nostromo

Wow, that's a success story in itself, all achieved by mind power and motivation.

It's mentioned you may not do well unless you've come from another sport, but nothing really prepares you for how hard and fast Criteriums are. My suggestion would be to enter a few local races, early in the season, to get a taste of what they're all about. Ask people who race in them, find out about how much time they devote to training and what they do. You'll probably find the top folks put in a lot of training time and have for years.

At least you'll have a starting point and you can decide if it's for you. I got enough of a taste and understanding that I'm training over the winter with the intent to enter a few races and give it my best shot. And I've joined a club that has a team that races. Don't know if I'm in over my head but I can only give it 100%...

bvfrompc

Good luck.

Don't let the naysayers scare you off, its tough, you don't know how tough, until you race.

I entered a citizen race 3 months after buying my first bike, I was dropped in 25 yards but ended up taking 2/7. They had mixed juniors and citizens together and every citizen but 1 got totally fried trying to follow the kids around. I slowly but surely picked them off 1 by 1 ove rthe course of a half hour.

So my advice, is just get into it and figure out if its something you want to work for. Something I am still debating. Until then I go do fast group rides until I am dropped, then go back to 1.

merckxxx

Yes I agree dont let the nay sayers get you.. old age and treachery will beat youth and stamina some of the time!!!!.. dig deep.. ride with some of the cat 5s in the local racing clubs.. intervals.. intervals intervals.. and spinning way faster than is rational... to a normal person... is the beginnings of building the kind of strength and acceleration you will need... ..

curiouskid55

If you can only ride on the weekends make it count. This week I am doing 4-5 hours each day. One medium intensity and one hard intensity. During the week 1 technique staionary drills for and hour and 1 aero staionary drill for 1 1/2 hours. Also two nights of weights. Cat V 53 yr. Two races to Cat IV.

carpediemracing 

Racing is hard and therefore immensely rewarding.

I helped get a kid into racing, did group rides, brought him to our weekly TT. Then he entered a race (oval course, no corners, so he only had to pedal). He was understandably nervous and kept asking me questions. When it came down to how hard it would be, I told him to think about the hardest part of the time trial, where you're 2/3 up a long false flat, dying, and you simply can't ease up. He actually rode off the road as he sort of lost touch with where he was.

I asked him, "Can you sort of remember that pain?"
"Yeah"
"Well, that'll be the easiest part of the race"

He finished the race - made it through that "I could just quit right now" bit. Afterwards he told me that he'd gone harder than he could ever imagine he could go.

A couple years later he's the one dragging me around at 30 mph on training rides. He was the only one to stay with ex-pro Jeff Pierce on the weekly Wed night rides. It all started with that first bike race.

There are bloggers out there who only recently started racing. They have some perspective that perhaps more experienced racers have lost. One such rider is local to me:
https://suitcaseofcourage.typepad.com...101/index.html
I discovered him when he linked to me so that's my disclosure.

When you start, you need to learn how to ride efficiently. For all the books and stuff out there on training, nothing beats riding the bike. Eddy Merckx said there are 3 keys to racing well. Ride your bike. Ride your bike. And Ride your bike.

Personally, until you're very fit, I think long rides do a lot for a racer. Since my "long" races are about 30 miles long, it's incongruous for me to do a 100 mile training ride. I try and explain why here:
https://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...ase-miles.html
Once you're comfortably finishing Cat 5s and 4s then you start worrying about using your best days in training. Until then, ride.

Group rides are great since they simulate a semi race - it's unpredictable, people attack, and people chase. A side benefit is you'll get comfy riding among others.

If you're training hard, don't worry about weight. It comes off on its own, at some level. Just don't load up on beer, chips, and lather on the sour cream. Eat healthy though. If you weaken yourself by starving, you may not see the gains a fully fueled body will enable you to see, based on your riding etc.

Finally, as a sign of commitment to yourself and the people you talk to about racing, get an annual license, not the one day.

Good luck,
cdr

happyvalley

Last year was my first year road racing at 50. Got on a training plan. Got on a team of 35+ all different cats. Raced 15 times this year in 35+/4. Never won but claimed a few(3) top 10. My advice: Make it happen, work your ass off training ,get on a team with a racing focus. It may be the hardest phyiscal endevor you have done but racing is a hell of a way to find out what you are made of. My goals usually run 1. Have fun.2.Finish.3 Try your best.
Get into it you won't be sorry.

barryflht

Thanks for the post.....let's me know it can be done.....what was your level of fitness and how long had you been riding before you started racing?..

happyvalley

Well, pretty fit so I thought. I did alot of MTB but never even had a road bike. Raced a few endurance MTB 100 milers and did pretty well. Some top 10 overall and got used to winning my age group. Road racing is a whole different animal, really, a pack animal. Tactics come into play versus a 12 hour dirt time trial. I signed up with Carmichael training on the cheap plan (40.00/ month) to get some structure and base. The forum was really helpful on tips for begineer racers. Serious advice from real solid people. You can set your own training plan from a number of books and a stationary trainer, heart rate monitor, bike computer w/ cadence. Get decent base fitness and like I said join a racing oriented team. You will probably not be sorry you started down this road. I feel that I'm in the best shape ever right now. Today I got 9th in my second ever cyclocross race (35+/4) some of those guys are 16 years younger than us. My first cyclocross was last weekend finished 33rd. Go for it my man. it is a total blast even if you get stomped.

Skewer

I entered my first bike race a little over one year ago in my early fifties. I entered my third race ever last fall and won it, a 50 man open Cat V group with no age groupings, and I was the oldest starter in the pack. So as near as I can tell, the fifties still aren't too late to become competitive in the lower division. Albeit, my good finish was in a very long distance race. And yes, I know, there are old guys that have raced all their lives or raced at a high level when they were younger that are still competitive in practically any division, but I am talking about just beginning to race in your fifties. And even if you never make the podium, it is a great way to keep motivated to work on your fitness. Have fun and enjoy it!

jazzy_cyclist

Okay, I must be the oldest poster here. I'm 56, and quietly contemplating giving racing a go. I've been riding intently for 4-5 years now. Last year I did half a dozen centuries and got into group riding and really liked it (I was intimidated at first). Now, I'm in a coaching program, dropped 20+ pounds, and reading (and doing) lots of training stuff. I'm getting a lot of flak about potential injuries, but I seem to get those anyway once in a while. I'll see how it goes - I may end up doing time trials, but you guys are definitely inspiring me!

barryflht

Sounds like you're well on your way. I'm just starting out, so this coming summer may indeed be a little ambitious, but on the advise of others, I'm currently looking at several different coaches in the area. Hopefully I'll get into a program that will help me fastrack somewhat. I'm just trying to ride as much as possible before really cold weather hits and weight training with cycle specific exercises. Then it will be onto the trainer for a couple of months.

jazzy_cyclist

There's a lot of good books out there on training. One I'd suggest is called "Base Training" (or something like that) by a guy named Chapple. He's a disciple of Joel Friel (Coaching Bible, Cycling After 50), but he goes into very understandable detail of how to approach this. I don't know if I'll see any podiums next summer, but I'm definitely going to be a lot stronger rider. I think a coach can really help get you started.

Western CO guy

I am 58 and last year was my first year of racing. But I had spent the 3 years prior doing the kind of things others have suggested here. And before that I was inactive, fat and out of shape.

It is one thing for someone with mountain biking experience to convert successfully to road racing. Or even if you had done some extensive biking years ago. But if you are just starting to ride, I think you can expect to be in some wrecks if you jump right into racing before spending the time to get the feel of things.

And another thing, I have found racing in my age group to be as much challenge as I need. Here in Colorado, there are a bunch of guys racing 50+ aan 55+ that were Cat racers in their earlier days. Regardless of fitness, experience, etc., old guys heart rates are just plain slower. And competing against those who can crank it up by 30 more bpm makes little sense to me.

barryflht

I understand base training and have read some stuff by Friel. I have two of his cycling DVD's. I've found the Chapple book....I'm ordering it from Amazon....Thanks for the head's up.

outofshape

Pretty much my exact scenario (although I reached a max off 207 lbs, props to you for such a large drop!!!). Anywho, back in tha day I won quite few races in the lower catagories, I can't wait to get my ass handed to me this year, I am no where near where I want to be, but, I know once I get out there and race again it will do 2 things. 1-Make me realize how truly out of shape I am and 2-realize I must train harder and harder (including diet, no more 2 bottle wine nights-lol ) to compete at my age (45).
Good luck in your quest, I like the positive attitude. I more or less did the same with motorcycle road racing a few years back. Decided it was no fun watching and went out and did it...nothing more excillerating than throwing a knee down in a corner at 100 mph!
good luck,
Paul

patentcad

You guys are all too friggin old but please keep posting, you're running interference for Pcad. Hey, remember the 70's? I don't.

fprintf

Glad to see folks 10+ years older than me (40) giving racing a try. Boy, if I don't fit the profile to a T. Citizen racing in the early 80s as a teenager and college student. Gave it up for windsurfing, and eventually getting married. 35 pounds later I started cycling last June.

This year I was thinking of giving racing a try after trying to hang with the local group ride (Sleeping Giant aka the Lance ride here in CT) a few times since September. I keep getting dropped but I am going to keep coming back for more each Sunday as I can definitely see my fitness improving.

I hold no illusions about winning. I couldn't win in my 20s and unless I find a whole boatload of motivation and time I don't think I will do so now. So why do racing at all if you can't be competitive at it? Purely because nothing else will get me fitter as quickly or keep me more motivated than a specific date on a calendar where I will have to show the results of my training. With my family watching.

wfrogge

Yep. Every CAT 5 and 4 race I won was after I sat in the back all day then launched an attack.

patentcad

The local NY area peloton has plenty of 50+ guys. Some of them are faster than you'd ever think possible too. Not me of course, but some of the other old guys. As I often say, beats dying of a coronary on the couch watching the Jets lose again. I hope to be back to weekly racing in 2008 for the first time in nearly ten years. Let's see how long I can go without crashing.

carpediemracing 

I revisited this thread since it showed up in my "subscribed threads" list and I didn't remember posting to it.

I read through the posts and there are a couple things.

First, re: the 50+ guys. A lot of guys who are kicking butt in the Cat 3s are over 50. However, they were very good riders to begin with. They are dishing out serious hurt to those 20 and 30 years younger than them. My helmet cam clips catch two that I know of - Paul Curley (white "disk" wheel) and Pat Gellineau (tall black guy on an orange steel bike, box rims, and bar end shifter). They both regularly annihilate me in field sprints, my one and only strength, and both are well over 50 years old. Rit Gorman, now retired, womped me in a huge field sprint led out by a 50 mph downhill. He was 52, I was 26 or so.

Second, fitness is not the end all for bike racing. If it was I'd be doing something else. I've always been less fit than others. Not terribly so but I was a pitiful runner, pitiful swimmer. I wasn't even that good a cyclist but I could hang on for some of the group rides. Cycling is a tactical sport first and foremost. Well at least until the road goes up a lot or you're doing a TT. In most somewhat level courses it's all about tactics. A smart rider can accomplish a lot with limited ability.

Yes people train a lot. And yes, I posted (and I believe) that long rides help force you to become efficient by making you work when you're really tired. You become incredibly efficient when you're tired and can't work very hard. But speed and tactics rules bike racing. I train at 16-18 mph, usually closer to 16. I do jumps and stuff but my average is about that. I also do minimal training during the season - for three years I crammed my year of training into three weeks in Jan and Feb and then coast for the rest of the year. In those three years I won a few races, placed in a bunch, got a gold medal for Cat 3 Crit Champ (and bronze in another year), and also DNFed a few races.

I have no idea what I was thinking when I posted my other post in this thread but to be successful racing you need to do one thing other than ride in a group - you have to be able to respond to sharp, fast attacks (plural). If you can do that you can probably hang on for the finish. And being able to respond to sharp, fast attacks also means you'll be able to sprint a bit.

Most new racers worry about endurance etc but the shocker is the speed. Once you get used to the speed you'll be fine.

good luck with the racing,
cdr

barryflht

I did and hired a coach while I was at it......We'll be starting my training program in the next couple of weeks.....We'll just have to see how it goes and what progress is made, but I'm willing to do what it takes and put in some hard time....If I get to the point of finishing one race this coming season it will be a major accomplishment......Stay tuned.

And.....Thanks for all the input and encouragement from some of you folks.

Skewer

So what do my fellow 50+ wannabe racers here think about crits? I am planning on doing more road races this season, but I am undecided about crits. I would really like to try them, but I hear that entering low level Cat V crits is an excellent way to end up in crash. Are they really substantially more dangerous than a regular road race? And at what point do us old guys need to start worrying about falling and breaking a hip or something? I am thinking that I have pretty strong bones from including medium weight strength training in to my fitness regimen for the last 30 years, but I don't know whether that is fact or fiction. So are any of you fifty plus guys racing crits?

barryflht

Train hard enough to stay up front and miss the wreck ...... Otherwise, ride slow in the back and watch.

Red Rider

I'm riding my first crit tomorrow. Last year I did 3 TTs on a tandem and 1 on a half-bike, finishing strongly enough to encourage me to join a team and be the TT Queen.

My BFF also joined the team (her hubby's a CAT2) and she talked me into doing the Early Bird Crit in Fremont tomorrow. I must be crazy; my cycling goals never included crits or road races. At least the EB has a mentoring session prior to the race.

I'm 53 and beginning to question my sanity...but I'll never know if I don't try.

If this doesn't harden me up, I don't know what will.

barryflht

Go Red Rider Go!! I want to hear all about it......Wish Ya Luck!