Road Bike Racing - My First Race Tomorrow

Finally the weekend has come were I get to race. I have never raced on the road before so I am curious how it will all go. I have read all the race reports on the race I can find online and primers on racing crits and just general racing info. There are a couple local guys that I know that race that I talked to. Most of them said the pace is around 18-24, which is fine since I can maintain upwards of 23-24 on my own for a few hours.

Any last minute advice? I just plan to cruise along for the first 15minutes or so and see how it all goes, then decide on what to do from there.

Tips? Get a good warm-up, stay at the front of the group, relax, and have fun!

Velo, you make it sound so easy.

Styk33, too late to wish you good luck. Race report pleeez! How'd it go? What'd you learn? Will you be racing again?

A guy a work with showed up early to cheer me on, that was great.

I needed to warm up more for the race, i was on the trainer for 35 min with a 2 minute hard pull and that was not enough. I had a guy tell me to watch my line as I was going around a corner. Personally I could not do much, the guy on my inside was pushing me out. Everyone rode really close together and I need to get used to that.

Despite the unfriendly people in the race I had fun. I got outsprinted for the first prime and ended up getting dropped from the pack. Never fear, I did not finish last, I would pick off the others that would get dropped. I tried to work with two guys to get back up to the pack, but there pace was really slow. The people i met that were not in my category were nice. I had a guy named Chad that was a Junior that cheered me on and that was great.

The cat 5 race (my race) had everyone right on top of each other. I noticed that other races everyone was not so close, so I guess it will get better as the season goes on. Staying at the front was impossible. One lap I was up near the front, the next lap I was coming off the back. Position changes were extreme in the cat 5 race.

Definitely doing it again. I averaged 21.9 during the race. In about two weeks there is a race about an hour away, I am going to go to that one.

No crashed in my race, but there was a major on in the Cat 4 race were a couple guys mid pack decided to sprint for the finish and got there handlebars tangled up. Result, one helmet broken in half, one guy with 3 broken ribs and two other guys with damaged bikes.

The pro race also had a crash and one person was unonscious. I am not sure what happened, but he was taken off in an ambulance. Pro pace was averaging around 30mph.

In the Junior race a 15 yo broke off the front half way into the race. He was never caught and was averaging around 27mph. I do not know about the rest of you, but that is pretty amazing.

Sounds like you had alot of fun... Good job!

Thanks for the report. My first is in 3 weeks. I'm more worried about the close riding than anything else... that'll take some getting used to. Interesting about the warm-up. You think adding a couple more hard pulls would have helped? Seems like a tough call... you want to do enough to get warmed up, but not get tired out. I guess there's no substitute for experience when it comes to stuff like that.

A 15yo soloing at an average 27mph? Some people are just born with it...

Warm up more is definitely what I need to do. After the race I felt great and ready to ride. Saturday mornings I am used to 3-5 hours doing climbing. I will probalby try a low cadence 4-5 minute pull and then about a 2 minute average cadence pull with about 5 minutes of recovery before getting off. This is just what I think might work for me, everyone there seemed to do diffferent things to prepare.

My Cat 4 friend recommended that I get out on the group ride every other week and I will be comfortable by the time Sea Otter comes around :)

Good luck. Let us know how it all goes.

Jay! I remember you from the rx7forum! haha...I'm Erik (not Futahaguro) ...you and your crazy pics, lol

Congrats on your first race...Relatively flat to maintain 27mph for the junior racer? wow

Yes, it was a fairly flat race. There was a small 2% grade, but that was it. Nice wide road, with sweeping turns.

Maybe I need some pics of my bicycle and myself for this forum :)

Originally posted by Styk33
Yes, it was a fairly flat race. There was a small 2% grade, but that was it. Nice wide road, with sweeping turns.

Maybe I need some pics of my bicycle and myself for this forum :)


Yes..:eek:

I do not think you know what you are asking for Fubar5.

Hehehehe. It would be nice to see my pics up on another forum. Last time they made it around to 9 different car forums. :D