Fifty Plus (50+) - First Bike Race

Thursday, June 8, Pro bike racing came to Reading, PA. Since I just started ridng last year, I had to see. First impression is this sport is 80 pounds and 40 years behind me. So I'm strictly a spectator. I did ride bike in town to I could get around the 6.7 mile course. The pros managed to complete 71 miles in just under 3 hours, while my longest ride to date was 32 miles in over 3 hours. Don't think I'll be racing anytime soon, (actually never).

Reading has been trying to shake off it's status as one of the worst 100 small cities (drugs), so this Race is another attempt to do just that. The media claims a crowd of 15,000, which I suppose isn't half bad for a race held during the week when everybody should be working. And of course the Pro Race provides riders from every country so the Latino population had plenty to cheer about. A German gal won the girls race, a home grown American the Cat 1/2 race and Greg Henderson of New Zealand won the Pro race. I was wearing my Jelly Belly shirt and one of their team managed to lead race for a few laps. Many in the crowds had no idea what to expect and were quite blown away when 160 plus riders in a long drawn out peleton passed by. All the bikes and riders were so quiet as they went by, but you could pick up a distinct swoosh sound as the sliced thru the air. And rolling down Hill Road at 50 plus mph with other bikes just inches away is quite a site. I will certainly return next year.

Now hopefully the pics I have will load ok. More details at the local radio stations web site, the station had live coverage 0830 to 0430. http://www.weeu.com/sports.asp

All the bikes and riders were so quiet as they went by, but you could pick up a distinct swoosh sound as the sliced thru the air. And rolling down Hill Road at 50 plus mph with other bikes just inches away is quite a site.

You would enjoy the video clip at http://www.nuvo.net/multi/

Scroll down the page and look for the link "NUVO/Bacardi Bike Racing
The race heats up." Once the video starts in a Quicktime Window, watch it all if you want. The part that I wanted to bring to your attention is about 45% of the way through. Advance the video until you see the dandelion. Watch the dandelion as the swoosh of the pack goes by. Cool!


First impression is this sport is 80 pounds and 40 years behind me. So I'm strictly a spectator. I did ride bike in town to I could get around the 6.7 mile course. The pros managed to complete 71 miles in just under 3 hours, while my longest ride to date was 32 miles in over 3 hours. Don't think I'll be racing anytime soon, (actually never).

Remember, those were CAT 1-2 riders, the most fit and experienced racers. Riders start out racing in a "Citizens" or CAT 5 category. These riders take their training seriously too, and are quite fast, but you often see 50-60 and even 70 year old riders doing well and having a great time in "Masters" category races or CAT 5, CAT 4 and even CAT 3 Races.

Racing is a demanding sport and it is easy to get in over your head and feel frustrated instead of challenged. You are right, your weight to power ratio is critical. But if you looked at it as project that would develop over a couple of seasons of riding, and you could get your 1 hour time trial average speed up to around 21-22 miles per hour, you could hang with the pack in a lot of the CAT 5 or "Citizens" races.

Watching the pack go by is thrilling. Being in the middle of that flowing sea of color, and on a good day moving up to the front...................WOW!

Thanks for sharing the post and the pics. I'm always amazed at their speeds and the big "swooooosh" noise and breeze as they motor by. I was in Anniston watching crits last month and one of the guy's tubulars rolled off his rear wheel in a corner. He did an incredible job of keeping the bike up.....

Racing is not for me!!!

The race continues in Philadelphia on Sunday. You're not that far away if you're in Pottstown. I'll be there, along with hundreds of others, many of whom will ride down the Schuykill River Bike Trail to get there. The weather should be good, and the racing fast.

I know it continues in Philly, but I've gotten my live experience at Reading. I believe the best place to watch the Philly race will be in front of TV. Followed by a late afternoon ride in Oley Valley.