"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - How do I get the most out of Cat 5 racing?

I'm a triathlete, but due to a non-sport related injury I can't swim for a while and I've decided to skip my late summer A race and give bike racing a try instead (the bike is my weak link, so this'll be good base for next year). I do group rides every now and then and am comfortable in a pack, but I'm curious how I can best learn in the Cat 5 races. I'm a fairly strong rider (4.3w/kg and a 57 minute 40k), but I'm more of a solid effort rider.

So basically I want to know what I should be doing to best take advantage of Cat 5 races. I'm not concerned with placing, I just want to learn enough that once I get my 10 races done I can be comfortable and safe in the 4s and hopefully successful. Any good posts to show me what I want to learn or how to learn it?

Just go race, hold your line, watch your front front wheel and have fun. You might do some interval work to help with keeping up with surges and sprints, and maybe find someone to do some bump drills with so you are comfortable with a little contact. I would suggest seeking out crits since they will be better at building the kinds of skills you don't get from training for triathlons.

Race lots. Don't die.

Try different stuff out. Go for a flyer, let them chase you. Sit in and try a group sprint, learn what racing is all about. It is the surges and d-bags that will hurt you. Don't be in a rush to cat up.

read this:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/380788-New-to-Racing-Here-s-a-tip-or-two

Field sprints!

Try different stuff out. Go for a flyer, let them chase you. Sit in and try a group sprint, learn what racing is all about. It is the surges and d-bags that will hurt you. Don't be in a rush to cat up.
+1

Cat 5 was intended to improve rider safety. It matters not one ounce whether you finish first or last, so if safe, you can do so much more with it. Find your strengths & weaknesses. Find other riders'. Learn some tactics.

+1

Cat 5 was intended to improve rider safety. It matters not one ounce whether you finish first or last, so if safe, you can do so much more with it. Find your strengths & weaknesses. Find other riders'. Learn some tactics.

This is my first year racing. Some of the Crash 5 races I've been in definitely were lacking in the safety department. It has improved as the racing season has progressed.

I enjoy the racing, but fear the crashes. So far haven't gotten hurt. I'm 41 with two kids, so safety is actually my first objective. Stay away from the folks who don't shave their legs. Some of them can actually ride, but others are total doofuses.

Be ready for constant shouts of "Slowing!" and then a sudden surge as some idiot at the front prepares to blow up. ;) Repeat that about 30-40 times in the first 5 miles.

I mostly ride in the back of the peloton. Some of it is fitness, but you can watch for crashes better. That, or ride near the very front. I find moving up in the peloton one of my least favorite things.

Pick good bike handlers to ride behind. Learn to spot those who are gonna get dropped and move up past them so you won't get dropped with them.

Be ultra-alert. You'll pick up what you need the more you race.

I've only been in one race so far but I learned a ton very quickly. I stayed up front, and away from the middle/back. The 2 times I was consumed into that group things got hairy, and it was because of a few guys that just weren't comfortable in the group and on their bike. If you're going to be up front, you should be working with the people that are up there, you might be safer, but you'll use more energy being up there.
There weren't any significant moves being made that I couldn't shut down but you want to watch for them just in case, it really all came down to good positioning in the end and making your move at the right time. There was a serious crash in the last km towards the finish because people started jockeying for position for the sprint. Again, it doesn't matter where you finish, it just matters that you finish.

Try different stuff out. Go for a flyer, let them chase you. Sit in and try a group sprint, learn what racing is all about. It is the surges and d-bags that will hurt you. Don't be in a rush to cat up.

I'll second (or third?) this.

Stay upright.

Stay upright.

Rule 1: Don't cause a crash.

Rule 2: DON'T CAUSE A CRASH.

Rule 3: Don't crash.

Also find the local hammerfest and ride it. There you will be riding with folks with lots of experience in a fast group setting.

Join a club. Do the club rides, especially training rides, with upper category racers. Listen and learn from them.

If there is a racing clinic in your area, do it, even if it comes down to a 4 hour round trip drive for a 15 lap race. You will learn a lot, in a very safe environment. Ask questions. I see riders I've mentored every week at the races. I help them with strategy. It's fun to watch it play out.

Finally, I've seen dozens of triathletes enter bike racing do the same thing. They ride off the front in their first race and win, so they do that the following week, and win again. Then they think they know all there is to know. Winning in Cat5 means nothing. Cat5 is for learning, about racing, about yourself, about your strengths and weaknesses. As a triathelete, you know you are strong and have good endurance, so put that to good use in a break. Do a kilo effort in the last laps of a race. Figure out where your sprint stacks up, and then get to work on improving it. Take a flyer at a good feature point on a course and try and start a break. Attack after a break has been caught. Whatever you do, just don't ride off the front solo every time.

Join a club. Do the club rides, especially training rides, with upper category racers. Listen and learn from them.

If there is a racing clinic in your area, do it, even if it comes down to a 4 hour round trip drive for a 15 lap race. You will learn a lot, in a very safe environment. Ask questions. I see riders I've mentored every week at the races. I help them with strategy. It's fun to watch it play out.

Finally, I've seen dozens of triathletes enter bike racing do the same thing. They ride off the front in their first race and win, so they do that the following week, and win again. Then they think they know all there is to know. Winning in Cat5 means nothing. Cat5 is for learning, about racing, about yourself, about your strengths and weaknesses. As a triathelete, you know you are strong and have good endurance, so put that to good use in a break. Do a kilo effort in the last laps of a race. Figure out where your sprint stacks up, and then get to work on improving it. Take a flyer at a good feature point on a course and try and start a break. Attack after a break has been caught. Whatever you do, just don't ride off the front solo every time.

Our upgrade official won't allow you to upgrade if this is how you spend your time.

Our upgrade official won't allow you to upgrade if this is how you spend your time.

That is stupid on your local upgrade officials' part. So a new Greg Lemond/Floyd Landis would be stuck in Cat 5 forever where you live?

The only difference between a "4" and a "5" is that the "4" paid for enough races to upgrade and actually did them. Doing them and wanting to do more is the real barrier to overcome.

It makes sense to me - the point of cat 5 is to learn pack riding skills, not winning. (hence forcing riders to do some pack riding, not just ride off the front)

That is stupid on your local upgrade officials' part. So a new Greg Lemond/Floyd Landis would be stuck in Cat 5 forever where you live?

The only difference between a "4" and a "5" is that the "4" paid for enough races to upgrade and actually did them. Doing them and wanting to do more is the real barrier to overcome.
Maybe he meant the guy can't upgrade to 4 early based on solo wins ?
Still needs to do 10 races.

Maybe he meant the guy can't upgrade to 4 early based on solo wins ?
Still needs to do 10 races.
Sorry incomplete post on my part. They won't upgrade riders if all the rider is doing is soloing off the front. They want to see you spending time in the pack. I have a friend who started racing this year (was a tri guy before) and is a beast but they wouldn't let him upgrade until he hit 20 races. He has won several races.

So basically just do everything I can possibly think of (short of headbutting people at races) and save trying to win until I can comfortably cat up.

Did you actually read what I wrote?

Yup, and joining a club and such fits in with doing everything I can think of.

Great. Yet another cocky Cat5 who can't read, and knows everything they need to know already. Good luck with your career.

There are two things you want to learn:

First is how to act safely in a big group. You want to be safe and consistent and learn how to move around. Do a couple of crits with the idea of sitting at the back at watching the surges and people doing stupid stuff. Watching somebody dive into the corner and screw it up teaches you not to do that.

Second is the mental game. You should try to figure out when attacks happen and why. Being a strong rider means you can recover from missing something and not be out of the race. So per race you get to see and experience more.

Go race and learn what works and what doesn't for yourself and for other people.

I am a new racer this year and my method is
1. Research
2. Ask questions
3. Race as often as I can with an emphasis on not crashing or causing a crash
4. Try to hang with the fast guys in my club (pretty much the entire club).
5. Look at my race afterward to see where I went wrong and how to improve.

Great. Yet another cocky Cat5 who can't read, and knows everything they need to know already. Good luck with your career.
but doooooode, his ewang is huge! How could you not take it into consideration? ;)

he's just throbbing to explode onto the scene, though it's likely that he will find his efforts turn flaccid prematurely while impotently watching others stream past him.

you guys are meanies.

Dude... that is me. Off the back Mike.

but doooooode, his ewang is huge! How could you not take it into consideration? ;)

he's just throbbing to explode onto the scene, though it's likely that he will find his efforts turn flaccid prematurely while impotently watching others stream past him.

hahaha

you guys are meanies.

And you're a meanie with a teeny weenie...
First shot at hammy all day, can you tell what today has been like???

so i told this girl a joke one time, it went like this:
Me: hey wanna her a joke about my peepee?
Her: of course
Me: Jk it's too long
Her: wtf you're a loser

it was worth it just to make the joke!

pull it, it grows.

pull it, it grows.

Sending you pictures of me has the same effect.

jsut - that is a great joke.

Sending you pictures of me has the same effect.

jsut - that is a great joke.

ewwwww the mentel images are just disgusting.

hammy's response to the pics: "omg its like a hippo trying to fit into a thong, but only half the ass crack is covered. *barf*.

hahaha

jsut thats quite right. Just like the pics of that fatty on his bike, like a monkey farking a football.

hahah this is so much better than my summer reading! No wonder i never get worked done!

jsut thats quite right. Just like the pics of that fatty on his bike, like a monkey farking a football.

Yet you keep on asking you sick doodler....

And jsut I see you must be taking summer grammar classes...

Dude... that is me. Off the back Mike.
it's not.

it's solely intended for cat-5's who haven't done even one race yet is already hung up (pun intended) on ewang (and bragging about it to an extent)

Yet you keep on asking you sick doodler....

And jsut I see you must be taking summer grammar classes...

shut up you fatty, i willz mispellz al da wordz

it's not.

it's solely intended for cat-5's who haven't done even one race yet is already hung up (pun intended) on ewang (and bragging about it to an extent)

Which is worse: bragging about ewang or average speed? Discuss.

Which is worse: bragging about ewang or average speed? Discuss.

e-wang because most of the guys who brag never produce results! at least with average speed, we know that the guy could have just had a windless day, but if someone with a 4+ w/kg ftp cant win (or do well in) races, it just makes you sad!

e-wang because most of the guys who brag never produce results! at least with average speed, we know that the guy could have just had a windless day, but if someone with a 4+ w/kg ftp cant win (or do well in) races, it just makes you sad!

I'm married, I have no e-wang...

I'm married, I have no e-wang...

my e-wang isnt that impressive, but my real-wang is really impressive!!!!!

41

41

wait i thought the 41 was all about your average speed-wangs, where do i go to flaunt my real-wang?

in emails to rkwaki. duh.

Speaking as a former triathlete turned bike racer, here are the things I didn't know:

I didn't know how to draft.
I didn't know how to corner.
I didn't know how to protect my front wheel.
I didn't know how to shed speed without braking.
I didn't know how to accelerate without standing and mashing.
I didn't know how to burn a match and then recover.
I didn't know how to take a drink, push down an arm warmer, or take a look behind me without swerving.
I didn't know how to pin on a number without making a drag chute out of it.

So many things. Probably more, but these are just the ones that immediately come to mind.

i still cant pin a number on too well!, and hammy, i never will send that great of a thing to a guy like rkwaki. He would never stop trying to get another! lolololololol.

No it's not.

I had to google how to pin a bib correctly after listening to it flap around in my last crit. :p
<--that picture.

it's not.

it's solely intended for cat-5's who haven't done even one race yet is already hung up (pun intended) on ewang (and bragging about it to an extent)

Oh yes. My ewang has already been reduced to microscopic size.