll be running the 1/2's squad for my team, which is nice. Some of it is management stuff (budget, roster), but the fun part is tactics.

At the amateur elite level, it's really hard to get someone to sacrifice their race for someone else - but I think we'll do a better job of that this year than last. Not because I'm helping run the team, but because we have way less people, and hopefully a more cohesive team. Time will tell.
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Old 01-08-16, 10:44 PM
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I started riding with a club that had a team aspect, then started riding with the team. They kinda showed me the ropes and I figured I would join, so I bought a two year membership to the club and the team took me in. This past summer, I found that no one really wanted to come out and do the races with me that frequently, aside from TTs where teamwork doesn't matter. They did a lot of recruiting through cross so it was no big surprise that cross ended being the major discipline on the team. I unfortunately can't do cross because school conflicts but I'm hoping to try this year. However, the renewal reminder for the team came in this summer and I felt like I was far enough removed from the core group (very focused on cross) that I wasn't sure I wanted to stay. I'll probably end up just riding for my school over the summer and trying to get a spot on a more road-focused team next year.

The team basically works via email list: someone says they're going to a race, other people say they want to go and carpools are organized. I only went to one race in which I had more than one teammate in my category and it was basically unspoken that we would try and get someone in the break if there was one but no real plan for a sprint.
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Old 01-14-16, 02:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Doge
Context is in racing (not clubs).
What is your experience with them?
Why are you on one / or not?
How does it work?
Who sacrifices for you and who you sacrifice for?
Who decides how the race will be?
Who decides the races you will go to.

While I of course have opinions, this is not a Doge pet peeve thread. I had not seen a thread on this. I'll settle down next week when I have to work again.
I'm on a team of "old fast guys" and they only seem to care about TT. 2 or 3 CA3's and they just race individually and most are 4's. I'm trying to organize some teamwork but seems like most guys would rather just enjoy their rides, race here and there individually. At end of the year i get re-imbursed for all races and 2 free kits.
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Old 01-14-16, 02:24 PM
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Originally Posted by TexMac
I'm on a team of "old fast guys" and they only seem to care about TT. 2 or 3 CA3's and they just race individually and most are 4's. I'm trying to organize some teamwork but seems like most guys would rather just enjoy their rides, race here and there individually. At end of the year i get re-imbursed for all races and 2 free kits.
Reimbursement and kits is pretty nice. Any chance you could recruit a few new teammates and then race as a unit?
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Old 01-14-16, 02:29 PM
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Originally Posted by hack
Reimbursement and kits is pretty nice. Any chance you could recruit a few new teammates and then race as a unit?
That's what i've been trying to do. We ride on Saturday AM (hammerfest) and i'm trying to organize a couple of 4's to train on tactics during that ride. I've asked the prez of the club to assist. I only have 1 person interested so far . Might start approaching them individually.
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Old 01-14-16, 03:14 PM
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This sounds very high school but I joined a new team for this season because most of my friends did. I don't take racing too seriously so I like to ride/go to races with people I enjoy spending time with. We represent a local shop, get some free stuff, do team and non team rides together. It's a good deal. A lot of the guys are Cat 3 and I like to race in men's races too so I'd have teammates.
There's a new local elite women's team here, I was tempted to join but then remembered I have 2 kids, a dog, a job, house etc and leaving for days at a time to race out of state is out of the question
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Old 01-14-16, 03:17 PM
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Originally Posted by TexMac
That's what i've been trying to do. We ride on Saturday AM (hammerfest) and i'm trying to organize a couple of 4's to train on tactics during that ride. I've asked the prez of the club to assist. I only have 1 person interested so far . Might start approaching them individually.
The category breaks is somewhat of a challenge. There is desire to move up, but in doing that your "team" may be ineligible to ride with you.
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Old 01-14-16, 03:19 PM
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Originally Posted by rideaz
This sounds very high school but I joined a new team for this season because most of my friends did. I don't take racing too seriously so I like to ride/go to races with people I enjoy spending time with. We represent a local shop, get some free stuff, do team and non team rides together. It's a good deal. A lot of the guys are Cat 3 and I like to race in men's races too so I'd have teammates.
There's a new local elite women's team here, I was tempted to join but then remembered I have 2 kids, a dog, a job, house etc and leaving for days at a time to race out of state is out of the question
This is as good a reason as I can think of.
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Old 01-14-16, 03:48 PM
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What I am getting/got is that team racing is something that BF posters pretty much don't do. I pretty much don't see it much at all outside of pros, some organized master teams. I've seen a junior team do it a couple times, but generally not.
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Old 01-14-16, 04:00 PM
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I don't think I'd say that team racing doesn't happen. It may not happen as well as what goes on in the pro ranks, but there are efforts to race as a team (leadouts, food support, chase breaks, etc). It might not be polished and obvious, but it's there.

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Old 01-14-16, 07:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Doge
What I am getting/got is that team racing is something that BF posters pretty much don't do. I pretty much don't see it much at all outside of pros, some organized master teams. I've seen a junior team do it a couple times, but generally not.
I disagree. Like hack was saying, it's definitely not as polished as it is in pro racing and really, distance kinda makes a difference in terms of whether team tactics need to be there. Pretty much every race I went to, the teams with more guys were chasing down breaks for their teammates or being careful about who was allowed to bridge. In the couple races where I did have teammates, I slowed pace for one where we had a guy get second out of the break and we covered moves together in the other one. The mentality is there (at the cat 3 level, at least) but the commitment to go to races and actually work doesn't seem to materialize as frequently.
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Old 01-14-16, 08:24 PM
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^^ hard to be as polished without race radios and DS in follow cars.
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Old 01-14-16, 11:59 PM
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After I upgraded to cat 3 beginning of last year, all year our cat 4 team was super organized. To the extent that they won the season long series and got ea other points for 4 of them to upgrade.

I followed their Facebook chat before one race, they were discussing in great detail the leadout, who would go where and when and why. I showed up early to watch, and sure enough, the designated winner rounds the last corner 5 seconds ahead of the pack. Next guy midpack, and last 2 off the back.

Our 2/3 squad was not organized though. It went like "chase down early moves til designated teammate gets in break" or, teammate drifts back "hey Aaron go up and cover moves for a while" or, last lap no plan I'm like hey you! as I power up the side to attempt leadout.

Last early bird race we had 4 in the break, I should have been designated winner but of course I assume other guys want the win. But we hadn't been talking and I didn't realize 2 of them were fried and weren't even thinking of winning it. I gotta be more vocal.
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Old 01-18-16, 08:56 AM
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Originally Posted by Doge
The category breaks is somewhat of a challenge. There is desire to move up, but in doing that your "team" may be ineligible to ride with you.
As our team folks call it "old man's team" so desire to move up is not really there for 80% of the guys.
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Old 01-20-16, 01:57 PM
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Originally Posted by Enthalpic
^ Those guys watched 300 a few too many times.
Not really. The haka is based on Maori culture, which traces back to around 1200 CE. The Spartans weren't the only warriors that ever existed.
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