"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - My "A" Ride

My local Tuesday ride is f**king brutal. There's a BMC guy who shows almost every week, and last week we were visited by a Predictor-Lotto rider. The fast section is 12 miles long, and almost always the pack is exposed to a vicious cross wind. I've hung in till the sprint a few times, but I've been dropped within the first third of the ride more times. I'm a middling talent, but I train like a madman. Should I give up on this ride, or will I eventually be able to hang? Are there some rides that are just too fast?

Is Horner in town again?

Keep showing up....

Is Horner in town again?

Yeah, he was anyway. I think he did the Saturday ride as well. I heard he went to the front on the second half, and they AVERAGED 30mph on the way back in. :D Take that with a grain of salt, but I'm sure it was fast at any rate.

I believe it.

Anyway, it's hard for me to get out on the Tuesday night ride due to my workschedule but I'm thrilled to make it to Ferrari Tower. I'm going to keep showing up when I can but I hear ya, it's demoralizing.

How many others are getting dropped?

keep going

One of the best ways to get faster is to ride with people faster than you. Stick to it.

No shame in getting dropped, but there is in giving up ;)

How many others are getting dropped?

hmmmm. Prolly half.

Lead never follow.

Continue to show up and get better and better.

Be glad you have the talent to ride with and learn from. You won't get either of those if you don't show.

Keep showing up. With company of that talent there is a chance you will never stay with the lead group. My .02 is keep showing up and enjoy the show as long as you can.

Definitley keep showing up. You'll keep hanging on longer and longer.

Surrender, throw in the towel, give up the sport, squirrel yourself in a pathetic hotel room and do a huge amount of blow. Worked for Marco.

Or just show up again next week.

You know what sucks. Horner probably showed up at the end of a 6 hour day in the mountains and just wanted a bit paceline work for company. When a ProTour guy shows to your local ride and the pace is on, he's still just cruisin'.

Surrender, throw in the towel, give up the sport, squirrel yourself in a pathetic hotel room and do a huge amount of blow. Worked for Marco.

Or just show up again next week.

I think blow is more expensive than carbon. I'd just go back and keep at it, but I not the smartest feller :rolleyes:

Andy

You know what sucks. Horner probably showed up at the end of a 6 hour day in the mountains and just wanted a bit paceline work for company. When a ProTour guy shows to your local ride and the pace is on, he's still just cruisin'.

+1. He probably was. When the BMC guy shows up, he'll attack off the front and then just let the pack catch him. Intervals for him. Balls to the wall racing for us. :rolleyes:

Sounds like too much fun...keep showing up. I am actually starting to enjoy getting shelled because I look at the back of the people that dropped me and vow to ride over those same backs someday. Gets me up every morning to train. :)

I think blow is more expensive than carbon. I'd just go back and keep at it, but I not the smartest feller :rolleyes:

Andy
Well, what does a kilo of cocaine cost? We know a kilo of carbon costs about $2500+ depending on who makes it....

Yeah, keep showing up. Sounds a lot like my "A" ride. I give it a shot about every Tuesday and haven't hung on yet. I was so mad the other day because I was riding great and feeling better than ever, still hanging on 17 miles into the ride (hadn't made it past 13 ever before) when I got a flat. NOOOOO...there they go! However, I was encouraged last week when, before the ride, I asked one of the faster riders how many guys typically finish with the lead group, and found out it's usually only between two and five riders out of 15-20 who start.

IMO - as long as this Tues. night ride is consistent with your overall training purposes, keep doing it. If you're too fried from prior weekend and need to recover more on Tues, then skip it. If you aren't recovering from Tues, it's compromising your other training and/or racing during the rest of a week, skip it.