soccerismylife

I have raced in half a dozen crits and time trials, but tomorrow will be my first road race. I will be racing in the mens cat 5. The course is 2 laps of 21 miles (So a total of 42 miles) and has about 2,000 ft of climbing in each lap and there is no feed zone. My race will start at 7:15 and will probably be very warm by 8:00. Here are my questions:

What kind of warm-up is necessary for a road race?

Should I take both water bottles and should I carry some kind of energy gel?

What should I expect witht the cat 5 men? I am 15 so my only experience is racing in crits witht the juniors. I've heard the junior 15-18 races compared to cat 3. Will the cat 5 race be noticably slower?

I will not be riding with a team so what should my strategy be?

dlbcx

Just save your legs as much as possible. This means stay of the wind, don't chase every attack and stay near the top 1/3 of the bunch before the first climb. The main idea is save yourself when a split occurs so that you can follow it. You already know how to ride in a pack so use that skill to your advantage and follow wheels.
As far as the speed of 5's, I wouldn't make the assumption that the race will be slow; there might be one or two tri guys, in the pack, who could make the race very hard!
Carry, at least, two bottles since there isn't a feed and having a gel on hand, wouldn't hurt either.

DrWJODonnell

Definitely have the bottles and a gel or banannas available. Since you are young and there is unlikely any real climbing within the first few miles and it is cat 5, warm up should be minimal. That of course changes if you plan on attacking and soloing the whole of the race or if the climb is up front. I am one who likes to push the pace and attack constantly, but cat 5s are a nervous bunch and jump like starving refugees on the first sign of an attack. Don't bother chasing anything down as if it is a large group and there is a decent sight distance, everything will be brought back in short order. Leading into the climb, be in the top third and prepare for the pace to be brutal. A lot of people do not know how to pace themselves and will pound the pace for the first bit of the climb and then blow up. Climb steadily in the front of the pack and be ready when the splits occur. Unlike crits RRs are slo, and easy with accelerations that are not do or die efforts. if you play your cards right in the peloton, you will be at about 70% MHR for most of the race. As for strategy, depends on the course, what type of rider you are, etc. If you time trial well, consider attacking in the last few miles. If you sprint well, let other people chase breaks and take it all at the end. The hardest part of a road race is just relaxing and trust that except for the climbs, everything will take care of itself.

soccerismylife

Ok, thanks for the help. I'm worried though that a break will go out and the pack will not be able to catch them. it's happened in my junior crits, where I wait in the pack and for whatever reason we don't end up catching the break. What is the survival rate of breaks in long cat 5 road races?

The course ends with a fairly long (around 4 miles) fairly steep climb then a .5 mile section of nearly flat leading up to the line. I am a very good climber and decent time trialist so should I try breaking free of the group on the last climb? I do not have a very competitive sprint (but i'm basing this on the junior races) so would breaking away help or should I try my abilities in the sprint? Thanks.

bigdraft

It sounds like you're going to do the Boulevard RR course. Good luck and watch your hydration. It's gonna be hot out there.

Snuffleupagus

Change your cassette out so you've got a bigger gear than 53/15 or whatever it is they limit juniors to...

SteveE

Find out who's been doing well in the CAT5 races in your area this year. If you can find out if they're entered in your race, try to identify them before the start and try to stay near them.

asgelle

My understanding is that gear restrictions apply to juniors in all events (senior as well as junior races).

1J6. Junior Gears. For Junior Men & Women, the authorized maximum chaingear ratio allowed in any road event (except cyclo-cross) is 7.93 meters (rollout 26'). [45x12 or 52x14 chain ring teeth]. Blocked gears will be allowed, except in National Championships.

Snuffleupagus

Doesn't make sense if he's riding in a pack where everyone else has a 53/11...the way I read that reg is that it applies to junior racing only, not to juniors racing in the 'elite' cats.

But, I'm not a USCF official, so he might be best off asking one about this matter.

asgelle

I think you just did.

It makes sense if you subscribe to the reasoning that the gear restriction is to protect the joints of young riders.

soccerismylife

Well, they never did check my gears because I ended up not even finishing.

DrWJODonnell

Not to hijack the thread, but I just took second in the State RR championships to a Junior and he was happy because he was mashing a monster gear (53X12) in the final sprint. They did no roll out. I don't begrudge him the win either. There is no way I would have accepted first if he had been DQed for that reason.

redal

Juniors do not have to ride junior gears in senior races. I raced juniors for three years and now help out with a junior team. It would benefit them but unless the kid has an INCREDIBLE spin it would make most non-competitive in a senior event, especially those racing category 2 or higher. It would also force the officials to conduct a rollout after every race except the masters races. The officials would balk at the extra work.

redal

BTW good job! That is a very difficult course. It sounds like you were riding well, you just had some bad luck.

merlinextraligh

Juniors are limited tojunior gears in any race they do, not just junior races. See Rule 1J6. Now it may very well not be enforced because the official is not focused on a couple of juinors in a pack of cat 5', but the rule applies to any road event.

GuitarWizard

What happened?