fbisaint21

Hey all racers, i was hoping to get some of the stats that you recorded from your races to get a feel for how difficult it is going to be. An example of the stats would be

What kind of race (cat 5-2, etc.)
Course description (hilly, mostly flat, criterium, mountainous, etc.)
Distance (miles or kilometers)
Speed *average* and top (mph or kph)
Average heart rate (in comparison to max as well)
Average watts
And place i guess - any other info would also be greatly appreciated.

-Just trying to get an idea of how screwed i am- thanks guys

calhoun1

Just go out and race.

Don't worry about the details. It isn't about the average speed (this coming from me who has 3 mass starts) it is about matching the wheel in front of you and the accelerations.

Sign up, buy your one day license, and go for it. Gauge your fitness by doing. You may surprise yourself.

Lithuania

forget the stats and just go race. All you are going to do with numbers is psyche yourself out.

bdcheung

just go race.

waterrockets 

+1

You don't need to win your first race ore even finish with the pack in your first race. Get the experience, race a few times. You'll figure it out.

I knew I was stronger than 90% of the guys in my first race, and I still overcooked it on a hill and got spit out the back with two laps to go. It was a great learning experience, and I was a Cat III twelve weeks later.

You just never know how it's going to go.

MDcatV

category: 1/2/3, 3, Masters 30/35+
description: variable
distance: variable
avg./max speed: variable
avg HR: variable
avg W: variable

transplant

/end of thread

recursive

Most people who actually race don't even track it that closely. Outside of a time trial, stats aren't a good indicator of difficulty anyway.

+4 to just racing.

eb314

I'll tell you this: I've raced in one race, which was just this year. I've got 2 coming up this weekend, weather permitting. I decided to race the cat4/5 race instead of the cat 5 beginner's race to challenge myself. I didn't get dropped, our average speed was a little over 20 mph (my computer said 20.1, but I didn't stop it until a few minutes after the race ended because I forgot) and my heart rate didn't get over 185. I'm 20, so my max should be somewhere around 200 according to the rough formula. It was a good experience, and not as hard/difficult as I thought. I just wasn't in good position at the end of the race and wasn't really involved in the main sprint. I came in somewhere between 9th-6th out of 15.

wanders

Here are my stats this year so far:

raced - got spanked - had a blast
raced - got spanked - had a blast
raced - got spanked - had a blast

3 weeks from now...

will race - will get spanked - will have a blast

substructure

Fixed.

Put it out of your mind. Negative thoughts weaken legs.

calhoun1

Hey! that looks like my schedule for this year But I only had 1 race so far...

merlinextraligh

Really hard to draw comparisons. Every race is different. Depends on terrain, field, race dynamics, weather, etc. That said I'll share a few I have handy.

wanders

These are not negative thoughts to a masochist conditioned by 14 years of marriage.

substructure

10 year of marriage here in a couple of weeks. I will be racing on that day - my wife may be watching me not getting spanked.

That will be taking place later that night when the lights go out. Wakka wakka wakka.

substructure

You're only screwed because you're worrying about this and that crap. When you get out there and find out for yourself you may be surprised.

umd

+1,000,000 to everyone that said just go out and race.

But here is the data from my races. All available on MotionBased

Name Mov Time Dist Mov Spd Elev Gain Max Spd
Dinuba Crit Cat 4 0:48:15 18.97 23.6 428 32.9
Pine Flat Cat 4 (incomplete) 2:07:30 48.25 22.7 2,706 43.4
Mothballs Crit Cat 4 0:40:48 16.7 24.6 393 36.0
SNSR Nelson's Landing RR Cat 4 2:10:15 36.09 16.6 4,589 41.5
SNSR Sam Boyd Criterium Cat 4 0:26:42 10.99 24.7 311 31.1
SNSR Underground Time Trial Cat 4 0:29:43 11.05 22.3 331 31.7
Baker to Death Valley Cat 5 3:56:25 79.23 20.1 3,054 33.5
Everest Challenge Cat 4/5 Day 2 7:15:01 80.13 11.1 14,561 46.1
Everest Challenge Cat 4/5 Day 1 7:17:29 93.12 12.8 13,569 49.4
SLO Downtown Crit Cat 5 0:22:40 9.19 24.3 487 49.0
Sisquoc Road Race Cat 5 1:26:47 32.17 22.2 2,000 44.8
La Mirada Grand Prix Cat 5 0:22:46 8.64 22.8 624 34.7
San Luis Rey Classic Cat 5 1:36:48 34 21.1 2,589 51.4
Devil's Punchbowl Cat 5 1:44:36 31.45 18.0 3,204 41.7

waterrockets 

Interestingly, the local training race, it the slower races are usually much harder than the faster races. Slower allows more variability. Just goes to show that even if we did have data, you can't always reach conclusions.

caloso

Stats? We got no stats! We don't need to show you no stinking stats!



(Seriously, I have no stats from my only race of 2008. I lost my HRM chest strap and when I put my front wheel in I bumped the magnet, so I didn't even have any distance or speed. Which I didn't even notice until the race was over.)

Brandy

As someone who hasn't raced yet, I somewhat understand where the OP is coming from. I watched the women's 3/4 race at a local crit and I was so curious about what the average speed of that race was. It's nice to have an idea of what you're getting yourself into.

waterrockets 

Wish for as much speed as possible. It makes the race easier

umd

My wife did her first crit on Monday, after my race earlier in the day. She had a blast, even if she did get dropped on the second lap, and got a flat (that I had to come back around the course and change). But she stuck through it to the end. And wants more now. I may have turned her into a crit monster. Here is her speed data, although I don't think that the 27mph spikes are accurate.

Brandy

I was just curious because after watching a bunch of men's races, the women's seemed significantly slower. I was told by one of the women, that the average speed was 20mph. She also said that it was "that high" because it was a 3/4 race and that the crit (that I didn't get to watch) at Anger Management would most likely be slower because it was a 4 race.



Thanks for the info Steve. I *think* that I have the speed...it's just the cornering and pack riding skills that I lack right now. All of my training has been for long distance events, and I always train alone. I'm going to start doing the Tuesday night El Dorado races to get some experience, and I'm registered for San Dimas. Oh...and since I'm itching to get out there, I may do the Dash 4 Cash crit on 3/2.

I'll never know how I can do until I get out there and the wait is killing me!

Duke of Kent

I did a Pro/1/2/3 crit that averaged 25mph for 45min this summer.

I also did several Cat 3 crits that averaged more than 27mph, for 40-50mi.

umd

Brandy, Kim was looking to do a race on 3/2. We will be at Baker on the 1st (I understand George is going too), and we were thining Merced because a bunch of teammates are going, but nixed that when we realized how far it is (on top of coming back from Baker!). The dash 4 cash may make more sense.

Btw, at Dinuba, they threw all the women in together, there were no categories. She said she was very suprised how fast they went off the line and was amazed she was able to hold on for two laps. At the end of the second lap, two girls attacked and the increase in speed from the chase snapped her off the back. You can read her report. And pictures. And leave a comment, she likes comments...