"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - TQ's attention ***** (trainwreck?) development thread

I have HTFU'ed...honest. I don't have as many miles on my legs as i would have liked. In fact, since march, only about 200. about 170 of which are within the last 2 weeks.

My first Crit is going to be either at the end of May or 2nd week in June. Depends on if i can make it to the May ride. I'm also going to be participating in a couple of TT's from the Chicago Time Trial Series (http://www.chicagott.com/), one of which is conveniently in my home town (woodstock).

I've been trying to get the miles back in my legs and surprisingly (or perhaps not) in my third year of doing this they seem to be returning faster than ever and my avg speeds are about where i left off (about...). I just did a 30 mile loop the other day solo @ 17.8mph. Fairly flat...being in Iowa and a bit of wind. Point is it's higher than i expected so i'm fairly confident that i can be at least somewhat respectable in a month for my first race(s).

The point of this thread is to keep track of my progress. I want to be badgered because i have thin skin and a chip on my shoulder and for some reason the insults piss me off...which motivates me to ride. Lame as it sounds...it is what it is. As a disclaimer, i hold no grudges from previous posts, i hope some of you can move beyond it. I respect all of you as you have more experience than me.

My goal today was to ride 6 miles (roughly 10k) as hard as i could. The TT's i'm doing are 30k and 40k but they are months away. As i said i'm very behind in my training but in terms of cardiovascular shape, because of the work i did do this winter, i'm in the best shape i've been since my Sr. year of football.


Route: http://toporoute.com/cgi-bin/getSavedRoute.cgi?routeKey=HUPBABGPGTHKUOG
Wind was 5mph from the west and pretty much a non-factor
-Distance: 5.6m
-Time: 16.11min
-Speed: 20.76mph

My goal was 21mph so i'm pretty happy. I'd like to improve on that obviously in both terms of speed and distance. What kind of speed can one expect from a cat5 30/40k TT?

FWIW, no areo bars...

With a TT bike, times in the low low 1hour, a few might break it. Without a TT bike add a few minutes. Most will probably be under 1:20.

good luck

I want to be badgered because i have thin skin and a chip on my shoulder and for some reason the insults piss me off...which motivates me to ride. Lame as it sounds...it is what it is. As a disclaimer, i hold no grudges from previous posts, i hope some of you can move beyond it. I respect all of you as you have more experience than me.



Kite rise against, not with the wind.

It will be my pleasure reminding you how much you suck.

Kite rise against, not with the wind.

It will be my pleasure reminding you how much you suck.

I can make pcad look like he's full of himself.

Another "I'm gonna race, really!" post from Timmy.

Yawn.

I can make pcad look like he's full of himself.


No help needed there.

What kind of speed can one expect from a cat5 30/40k TT?

FWIW, no areo bars...

So... you want to be insulted? You've come to the right place!

Anyway, decent speed would be 23 to 24. That's with aero bars. Maybe 22 on drops. I suck heartily at TTs, (usually finishing in the top 70 percentile of my category) but I'm pretty sure I could at least manage that. But if you're racing a TT, definitely definitely get aero bars. Of course, you already know that. Like $40 for minutes worth of savings.

So... you want to be insulted? You've come to the right place!

Anyway, decent speed would be 23 to 24. That's with aero bars. Maybe 22 on drops. I suck heartily at TTs, (usually finishing in the top 70 percentile of my category) but I'm pretty sure I could at least manage that. But if you're racing a TT, definitely definitely get aero bars. Of course, you already know that. Like $40 for minutes worth of savings.

Yup, i've got a summer job lined up...after some bills that's going to be one of the first things i buy.

you take awesome photographs, but your bike riding threads as they relate to racing are annoying.

I wish you all the luck timmy. You don't know me from adam and you did not want to hear a word I said and that is fine. I did want to get one last word in. Listen to people who have been where you are going. I am not saying do it someone else's way, what I am saying is listen. I made a career in Sports Photography. Yes I was a member of sportsshooter.com for many years and I was a Canon Professional member as well. I shot many seasons of Indians baseball from the dugout and Steelers football from the sidelines. I shot HUNDREDS of Nascar events from on top of the pit boxes to the garages to the drivers homes. I have been there. I may not be the smartest guy in the world but I do know sports photography.

Again I wish you luck and as Botto said.....get off your high horse.




you take awesome photographs, but your bike riding threads as they relate to racing are annoying.

I like the potential i see here.

Here are some local 20K (http://www.uncletren.com/results/04-08-20k.htm) and 40K (http://www.uncletren.com/results/04-08-40k.htm) results to look at for reference.

Thnx

From last year: http://www.wicycling.org/WisconsinCup/raceResults07/StateTTResults.pdf

Looks like if i could keep that pace i would be competative.