"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Training Towards Fall 2010 (Collegiate Team)

Whatsup BF, need some advice on training here.

My Goals: In 2010 I want to make the USC Cycling (Club, but they race other schools). I am a casual-ish rider that rides 3x a week or so. I'm taking lots of units at college right now but I plan to have Feb-Aug 2010 off to just train train train.

My school is about 20 miles away currently so I think I'm going to buy a fixie and commute to school daily.

What should I do in regards to road races, If I'm a Cat 5 racer by Fall 2010 will that be sufficient? How competitive are collegiate teams?

Thanks, MG

The absolute best decision you could make would be to join a club that does a couple rides a week and start racing THIS year. You will learn a lot, do you really have to make the team?

What? Just join the club and start racing. You shouldn't have to "make" the team. If you buy a license, you're a Cat 5 racer.

Whatsup BF, need some advice on training here.

My Goals: In 2010 I want to make the USC Cycling (Club, but they race other schools). I am a casual-ish rider that rides 3x a week or so. I'm taking lots of units at college right now but I plan to have Feb-Aug 2010 off to just train train train.

My school is about 20 miles away currently so I think I'm going to buy a fixie and commute to school daily.

What should I do in regards to road races, If I'm a Cat 5 racer by Fall 2010 will that be sufficient? How competitive are collegiate teams?

Thanks, MG

In most of the US, road racing is winding down around fall.

And you generally don't have to "make" the team. You have to be a cat 3 to be an "A", but you can race D's if you want, and usually they're slower than snot.

I'd just start racing cat 5s or collegiate Cs to see how you do. Contact the USC club president. Is this Southern Cal or South Carolina? Just curiosity.

I've never heard of a collegiate team that has tryouts. Generally anybody who wants to join is welcome. Collegiate racing is just like any other. The range of talent goes from slow-as-**** to professional and national team riders. Who you end up competing against depends on your fitness and experience. You don't need any prior race experience to start racing collegiate, but if you train for a year and a half you'll be well prepared. If you want to learn what to do re:training, then just read as much as possible, try reading Friel's book and search these forums for threads on SST and base training. If I were you I'd just focus on base training. Try to ride 5x a week as well.

Step #1- Fog a mirror
Step #2- Race

WCCC road season starts in feburary: wccc-info.com

you should join the team as early as possible. i don'd expect them to discourage you because you are new

Don't take the spring off from classes. You are supposed to be taking a full load to race collegiate (and it's a SPRING sport).

Join the team now. Ride when you can. Race whenever.

Don't take the spring off from classes. You are supposed to be taking a full load to race collegiate (and it's a SPRING sport).

Join the team now. Ride when you can. Race whenever.

I normally take more classes in the fall and less in the spring. It evens out the year, but it makes the training/racing schedule easier in season.

I've never heard of a collegiate team that has tryouts. Generally anybody who wants to join is welcome. Collegiate racing is just like any other. The range of talent goes from slow-as-**** to professional and national team riders. Who you end up competing against depends on your fitness and experience. You don't need any prior race experience to start racing collegiate, but if you train for a year and a half you'll be well prepared. If you want to learn what to do re:training, then just read as much as possible, try reading Friel's book and search these forums for threads on SST and base training. If I were you I'd just focus on base training. Try to ride 5x a week as well.

+1. In my division it's illegal for a college club to prohibit people from joining for any reason...they have to let anyone who wants to join up and race. You should just join right now and do some group rides over the summer with the team; you can probably find a more laid back group of riders to start training with and move up to riding with more serious racers if you want to later on. You could also try a couple of crits out just to get a feel for them...worst case scenario is you get dropped and still learn a lot.

We've got a few riders that are literally pro on the A squad, but on C's there are a lot of people that have never raced before and a few that even just started riding bikes. It's a lot less intimidating than you'd think.

I normally take more classes in the fall and less in the spring. It evens out the year, but it makes the training/racing schedule easier in season.

As long as you can put "full time" down on that paperwork for nationals, then you're fine. It sounded to me like the OP was going to take a little time off from school, which wouldn't be the right thing to do. If he's not an A racer, I doubt anyone will care, but I don't know that conference.

USNA has tryouts, but everyone is required to do a sport, and so things get competitive....or so I'm told. Maybe a few other schools do that too..? But you wouldn't really know that they cut anyone by looking at the size of the Navy fleet. :p I'd love to get 1/3 as many people out on one of my team rides.

+lots. Race now! In the beginner categories, there's not really such a thing as "race fit". We have some pretty fast beginners who have not raced yet because they are worried about being fit enough. These guys drop me on climbs, and I am a B (albeit an extremely bad B).

p.s. re Navy: at their crit, there were 9 navy riders in my category. Almost half the field! And two of them neglected to register properly and nearly got disqualified....

Step #1- Fog a mirror
Step #2- Race

See, I've been doing that backwards this whole time.

I left out on very important detail! I'm currently a community college student living at home and riding on my own. I suppose I will register as soon as my fitness is up to snuff. If I go through some hellish training weeks (6-7 days a week), how soon can I race? I'm 18 so I'm going to have to ride juniors right?

I'm shooting for a mid april race. Going to train as much as physically possible. First step, group rides, guess I'll head to the Rose Bowl and attempt some laps with the peloton.

I left out on very important detail! I'm currently a community college student living at home and riding on my own. I suppose I will register as soon as my fitness is up to snuff. If I go through some hellish training weeks (6-7 days a week), how soon can I race? I'm 18 so I'm going to have to ride juniors right?

I'm shooting for a mid april race. Going to train as much as physically possible. First step, group rides, guess I'll head to the Rose Bowl and attempt some laps with the peloton.

umm you have to be a full-time student at the university or college that you are racing for.

Im so confused.

I normally take more classes in the fall and less in the spring. It evens out the year, but it makes the training/racing schedule easier in season.


umm you have to be a full-time student at the university or college that you are racing for.

My goal here is to be moderately experienced by the time I transfer into one of the WCC schools.
I'm a CC student now but I'm just trying to figure out where I need to be at by the time I transfer in Fall '10.

Catchin on?

I'll echo what others have said... it's not so much a matter of making the team as it is joining the team. Contact the club president and meet up and ride when them. No big deal.

I hate to say it, but the UCLA cycling team is quite a bit stronger than USC this year. If you transfer to a school on LA, and cycling is a factor, UCLA seems to have a more developed program. Outside of LA, cal poly SLO and UCSB are both really strong. If you go to UC Irvine, I can tell you the people to contact. They have a small but strong program and a fantastic coach. If you want to come to UCSD, let me know. I'm a grad student here and I'll be a club officer next year.

Collegiate cycling is a blast. See you out there.

I hate to say it, but the UCLA cycling team is quite a bit stronger than USC this year. If you transfer to a school on LA, and cycling is a factor, UCLA seems to have a more developed program.
Collegiate cycling is a blast. See you out there.

If by this year you mean every year. :D

Seriously though, the riders on the USC team are good guys. I used to ride with them at least a few times a week. Collegiate teams have riders at every level. There are riders ranging from Pro's to guys in the D's who train 1-2 times a week on old steel bikes with downtube shifters. It's considered a club level sport and riders of all levels are encouraged to join.

Step 1: Transfer out of USC

My goal here is to be moderately experienced by the time I transfer into one of the WCC schools.
I'm a CC student now but I'm just trying to figure out where I need to be at by the time I transfer in Fall '10.

Catchin on?

How about you just start racing your bike. Now.

Really, you are making this entirely too complex. It's bike racing, not rocket science. Go to a race, get a one day license, race. If you like it, get your annual license. Keep on racing.

I'm trying to ride everyday right now, starting low mileage and high intensity.

If I do this 6-7 days a week, should I look forward to racing by June?

Yes I am overthinking this greatly, but I need to set a solid plan up to follow it. (tell me two months ya'll!)

EDIT: Do I have to sign up for juniors since I'm 18? I'd prob rather race with CAT5 guys.

You sound enthusiastic but not all that organized in your training plan ("low mileage but high intensity" is not a viable long-term plan). I would start with a book like Friel's Training Bible that will help you design a plan that works. One of the first things that book will tell you: you need to rest just as hard as you train

(also no offense but your posts are kind of troll-ish sounding for some reason)

If you want to train with Friel it's probably going to be the best bang for your buck: http://www.amazon.com/Cyclists-Training-Bible-Joe-Friel/dp/1934030201/

edit: Do i have to sign up for juniors since i'm 18?

no

EDIT: Do I have to sign up for juniors since I'm 18? I'd prob rather race with CAT5 guys.

No. You can race both Juniors and Cat 5. You're making this too complex. You're in SoCal right? Go to www.socalcycling.com, click on "Road & Crit" under the "Racing" sidebar, find a race nearby, register, and race. You won't know what you'll need to improve unless you try it out. I've done three races on the road (2 crits, one circuit race) and I have gotten dropped in every single one. I now know what my problems are.

BTW, even if you had the fitness for staying with the pack, you might still get dropped due to a lack of pack skill. You won't know until you try it out.

Here's a race for you:
https://www.sportsbaseonline.com/Item.aspx?item_id=3239

You sound enthusiastic but not all that organized in your training plan ("low mileage but high intensity" is not a viable long-term plan). I would start with a book like Friel's Training Bible that will help you design a plan that works. One of the first things that book will tell you: you need to rest just as hard as you train

(also no offense but your posts are kind of troll-ish sounding for some reason)

My lack of fred knowledge is fail?


If you want to train with Friel it's probably going to be the best bang for your buck: http://www.amazon.com/Cyclists-Training-Bible-Joe-Friel/dp/1934030201/

I'll pick it up this weekend at Barnes.

Dude just get some base miles in and race when you want.

Worry about the details later. If you like road biking and you are willing to put the effort in it will all fall into place.

EDIT: Do I have to sign up for juniors since I'm 18? I'd prob rather race with CAT5 guys.

You don't have to race juniors races but I believe you will have to run junior gearing until your racing age is 19. Your racing age is the age you are at the end of the year. So if you are 18 now and you haven't had your birthday yet, your racing age is 19. If your racing age is still 18, then you can actually do juniors races and cat 5. It's nice to be able to do 2 races... you won't be able to do it again until you are 30.

You don't have to race juniors races but I believe you will have to run junior gearing until your racing age is 19. Your racing age is the age you are at the end of the year. So if you are 18 now and you haven't had your birthday yet, your racing age is 19. If your racing age is still 18, then you can actually do juniors races and cat 5. It's nice to be able to do 2 races... you won't be able to do it again until you are 30.

Yeah I just registered on USA Cycling, my racing age is 19! bumma! :notamused:

A 30 minute circuit race is the closest race in the next month, is that a dangerous first race?

Yeah I just registered on USA Cycling, my racing age is 19! bumma! :notamused:

A 30 minute circuit race is the closest race in the next month, is that a dangerous first race?

Is that the la circuit race?

I was thinking the Ontario Grand Prix race, they have like 3 of them this season and it's just a 1.2 mile loop with 7 turns! Definitely need to work on my cornering. Also looking at the Long Beach Criterium. Hopefully will do 4-5 races at least.

http://www.socalcycling.com/Schedule/2005/racesched05.asp (dont mind the 2005, its the 09 season)

I can really do any of these races on this calendar, too bad the San Dimas stage race is in town this weekend, it's my home turf!

@ UMD : Nahh, the LA Race was way too soon+LAX area? eek

I hate to say it, but the UCLA cycling team is quite a bit stronger than USC this year. If you transfer to a school on LA, and cycling is a factor, UCLA seems to have a more developed program. Outside of LA, cal poly SLO and UCSB are both really strong.

yes UCLA is pretty strong this year. SLO is doing great this year too. of course most of the so-cal schools are on the bottom of the omnium. I don't think i've seen UCI SDSU or UCSD at a race yet... or their kits just might not stand out...

yes UCLA is pretty strong this year. SLO is doing great this year too. of course most of the so-cal schools are on the bottom of the omnium. I don't think i've seen UCI SDSU or UCSD at a race yet... or their kits just might not stand out...

Ummmm where you at Santa Barbara? We had racers in every category.

yes UCLA is pretty strong this year. SLO is doing great this year too. of course most of the so-cal schools are on the bottom of the omnium. I don't think i've seen UCI SDSU or UCSD at a race yet... or their kits just might not stand out...

We don't have any A riders this season as we graduated them all over the last year. So its rebuilding time at SDSU...I race (when I can) in the C's

I recommend hitting the books as good prep as well...before you can race for USC, you need to get accepted ;-)