"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - How I finished 8th in my first road race!

After a very crappy night of sleep or lack thereof, I headed out to Gainesboro, TN for the Avery Trace Cycling Classic Road race. Got a crappy warm up and then made it to the start line. The Cat 5 under 35 were grouped with the juniors. The juniors were like a bunch of mini-Rasmussen's I bet not one of them weighed over 95 lbs...bunch of skinny kids...I didn't climb fast enough to keep up with them...got dropped 6 miles into the 36 halfway up the first big climb...solo'ed 30 miles...passed another rider who had a flat midway up the big climb at the end and thought I definitely wouldn't be last...the finish was a brutal climb, it was hot and I was cramping in my hip flexors. Got passed with 200 meters to go by the guy with the flat :( Finished 8th out of 8 Cat 5, but atleast I can tell everyone in my first Road Race I finished in the top 10:D

If you want graphs I can give graphs...but i'm off to catch some shut eye for now...

you finished. that's a good start.

you finished. that's a good start.

it really wasn't that bad...i'm just not competitive when it comes to climbing at 225 lbs...I bet the next heaviest rider today was in the 160s

to quote beckett: Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.

to quote beckett: Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.

yup...I'm already signed up for my next race in Memphis next weekend...only 450 ft of climbing for each of 4 of the 8 mile laps...it should be a little better than this weekend climbing wise...

yup...I'm already signed up for my next race in Memphis next weekend...only 450 ft of climbing for each of 4 of the 8 mile laps...it should be a little better than this weekend climbing wise...

I'm considering racing in that. I've got 2 guys in my club that are doing it. They just started racing, but they have the legs of cat 3's or 2's so watch out.

bah, you got up happy, excited, barely could sleep from all the excitment, so that's winning in itself!
Good job! cant wait to see the next report :)

Good job on the race. My first race was only slightly better. Lose weight. I did. You can too.

Wow...you mean there was actually a real Cat 5 only race there?
Must be nice.

Congrats to you sir.
Passed by a guy with a flat....that's a new one!

Good job on the race. My first race was only slightly better. Lose weight. I did. You can too.

he has.

Bah...screw losing weight. You look fine in your avatar. It just means you catch 'em on the downhill my friend!

he has.

Nice.

downhills are my best teamate in a race ha.

Great first show. Kept the rubber down and finished in sight of the action.

Wow...you mean there was actually a real Cat 5 only race there?
Must be nice.


I'm tellin' ya Hip...the 4/5 races are better.

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys! I'm happy with my results but being a competitive person I know I can do much better. The only way for me to get better is to continue racing, losing weight (down to 223 from 261 last fall), and start training with a purpose instead of just riding. I WILL get better. Thanks guys.

On another note...i was impressed with the bike handling skills of the Cat 5s and Juniors I raced with. About 3 miles from the finish a group of us were riding along in a paceline and I was about 3rd in the line...a guy started to come up on our left and I looked over for a brief instant but it was plenty of time for the the lead guy to brake and for my wheel to overlap the wheel in front of me...naturally when i looked back forward I drifted slightly right into the wheel of the other guy....it was spokes pinging and tires rubbing together before i knew what was going on. I looked down to see my front wheel all the way at the guy's dropout.. I have no problem with contact and staying up with contact (i ride with an ex track guy that likes to ride up to me and try to hip check me) but i was worried for a split second that the guy might go down...nope he kept going straight allowed me to drift off his wheel to the left and I apologized and we went on our way. Turns out the kid was a junior and was only 13...I was thoroughly impressed by his calm demeanor as most Cat 5s and Juniors I have encountered in my limited experience of training crits would freak out with any minor contact. It could have easily gone bad had either of us freaked out.

Yeah, that's a positive right there. Don't expect that with every contact though. Most cat 5s think they need to egg-crate themselves through the race. It's actually a little spoiling to have it so easy to get a wheel. Just brush forearms and the guy will vanish most of the time :rolleyes: Try that in 3s and it's a completely different outcome.

to quote beckett: Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.

Love the Beckett. Another one....

In the battle of life, it is not the critic who counts; nor the one who points out how the strong person stumbled, or where the doer of a deed could have done better. The credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually strive to do deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends oneself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he or she fails, at least fails while daring greatly. Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those timid spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.

T. Roosevelt

Finishing a road race is great. Lots don't. Good work.

downhills are my best teamate in a race ha.

Not in a cat 4/5 race, unless your one of the first 5 guys. Only race group i've experienced braking on downhills.