Originally Posted by
silversx80
Isn't that what club rides are for? I dunno, the above doesn't sound much like racing.
We had a death in Cat 5 last year, and the rider died in his first race, possibly because of an overreaction due to a lot of nervousness. Big pool of blood on the tarmac and a lifeless body lying there.
In the interest of preventing this, we're starting to get races where all the Cat 5 races are "time+2" (like 40 minutes + 2 laps). At the start of the race, there's a mentor lap, where everyone hears what they should hear, and they get to spend some time in the pack, and some time with the people who will be next to them in the corners at race speeds. The next "lap" is a quick chat at the start/finish to cover some more topics.
This program has wide support in Texas racing. If the 5s don't like it, get the 10th race and upgrade.
I can see where cbip is coming from. I would rather see people show up to their first race being completely comfortable in the drops, but it just isn't always the case. If you talk to someone who has been riding road bikes only a short time, the drops often kind of freak them out, so no need to push it.
On the other hand, if a racer arrives to the first race with some competence with bike handling, drops are where you want to be much of the time, first race or not.