"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Racing in North Carolina

I have a race at Banner Elk, NC in two weeks, and there's roughly 6500m of climbing for the race, with a long uphill finish. Now, I'm from FL and I've never ridden anything remotely close to this type of terrain. I've been going to the biggest hills FL has to offer to train, but NC dwarfs it in comparison. Will I even stand a chance? I'll be racing with collegiate A's.

What race is this?! And surely you mean 6500 feet.

--Steve

I'd be willing to bet that the App State and Lees MacRae guys will introduce you to dropzilla...especially in the As.

If I'm wrong, I'll eat my hat.

The other thing they'll do is get a guy in the break and then liberally block. Lees MacRae blocks more than a cerebral stroke.

--Steve

Damn that sounds like a good race. All of the climbs in our MWCCC races are short little 1min power climbs. So the big dudes that put me in the hurt box in the crits don't get their come uppance as often as I would like. How long are these climbs? I'd be looking to hurt a fair number of souls in the As.

Yes this is going to be a tough race, and honestly I would consider the b's. What category are you USCF?

A riding partner of mine a very fast racer, (north carolinas un23 champion) is only racing the B's and hes incredibly strong.

I was going to cat up to A's for this one, but maybe I won't now that I think about it. I'm a CAT 4 now, but will be a 3 soon. I guess I'll give it my best and we'll see.

I was going to cat up to A's for this one, but maybe I won't now that I think about it. I'm a CAT 4 now, but will be a 3 soon. I guess I'll give it my best and we'll see.

If your looking to got to nats (have to be an A racer) I would race the A's.

6500m is a LOT of climbing. If you haven't spent time climbing, you are going to be dropped as your untrained climbing muscles fatigue. Good luck.

I cannot imagine it's meters. It has to be feet. Even so, assuming it's somewhere in the 100 feet per mile range you're likely to suffer if you're not used to climbing.

--Steve

it's feet, typo on my part.

If your looking to got to nats (have to be an A racer) I would race the A's.

It's a little late in the season for that, don't you think? No offense to the OP, but unless your team is super strong, you have very little hope of qualifying for nats now.

Why, you say?
1) You get off the front in a break. You score well. You are thus "marked" for the rest of the year.
2) You place moderately well, but, the big points are in the top 5. Anything less than that most weekends and you're out of contention.
3) Take either of these scenarios, combined with the limited time left in the collegiate season. Your ability to get a large number of points is pretty low, as the best way to do it, from what I've seen, is with consistent high finishes, and a lot of them. I know exactly who one of the two individual qualifiers will be from the MWCCC. He's super strong, and shows up almost every weekend. Kind of a marked man, but because he's not from a major team, he can get into some moves that, had he been from a bigger school, would have been chased down out of spite.

This is NOT degrading the OP. In his situation, I would just use this spring to gain experience in the As and not put myself under pressure to perform at any certain level. Hell, go out, drill yourself into the ground, blow up, and come back to do it again the next weekend. Raise the bar every time you're out there.

How long are these climbs?

I don't know if they're using the same course as last year, but IIRC from last year, it was a 10 mile loop with two climbs, one about 500' and one around 1000' elevation. Grade was variable, but with a few real killers, I'd guess around 12%+. The descents were pretty techy, too, and the Bs were blown apart on the downs as much as the ups. The As ended with a small break. The finish last year was in the valley, though, not the peak, so I'm not sure if it's the same course.