cslone

And while you guys are loathing, I realized I mis-spoke. His 09 racing age is 61.

He's only been racing for maybe the last 8 years. Prior to that he was a big touring guy, so he's got lots of miles in the legs to help.

Psimet2001 

I resemble that remark. Only race where I lined up in back...behind everyone....by a couple of feet...make that yards.

MJH2 and I came in 15th and 16th though.


...out of 16.

We held on to the pack for about 2 laps.

We too lost count of the number of times we were lapped. Just rode heads up, to the outside and even pulled off to the side of the course as they were coming up on us into the last two corners on the bell lap.

Don't think I'll race an open Masters race again anytime soon....if ever.

FWIW - there were two riders in that field that were racing for the team MJH2 and I eventually joined a few weeks later. Neither one of us still has any idea who they were. Team owner isn't even sure. Just shows how old and deep the 1/2 side of our team is.....well....as they say....I'm the future.

merlin...you can be too...

caloso

Hah. Lesson learned: read the race announcement carefully! I should have gotten a clue from the multiple jerseys with stars-and-stripes cuffs.

Psimet2001 

HAHAHA - Indeed.

Like our shop's Tuesday night rides in the summer.

MJH2 - "Uh...that dude is supposedly an ex-olympian. That guy is the current ABR Masters road race champ. That guy just set some record for something.......you got a map?"

JayhawKen

58 was bad enough, then you have to come back and break it off...

I'm feeling positively juvenile at 47 now.

urbanknight

That's about how long it will take me to upgrade from 4 to 3.

Mayonnaise

My situation is similar.
My racing age next year will be 48. I have the race experience for the upgrade to 3's and almost the points: close enough where they may give it to me. I haven't yet submitted my resume.

My team hosts a weekly practice crit which is broken into 2 groups, the a's and the b's. The a's attract some of the best riders in the region making it not uncommon to race against 3's and 2's. While the 2's are clearly out of my league, I can generally hang with any 3 that shows up.

I usually double up on race day and do the 40+: As we all know, these are generally the hardest races of the weekend. Most of these guys have been racing for years: they're smart and smooth and generally a joy to race with.

What this means is I've had plenty of experience racing with 3's. Simply put, they race better and are safer. No offense, but an inexperienced cat 4/5 kid scares me more than Andy Daley. The thing about age is, you're more cautious in the right ways: you'd rather get crushed by Daley than crashed out by Wolfgang on his 3rd race.

It's scary considering the permanent jump to the 3s. It means your bad days may be more frequent and certainly more magnified. Then you've got to figure the top 10 guys are all about to jump up to the 2's making last year's top 10 finishes less likely.

My feeling is age has little to do with it. Age gives certain strengths. You have experience, muscle memory, endurance, strength. From the younger guys on the team, they often tell me they want these things.

You have to train smarter because fitness is like a bad window in winter: if you don't keep the heat on the whole room gets cold fast. Age also means you're not spending 25 hours a week on your bike, not with family and jobs. I'd love it if I could get to 15 hours a week.

The final piece of the bicycle racing puzzle is finding a way to win and for me that means overcoming the fear and nerves of the final 2 laps. It's a real challenge to stop the negative thinking and get back to the front and contest a sprint. If I stay a 4 this is what I'll work on, this will be my goal.

As a 3, my goals will change. I am never going to be a 2 and if the figures from my power meter are accurate (please someone tell me they're not) my chances at a top 5 placing in a cat 3 race are slight. Instead of the goal of winning, I'll need to adjust to the goal of a race well raced, of doing what I can for a younger member of the team to win, of being happy to just be out there and active.

Many may not notice, but you can take pride in being 50 and racing in a cat 3 race with all those young fast hot shots. You may not win it, but you're hanging tough. When one of the young punks at work tease me about my age I always say, "I'm a better 48 than you're ever gonna be"

That shuts 'em up real quick.

triplebutted

Alan McCormak is 51 and still racing as a pro.

Racer Ex 

Upped to 2 at 47, so why not?

patentcad

I have fond memories of 50....

patentcad

Ned Overend crushed the record at Mt. Washington for the 50+ by TWENTY MINUTES two years ago.

What's your point?

ridethecliche

I'm with CastIron on this one. Hope for me too, and I'm 19. Heh.

geraldatwork

You may not get faster at you age (I'm 60) but it sounds like you can get smarter. Since you had success in 4 I would say go for it. I assume you can always go back if you don't like it or would rather finish in the top of 4 then in the middle of 3.

triplebutted

Anyone on BF actually have a point?

patentcad

Good point.

triplebutted

Ned's been racing for over 20 years so he's got some good base mileage I think.

Red Rider

Really? For women as well?

I may need to rethink my goals.

Homebrew01

A guy in my club is going to be a 3 next year, and he's 47 or 48 I think. I'm 47 soon and should be able to get enough points for a 3 .... came pretty close this past year even though I did less than 10 races.