"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Fubar goes to race

I'll be leaving shortly for Southern Pines NC to do my first bona fide race of the year..This week has been hell with school so I am not as ready as I hoped to be, but what the heck.

what the heck.

What kind of race are you doing? Crit, road race, TT? I'm in the same boat, my $50 license has gone unused so far. I have a short TT, crit, and 50 mile RR to choose from this weekend. I know I'm not quite ready either, but... what the heck.

fubar5: Hmm, I'm not sure what to say - is cycling like the theater and you're not suppose to say "Good Luck"? If so in that case "Break a spoke" :) Seriously though, put school behind you for a few hours and give it your all. I'll be pulling for you!

Zack

Good luck to both of you and have fun. Let us know how you do.

Wishing you well too. Let us know how your Allez performs under race conditions! (I need to start racing...)

:beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

good luck

Well guys, I did it. I have found my calling in life!! Racing freaking rocks!!

There is good news, and bad news though. The good news is, I finished 8th, and got my heart rate higher than ever.

The bad news, I got my placing DQ'd because I made an illegal "attack" in the left lane..The only time I can remember going in the left lane was when the guy on my right dropped his water bottle..But while I was in the left lane I accelerated to get away from the guy, because he was obviously a poor bike handler. I was going to file against losing my place, but I decided to man up and take it as a lesson learned. The USCF official said I can still count the race towards my overall ten.

Good news, now I am super pumped for my next race, and to train harder than ever.

Now, details..

The speed varied greatly, we would be going 25-30 mph, and then in the blink of an eye we would be down to 20-22 mph..Very unusual. There was a team of about 7 guys(which I thought was wierd for cat 5) and they kept me guessing the whole way, I couldn't figure out what the heck they were doing/going to do. I figured they were going to put the hammer down at some point so I decided to stay with them as best I could. But as it turns out, none of the guys even got into the top ten. Near the end, two guys went off the front, and I went after them, which turned out to be a bad choice because there was a hill around the next corner and I was burning up when we got to it, right as we hit the hill, another group caught us and some guys broke from that group..I managed to get on a wheel for the rest of the hill and tried to get my HR down. Then we rounded the last turn and were in the straight away fot the finish. With out even thinking about it, I just gave an all out effort to finish as best I could..I vaguely remeber making the decision, and I don't remember anything from the point where I started sprinting until after the finish line when I was coasting. I got my heart rate up to 191, a new max for me.

Anyway, it was a blast, and I can't wait for the next. I told my mom I was going to quit school and just become a pro racer.

If someone had told me I was going to get DQ'd, I couldn't pick a better reason than an illegal attack...tee hee

The ref also said I didn't get DQ'd because the attack gave me and advantage, he said that they are really strict with the rules for cat 5 groups, basically anybody who went over the line for any reason got DQ'd. Which apparently quite a few did.

Originally posted by fubar5
At least illegal attack sounds cool in way..I was attacking at least.

:D :) :D

picture after the end..I was in Bikeforums colors.

fubar5: Dude, you rock! Don't quit school, instead transfer to one that has a cycling team :) So when is your next race?

Zack

May 17th is the next one I'm looking at. I've got the Tour de Cure next weekend, then I've got to help my sister move into her new apartment..

Congrats!! How long was the race (distance and time wise)?

Tell us some about the race itself, distance, terrain etc. Also what ended up being the average speed? Or if there is a website for this race could you give it to us? Sounds like fun and a good time even with the DQ.

The race was approx. 37 miles and took about 1:35 hh:mm. The website advertised(just search 29th Tour De Moore) 33 miles, which I was kinda p-oed about, because I gauged my efforts based on a 33 mile race, not 37.The terrain was great, rolling hills and flats, nothing to hard until the end. I can't really tell you about the surroundings, I don't rember a darn thing other than there were lots of horses.

This race was a regular road race, the next races I'm looking at are crits.

fubar5: when are you moving again? If you could make it over to Atlanta you could do three races in one weekend as part of the GA state games. There's a road race, time trial and crit. You could get two more of the 10 needed to upgrade that way.

Hammer on.

Zack

When's that Zack?? Maybe I could meet you there???

I'm leaving the end of June/early July time frame..Which means I'll be busy weeks before that with all the packing and cleaning.

fubar5: It's the weekend of July 12/13 :(
Here's a link in case anyone else is interested.

http://www.georgiagames.org/cyrdrac.htm

Zack

Good job! It's a shame about the DQ, tho'.

Yeah..The Dq sucked..But I'm trying not to dwell on it. My dad was there at the race, and I felt like I totally let him down somehow. The look on his face when I crossed the line..He was on the verge of tears, then I got DQ'd.That sucked. The next race will be different, and there will be many more to come.

As a dad I know what he was going through - it's called PRIDE. I've been so proud of some of the things my kids have done that I've been on the verge of tears. Give him a hug and tell him thanks for being there for you.

Zack

Fubar, make sure you let him know you appreciate him coming to support you. You are very lucky to have a father like that.

Congrats on a good race. They are strict about the rules, a teammate of mine was DQ'd because he was avoiding a crash and went over the centerline. He did the safest thing, but they go by the book in all the 4/5 races.