silversx80

Another first race thread, but whatever.

First official bike race, first race of any kind in a long time (last one was a cross country race, over 10 years ago). Cat 5, fresh meat. I was signed up for the Wolfpack Cycling Classic, on the 13th and 14th of Feb, but the 13th was snowed out. The 14th, Top of the Hill RR, 4 laps and just over 7 miles per. Hilly @ ~2,000 feet gain in 29 miles recorded by my garmin. Field was a mixed 4/5 and seemed to be a little over 50 folks, but hard to tell with all the college kids hanging around.

Onto the report:

After all the BF-ing and BS-ing, I knew two things going into it. 1, nobody can tell you what racing is like and 2, you don't really know what you're getting into. I had pre-race jitters... bad. HR was hovering around the 120s. College kids and 4/5s lined up, ready for a rolling start. I was near the front, with two teammates. The course officials then separated the college kids out and somehow I was at the back of the pack. I knew it wasn't going to be good.

Whistle blows and we're off. Neutral start, so making the n00b mistake of missing my pedal is of no consequence.

OK, tuck in, stay with the pack, ride smoothly.
"SLOWING!"

WTF?

Alright, let's move up. Not a chance. I'm oddly reminded of my morning rush into work. If you want to change lanes, you'd better get in there before the dude behind you does. OK, so I move to the outside, centerline rules so it's crowded.

SURGE!

Another WTF moment. I'm at the back of the pack and reminded of how an inchworm moves. OK, out of the saddle to close the gap, only to be met by a familiar voice.

"SLOWING!"

Godda-mit!

Fingers on the brakes. I gotta move up. I finally get to about the middle of the pack and the surges are still there. I get boxed in. A few miles up the road, and I keep trying to get past one particular rider. I'm still boxed in, but to the left of another rider. All of a sudden he starts to move into me. I move left a little, but at the same time another rider comes up on my left and we bump. My hands on the hoods and my knuckles on his hip. I'm leaning into him, he's leaning back. Going through my head is the thought, "why are you racing you addict you idiot? Why are you racing your new wheels? You'd better not wreck." So the contacted rider does exactly what makes sense and doesn't do anything sudden. I do the same and we save it. Whew.

"Nice save."

"Thanks," I think I just shat my pants.

That was the first lap. The field starts to break up and I try to move up. There is one tough hill and in lap 2, it broke a lot of riders. I was in the dropped pack, but knew I wanted to be in front so I dug deep. I made the mistake of looking down for a power reading. 700W, 650W, 600W, 600W, "WTF?" I close the gap and my heart is ready to explode @ 192 bpm. Luckily the front group eases up and I can recover.

The rest of the race was just trying to get position and hold it. Only one notable attack and we kept them in.

On the last lap, and the last hill, I'm in position 6. I knew I'd get dropped like a rock. About 5 riders make it past me and all I think is "I gotta lose some weight." I manage to keep the rest behind me by the crest... barely.

Reach the top, slight downhill, turn, more downhill and a slight rise to the finish. Maxed out, I edge back a few more spots and finish around 11 or 12.


That is, by far, the most difficult thing I have ever done on a bike.

I LOVED IT!!

If I remember correctly, here are the stats:
1:20 (~29 miles)
220W AP
292 NP
1249W Max
1975 ft gain
Avg HR - 169
Max HR -192


So, lessons learned:
- NOBODY can tell you what a race is like, just like everyone says.
- Position is key.
- You do a TON of work at the back.
- People at the front can get p-issy.
- I'm too fat for this sport.
- You cannot be very polite, otherwise someone else will get your position.
- When crap hits the fan, stay calm.


I can't wait for the next one. I felt like I should've attacked a few times this race, but I just wanted to understand the dynamics a little better. Next time, if my legs feel good I'm going for it.

Lacking

Congrats. 11th or 12th for a first race sounds like a miracle. I have my first race in one month, 23 miles, one loop, one big hill to climb right at the end. This made me very skittish and eager to get out there and start myself. Good story man, great race.

MDcatV

congrats.

moving up in a pack is a skill. practice it on group rides, go to the back on purpose and work your way up using different methodologies. then do it again. it'll help tremendously.

TMonk

Nice man! Sounds like a good experience.

Make sure you race again soon, and report back.


BTW would you mind disclosing your height/weight for the geek in me?

Thanks.

MondoDave

silversx80

Thanks all. Next race is probably on the 27th. Crit at a veloway, still a 4/5 field. Should be great fun.


For the geeks, Height is ~5'10.5" and weight is ~174 lbs and dropping (I quit going to the gym). I should be in the upper 160s in the next few weeks if it continues like it has been.

DrWJODonnell

Nice job, nice post.

bassic wilson

Well written. Bad thing is, I'm sick with bronchitis and the slowing, surge, slowing thing made nearly lose a lung.

umd

Haha, good analogy.

Sitting at the back improves as you go up the categories.

mzeffex 

Your point about not racing the good bike is interesting. I plan to race my new carbon bike.. but now I'm not so sure after all I've read here. The only other road bike I have is 27 years old w/ stem shifters though.

jgg3

Race the good bike. What the hell do you own it for, anyway?

silversx80

Thanks again, all.

Oh, thank God! I couldn't imagine keeping up with those kind of surges in a stronger field.

That's a tough call. If I had the old bike and ~$400 to blow, I'd make a few upgrades and race the old bike with Ultegra 9-speed or something, but then again, I'd rather race the good bike than not race at all after my first experience.

As soon as I pick up a beater, it'll serve as a race bike until I start losing by inches I don't want to have to replace a $3000 frame when I can replace a $200 frame.

waterrockets 

Nice work, and good report

...in road races. 100-rider P12 crits with enough pros in them and the back is a sad, sad place to be.

umd

Yes, well I wasn't referring to the chances of missing race-winning moves, but just the extra effort involved with dealing with surginess...

Although yeah if the crit is going fast enough people will be blowing up all over the palce so you don't want to be at the very back or you have to deal with closing their gaps. I know this unfortunately from experience

It's still better than the cat 5s though

waterrockets 

Yeah, I'm not referring to missing race winning moves either. I'm talking about being able to stay with the main pack as it ejects 5 riders every lap and stays together up front. (e.g. the 2nd sentence there )

silversx80

Thanks!



One thing I forgot to mention in the ride report was the water-bottle dodging. Rough section in the first couple miles, combined with a speedy downhill and loose cages equals projectiles. I dodge about 4 skipping on the ground, look up and see one flying straight for my head. Duck and it zooms within inches.

Voodoo76

Im reminded of going into the first lap, first turn of an old Tour of OH P/1/2 crit at 5 mph and being able to see the leaders (all P's) leaving turn 2 at full speed Made for a very short long day in the saddle.

Beaker

Great report! You captured the buzz that I felt in my first race this year too, dayum it's an addictive high.