"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - cat 3. i raced. i won!

my first win. felt good. planned the first part of my season around this race. i have rode for 2 years as of this month and this is my second year of racing. the course is slightly down hill until the last 1.75km where it climbs 100m.
today was windy as hell, strong head and crosswinds in 2 directions and 600m over 6 laps. everyone stayed safe and courtious even though there were a few dangerous sections where the speeds were high in some twisty sections. the peleton stayed together pretty well throughout the race. i made my move at the bottom of the steep finish and it payed off.

course map here: http://www.stcatharinescc.com/2009%20Niagara%20Classic%20Race%20Guide.pdf

results here: senoir3/junior men

http://www.ontariocycling.org/web_pages/results/ncresults_1.htm

Good show! And as you have figured out the "engine" and it's controller are more important than the bike.

Congrats on winning, but that was more of a ramble than a real race report!

awesome work !

what area is your primary training focus?

awesome work !

what are is your primary training focus?


what do you mean by that??

what do you mean by that??

typo...

how do you train?

typo...

how do you train?


i train alone w/ a heart rate monitor. we have no hills where i live, but we have wind all the time.
Cyclist Training Bible. 450hrs this year.

i train alone w/ a heart rate monitor. we have no hills where i live, but we have wind all the time.
Cyclist Training Bible. 450hrs this year.

awesome.


in prep. for this race, what hr zones did you primarily train in?

i ride tuesday steady zone 4 , wed zone 2, thurs back to zone 4 w/ a different workout , sat. zone 4-5 reps and finish off long ride in zone 2, sun short ride zone 2 endurance.

i have rode for 2 years as of this month and this is my second year of racing.

Congrats and that is pretty impressive to be a winning cat 3 already only after 2 years.

Nice.

Structured training paid off for you.

Stay health and good luck at your next race.

Congrats! :beer:

The 2nd one is on the way.

my first win. felt good. planned the first part of my season around this race. i have rode for 2 years as of this month and this is my second year of racing. the course is slightly down hill until the last 1.75km where it climbs 100m.
today was windy as hell, strong head and crosswinds in 2 directions and 600m over 6 laps. everyone stayed safe and courtious even though there were a few dangerous sections where the speeds were high in some twisty sections. the peleton stayed together pretty well throughout the race. i made my move at the bottom of the steep finish and it payed off.

course map here: http://www.stcatharinescc.com/2009%20Niagara%20Classic%20Race%20Guide.pdf

results here: senoir3/junior men

http://www.ontariocycling.org/web_pages/results/ncresults_1.htm

Nicely done!!!!

congratulations.:)

very cool. Keep up the good work!

Congrats. A Cat 3 win in your second year of racing is fantastic.

Congrats. A Cat 3 win in your second year of racing is fantastic.

Yup, this is evidence of the "could I be a pro?" thread. This sort of result is not typical. At least for me. I've got the stereotypical geometry of a racer: 1.9lbs/in, week upperbody, not small quads. I ride 10+ hours weekly, with a training plan. But here I am, four years into racing (3 years mtn, 1 year road) and still can't get top 3 even in sport/cat5 races. This guy is a genetic oddity that has the potential to go far. I wish him well. stinkin' sob :)

Hello,

Nice. Sometimes you do everything right and things go right. Good for you. :)

thanks for all the praise guys. i have been internetless for a week and haven't been able to follow the thread.

dan

Great job! That is a huge number of hours this year, did i read 450 hours correctly. I think that likely helped in the RR as I am a Cat 3 who upgraded Cat 5 to Cat 3 in my first 12 months racing, but I train 8 hours/wk. To get 450 hours this year, how many hours do you train per week?

Great job! That is a huge number of hours this year, did i read 450 hours correctly. I think that likely helped in the RR as I am a Cat 3 who upgraded Cat 5 to Cat 3 in my first 12 months racing, but I train 8 hours/wk. To get 450 hours this year, how many hours do you train per week?

450 hours / 52 weeks = 8.7 hours / week

Take a couple weeks off for recovery and you're looking at 9 hours / week.

450 hours / 52 weeks = 8.7 hours / week

Take a couple weeks off for recovery and you're looking at 9 hours / week.

Has he trained 450 hours so far or is 450 the total he plans on training this year??

i plan for 450 total for the whole year.

Ah. Gotcha. Thank you, sir.

Dont mean to rain on the parade. The OP is Canadian, they start at Cat 4.

Congrats on the win! They come far and few between!

edit: a solo win by 16 sec? Not bad! So when are you going to stop sandbagging :-P

Dont mean to rain on the parade. The OP is Canadian, they start at Cat 4.

Not all of Canada does.

Not all of Canada does.

British Columbia goes from 5 to 1. Ontario is Senior 4 to 1. So Senior 3 in Ontario is a mixed bag... some really strong guys, some guys that would be 4's elsewhere.

Congrats on the win. I used to live in Toronto... the Niagara Classic was my favourite race on the calendar back home. Love that hill!

British Columbia goes from 5 to 1. Ontario is Senior 4 to 1. So Senior 3 in Ontario is a mixed bag... some really strong guys, some guys that would be 4's elsewhere.

Congrats on the win. I used to live in Toronto... the Niagara Classic was my favourite race on the calendar back home. Love that hill!

I love that hill to, and it loved me back this year!!

I love that hill to, and it loved me back this year!!

If you like races like that, you would love BC. Going back to racing in Ontario makes me shudder.