"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Tradezone series (Maryland)

Ok, so the series is coming up in about a month. I am torn between going for the B race or the C race. I only have 2 mass starts, but the B race would be better training right?

http://croftonbikedoctor.com/page.cfm?PageID=232

The C race is 8 laps shorter and if it is the same level of competition as Greenbelt/Turkey Day, I would be just fine and able to sit in and do well.

With the B race it could get interesting as there would be 3's, 4's, and 5's. So it would definitely be faster and also longer. So I am leaning that way, I just don't want to be embarrassed too badly.

Ok, so the series is coming up in about a month. I am torn between going for the B race or the C race. I only have 2 mass starts, but the B race would be better training right?

http://croftonbikedoctor.com/page.cfm?PageID=232

The C race is 8 laps shorter and if it is the same level of competition as Greenbelt/Turkey Day, I would be just fine and able to sit in and do well.

With the B race it could get interesting as there would be 3's, 4's, and 5's. So it would definitely be faster and also longer. So I am leaning that way, I just don't want to be embarrassed too badly.

If you can sit in and do well in the C's, then why not attack and solo away from them. Give your self a few more races, then you want to move up, go for it. Trust me, continually attacking and then getting caught is also excellent training.

Hope to get up there for a couple of the B races, but it's a bit of a hike for me. Did just sign up for Strasburg though.

errr.. huh.. not as far as I thought. Anyone got an exact googlemaps location for the race? I'm too lazy to hunt for the Collington Industrial etc.. etc.. going to bed. This commute sucks.

Ok, so the series is coming up in about a month. I am torn between going for the B race or the C race. I only have 2 mass starts, but the B race would be better training right?

http://croftonbikedoctor.com/page.cfm?PageID=232

The C race is 8 laps shorter and if it is the same level of competition as Greenbelt/Turkey Day, I would be just fine and able to sit in and do well.

With the B race it could get interesting as there would be 3's, 4's, and 5's. So it would definitely be faster and also longer. So I am leaning that way, I just don't want to be embarrassed too badly.


do the B race. It's a flat non-technical industrial park crit, you should be able to sit in the pack with minimal fitness.

Hope to get up there for a couple of the B races, but it's a bit of a hike for me. Did just sign up for Strasburg though.

errr.. huh.. not as far as I thought. Anyone got an exact googlemaps location for the race? I'm too lazy to hunt for the Collington Industrial etc.. etc.. going to bed. This commute sucks.

Upper Marlboro, MD

http://maps.stcstm.org/?lat=38.884946&lng=-76.730897

Now that I'm awake at 4 am for my 22 mile commute!

do the c race and if its too easy do the b race the following week or follow up with the b race right after the c

If its anything like last year the B field could be approaching 100+ riders again which could be hairy this early in the season for just a training race.

Good point DrWJODonnell, I should probably start with the C, and if it is too easy try some attacks and see what happens. Make it hard for me. I don't have the same fitness now as I did last fall, but we will see.

Thanks for the advice. I am looking forward to this season. Can't wait to see where I end up.

And yes I am getting excited. It feels good to have something to compete for again. I miss the competitiveness of high school with all the sports, and this feeds my rush. Adrenalin + competition = Pure joy.... The pain experienced is only a mild side effect, the benefits far out-weighing the downsides.

Hmmm. A topic i am intimately familiar with.

Ride the C race.

I promoted that race from 2000 to 2004. Early on i instituted what was to be know as the Kirby Rule after a certain B race fiasco in 2000.

Kirby was a guy I knew from local rides. He was a strong rider but had no experience racing, even though he did ok on the group rides. He knew he could hang with the 3/4 guys and so did i so i let him in the B race. I got some help from registration duties and rode the race myself. I got myself a front row seat to Kirby touching wheels and laying himself flat out on the deck. Me and two other guys went down too, trying not to run him over. We were Ok. Kirby got knocked out cold for about 30 seconds. He then got a chopper ride to PG County Gen. He had a mild concussion and a broken collarbone.

The following years, no more neophytes in the B race. Since I dont do the promotion anymore, I dont know that this protocol still gets followed.

You'd do well to just ride the C race for the first couple of weeks. If you place top 5, than consider moving to the B. Theres more to racing than just fitness. Group rides are no real indication of your ablity to race.

I did both, one after the other, last year. No reason you can't do that.

Well, unless you're Kirby.

He dont race no more. I think that was the frist and last time. I sorta lost touch with the guy after that.