Interesting. I never thought of it that way. I'd have to be 75 before I doubled my racing life.

I love finding a thread like this when I decide to come by for a BF check in. I hope my speedsuit stays together this weekend.

Racetime is approaching and I am already super nervous. I have no idea on what to expect... There is a training crit tomorrow near my house and I am probably going to give a try and see what is up. I feel like when you are about to give a speech in public? Kinda like my heart is not there. HTFU!!!!

picard

Well, race over. I got destroyed... I think i could have done better but fair enough i tried and failed misserably. I had some problems calibrating the new power meter right before going to the grid and thay ended up with me starting dead last. I picked up about 10 spots but the pelloton was already gone and i was left in the wind leading the "cat 6" racers with another guy. It did t take long before we got pulled from the race. At least i know i need to train much harder and i will! I am no wuss and i know next year ill come back strong!

Out...

Good job getting out there!









(Next time, don't worry about your PM)

That was a brutal course for a first crit. Very tight, no straight to recover on. fairly big elevation change on the only straight portion of the course.

congrats on completing this Luis!

Thanks! Yes next time I'll just focus on the race.

Even thought it was a very hard course I found it very fun! Hopefully next year I'll be in much better shape and I can go for an easier (flatter course)

Thanks Chris but I really didnt complete it :( more like tried... It was very very fun and nerve racking. It kinda reminded me of being in the track on the ducati but even more intense!

Here is the Strave debrief of a short lived race...

http://www.strava.com/activities/85836349

I am the one in white red and black.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.n...97531468_o.jpg

Something to think about for training rides: work on getting comfortable in the drops. In a crit I am in the drops pretty much 100% of the time.

That is true. I started looking at the Cat1/2/pro and they were 100% of the time down in the drops. I was only in the drops on the downhill section when it was time to turn I would get up on the hoods. Not very comfortable going on the drops yet, not necessarily the possition but shifting is ill when I am down there for some reason. it shifts much better when doing it from the hoods. I am having trouble with my shifting since putting the new crank (PM).

Also, I saw one of the guys from the 5 hour energy team lap the all the cat 1/2 by himself on the 1 hour crit. He laped them and finished in first on the pack after laping them.. I was like WTF! Incredible. I am assuming he was the only real (domestic) pro in that race.

Thanks for your advice.

That's my coach. :thumb:

That's awesome! The guy is a beast. At one point I was about 2 feet away from him during the trophy ceremony and wanted to talk to him but decided to leave him alone. Seemed like a really cool guy. I've seen that team before coming up hog pen in the middle of january with the snow on the mountain top, I was on my motorcycle. Impressive stuff.

Congrats for toeing the line and racing :beer:

Thanks! I guess now this thread can stay here instead of being moved to the 41 :)

Who's your coach Sweeting?
Taking a guess on this one...

Yup

Nice. I think I only spoke to him briefly once, seems like a nice guy. He's a beast as well.

Good on you for getting out there and giving it a go.

if you're having trouble shifting in the drops, maybe it's a good idea to consider compact handlebars, if you haven't already. I used to have a crappy ergo handlebar that came with the bike. I couldn't shift/brake in the drops unless I moved my hand to reach for it. After switching to a compact handlebar, my fingers can wrap around the levers easily.

It's not quite the handlebars but rather the leverage that goes into the shift levers. From the top they shift well and from the bottom I hear them click but the chain just start "skipping" on the cassette but not changing. That was later adjusted when I went back to my LBS and now they shift from a slight touch. For the race they were badly adjusted. I guess the shift levers have a bit of flex to them.