Originally Posted by
arodr42
Hello, I currently started cycling as a new sport. Before, i was really into Football ( Soccer) but i started riding for fun and rented city bikes and cruised around the city ( Chicago) but nothing serious. I always saw serious riders and decided to give cycling a try. I've gotten really into Cycling in the past 2 months. I bought a Caad10 with 105 components and not the ultegra components since i was recommended to buy a power meter instead. I've been riding for about 2 months with rest days of course. Currently I can ride 194 watts for an hour comfortably. I weigh 64 kilograms and I am 19. I want to improve on my fitness bt i want to know in what level is my fitness on? If i start racing where would i start? If i continue training would i see a lot of improvement in my power? Any insight would be helpful
Cheers
From what i've read, that's a whole lota bike for a beginer.
As many have said, find a local club if you can but this would depend on where you live. I started cycling 2013 and rode Tue, Thur solo then saturdays with a local group that meets at a local gym Sat 7am. None of these guys raced but the rides helped in learning to draft, pull but importantly how not to get dropped, wind sheltering etc. After 1 year i joined a racing club and yes i got dropped by guys twice my age but these were racers. I did get yelled sometimes for little mistakes but the experience is invaluable.
I would recommend you put in base miles first before you think of racing. Once you get solid miles in then you can start intervals. When you are new to racing, you will get dropped, ALOT and it can be mentaly tasking.