Doge

I kept waiting for Thorlow to retire.

topflightpro

When we host our Jan/Feb crits, I often get asked by new racers if they should do the Cat 5 or Masters race, thinking the Masters race will be easier. I usually tell them the Masters race is the hardest race of the day, even more so than the P/1/2/3. (Granted, the P/1/2/3 is usually the second race for half the field.)

miyata man

Thurlow even.

Or maybe you meant Thorfinn-Sassquatch.

Either or present difficulties

cold turtle

Winning

mike868y

as someone who hasn't found much success in bike racing, i've been contemplating this a lot lately. i can say that i genuinely enjoy fast, technical crits due to the reasons mentioned above (the level of concentration required and the sheer exhilaration of pushing the limits) and very hard road races because there's nothing else i've ever found to push myself to that level of exhaustion. races that aren't either of these (i.e. slower crits or road races that aren't intrinsically that challenge) are less fun to me. I'm sure if I were competing for the win I would probably feel differently but the reality of where i've found myself in bike racing is generally not competing for the win.

Ygduf

Making friends, respect from peers, being part of a team, learning a new skill, having a goal with which to motivate myself to push in training...

Having twins and not being able to race as much as I had been is making me realize the actual races aren't that important to most of what I care about. I'm probably racing a very limited calendar for the next couple seasons.

scheibo

yeah, but your peers won't respect you if you don't race! racers seem to consider themselves superior just given the fact that they race. part of me thinks this is really stupid (everyone's respect should derived directly from the OLH leaderboard!), but the other part of me kind of accepts this.

ancker

I race because I train. I train because I race (sometimes).

I have hereditary high cholesterol. I need a good cardio/exercise routine that doesn't suck. My knees won't let me run (and it sucks). Riding my bike/JRA was fun, until I rode with some faster dudes. Then I wanted to be fast. So I started 'training'. Then I started racing, which made me want/need to train more. That made me want to not be last. So I trained harder/more. Rinse-repeat.

I'm pack fodder at best. But I can occasionally tear it up here and there. I have a big sprint, but lack talent/fitness to be there when it counts.

I race, even though I'm not expecting to podium, because it's sort of the reward for all the hours spent suffering on the trainer or spent solo. I get to push as hard as I can until I or the race is done. I don't care that I'm not the fastest guy in our team/club. But it means a lot that I'm out there racing when some of the faster guys won't attempt it for fear of losing top-dog status.

I race less than I did a few years ago. Having a kid and watching a few people go from peleton to ambulance really takes the desire to enter every crit I can out of me. If there were a dozen road races a year within a reasonable distance from here, I'd race every one. Travel is another factor. 2 races within an hours drive. Most 2.5+ hours. I might do more CX due to 5-6 nearby CX races/year.

mollusk

Hi, merlin!

What you say is true if you are currently a Cat 1 or a Cat 2. If you are racing Cat 3 you might find it is a step up in competition when you get to masters racing.

ancker

There's something about being a racer that does make you superior. Though one could argue that definition is shifting a lot lately, given the advent of Zwift races, etc.

I have respect for everyone that rides a bike. But the racers (regardless of discipline) get a tick or two higher for putting it all out there and testing themselves. (Just my opinion...)

Ygduf

race rides have peers, and all the dudes in 35s know me and what I do. Good and bad. Anyway, I'll race a little, just not as much. Maybe just show up and place at EB crits

mollusk

You let Cat 5's race Masters? That should be forbidden.

They really need to have at least 10 races in before getting into the meat grinder of Masters racing.

And they should find Cat 4 easier, but less safe.

F16F22

[QUOTE=carpediemracing;19496632]I asked someone that used to fly F-22s why he races. Seems to down to earth, so to speak. "Nothing I've done compares to flying an F-22 except bike racing." I think that's nuts but that's what he said.

After reading the article you linked to, you still doubt me? The only difference between flying fighters and what you described so eloquently is that in flying fighters, occasionally people shoot at you...

I've had to think long and hard about why I continue racing, it can be so maddening at times. I always get dropped on the first climb and get dropped in about 1/3 of the crits I enter. What it comes down to, for me anyway, is that I really enjoy being part of such a select group of people. I enjoy the discipline, the training, the camaraderie. Like flying in formation, you are completely dependent upon those around you for your safety, but at the same time so utterly alone, no one else can ride your bike for you. Oh yeah, then there's the "Blasting through the last couple corners, feeling the tires digging in and sliding just that bit, feeling the pedals just touching the pavement, racers yelling, the burnt rubber smell as someone miscalculates and locks up a tire, chains just slamming into gears as people shift under 100% load."

Having raced, I cannot imagine riding my bike without racing. That seems, I don't know, somehow incomplete. I'm sure there will come a day, but for now I race.

Tim Krabbe summed it up for me in his classic book "The Rider": "Hot and overcast. I take my gear out of the car and put my bike together. Tourists and locals are watching from sidewalk cafe's. Non-racers. The emptiness of those lives shocks me."

caloso

My first ever race was a Cat 4/5 race, followed an hour later by an open M35 race. How hard could racing with these old guys be? Duh.

mattm

No way man, Masters is always easier than P1/2/3. It's why masters was created in the first place..

mattm

If it was easy, everyone would do it.

That's why we/you feel superior!

UmneyDurak

No idea why respect comes in to this. Someone could be a strong rider/racer, and still be a complete dick not worthy of respect.

mike868y

my second race ever was a combined juniors/masters race at bethel. surprisingly i didn't get dropped and actually had a really good time.

yeah agreed. if your peers respect people based on how hard they can pedal a bike maybe you...uh...need new peers.

revchuck 

My experience is that by the time racers hit their 50s, folks who were pack fodder are tired of being pack fodder and drop out of racing, leaving the folks who are really good at it. I started at 61. Not a good idea, since I would've been pack fodder had I started younger. I've pretty much pulled out of it but still train hard, targeting hard rides. That way I can still hurt myself and avoid the embarrassment.

topflightpro

It's a winter, training race series on a slightly banked oval track. There's plenty of room and no hard turns. So, it's a pretty good place for new riders to try out racing. We often encourage dropped riders to move to the top of the track, wait until the field comes around, then try to rejoin. We have never had to pull any riders from this course.

If this course were technical, I would agree with you.

topflightpro

As for my motivation: I have no idea. I never thought about it.

But I can say, that when I messed up my knee and couldn't race, I ended up trading in my truck for a faster car. I also still went to the Tuesday night races just to hang out.

carpediemracing 

I was never fond of that quote from "The Rider", but in your context I see the point.

And I read my own words and I remember the little bits of each race that I describe - it's a mish-mash of a bunch of different last laps. It's super intense, gets my heart pounding.

But riding... I hope to ride today (it's 80 deg F out) but only so that I can do some outside sprints instead of the indoor semi-rocking-trainer sprints. I want to test ride my bike outside as well, make sure everything is okay. I probably won't be able to race until end of April but, still, this may be one of the only outdoor training rides I do this year. It'll be the first ride since August 2016 at any rate.

I can't imagine not racing if I was still doing any cycling. Maybe with Junior I could see some riding with him, but certainly nothing significant on my own, unless I was racing.

It's kind of interesting. For self-centered/selfish stuff I am spending more time trying to figure out the next time I can go karting (it means returning home at midnight so I miss a night with Junior and the Missus) than I do figuring out my race schedule. After karting it's car stuff, which I'm going to do now after I finish eating (work on the car). Then it's bike racing, or, in today's case, going out for a ride. I may even miss the outdoor ride, I don't know, maybe just go up and down my street or something.

rubiksoval

Where I live it seems all of the best masters are guys that got tired of not making the p/1/2 podium. Hence my desire to race masters as I seem close to becoming that guy!

79pmooney

I've heard more than once or twice that Masters divisions, small but full of unfulfilled ex-pros, can be harder than the 1,2,3 divisions. (Small, no place to hide, angry ex-pros who know all the nasty tricks.)

Ben

scheibo

i don't know. what about the cyclist that can only ride once or twice a week due to time commitments/family but is a minute faster than me up the benchmark climb or can crush me on a group ride? i don't know that i'd feel superior to them just because i have unlimited free time and can drive and compete in races, and i don't know that i can really tell myself that my 'experience' racing means that if they showed up to the races theyd be so green i'd be able to use my savviness to beat them.

i guess it just comes down to the fact that despite having started doing actual races this year i still value 'fitness' way too much due to my background. i don't know how many more times i'll need to beat my climbing rival (currently 3/3, yay!) in road races before i think of myself as a better racer than him.

i completely agree - when i say 'respect' i mean 'respect their ability as a rider'. you can be a horrible person who i don't respect as a person, but i can still respect them as a strong and skilled athlete. and vice versa.