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-   -   Junior first year of racing! (https://www.bikeforums.net/33-road-bike-racing/792988-junior-first-year-racing.html)

Lanceeden 01-17-12 03:57 PM

Junior first year of racing!
 
Hi all,
My name is Lance, and this is my first year of racing. A year ago I bought a $600 special off of craigslist, (a 2003 s works e5 with 5lb Rolf vector comp wheels) total weight is about 18.5 lbs I believe and it's a good bike for me at the moment.

This is my first time on this forum so I was just posting to see if I could get any tips for racing (crits mainly) and specifically sprinting.
Also are there any other juniors on here ?

Cheers,
Lance

Btw, I'm out of the country right now and not training at all, but my first race is hopefully February 19th. :D

Skyline516 01-17-12 04:01 PM

well, you have a perfect name to race.
I'm a junior also and my planned first race is not until may because of the crappy weather where I am
Good luck man.

rkwaki 01-17-12 04:04 PM

Welcome (be nice everyone) to the forum and sport.
There is a myriad of resource in this forum (known as the 33). I would take the time and read a bunch of different threads.
Start here:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...s-a-tip-or-two

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-Training-help

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ut-recipe-book

Lanceeden 01-17-12 04:04 PM

Haha how many times have I heard that...thanks bro, you too!

rkwaki 01-17-12 04:04 PM

Ohhh and don't let the big bad meanies scare you off...

Creatre 01-17-12 04:07 PM

Welcome. Just put lots and lots of miles in, and enjoy the experience of racing with other juniors. You can worry about sprinting and training more seriously after you've raced a few months (or years) and know a bit of what you want to focus on.

I wish I would have raced as a Junior, there are always great communities of Juniors and they seem like they have a great time.

Lanceeden 01-17-12 04:07 PM


Originally Posted by rkwaki (Post 13732612)
Ohhh and don't let the big bad meanies scare you off...

Eek, I'll try to be brave.

Sorry, I didn't see that thread..thanks for posting it though :D

Lanceeden 01-17-12 04:10 PM


Originally Posted by Creatre (Post 13732616)
Welcome. Just put lots and lots of miles in, and enjoy the experience of racing with other juniors. You can worry about sprinting and training more seriously after you've raced a few months (or years) and know a bit of what you want to focus on.

I wish I would have raced as a Junior, there are always great communities of Juniors and they seem like they have a great time.

Yeah I'm on a junior team and everyone's really competitive but we're pretty good friends and have a blast. :)


Oh and I should note that I have raced before during training crits twice a week and a few road races, but that was all solo and I wasn't as 'in to it'

jsutkeepspining 01-17-12 05:30 PM


Originally Posted by Lanceeden (Post 13732629)
Yeah I'm on a junior team and everyone's really competitive but we're pretty good friends and have a blast. :)


Oh and I should note that I have raced before during training crits twice a week and a few road races, but that was all solo and I wasn't as 'in to it'

bonjour! i'm a fellow junior, my one advice for you is dont race junior races :) honestly soe of the most boring races i've ever done. Also find a good mentor, either a coach or a senior on your team and stick too him for alittle bit till his knowledge starts to rub off on you.

Rodimus_Prime 01-17-12 06:01 PM

where are you from

jsutkeepspining 01-17-12 06:46 PM

moi? ohio

kensuf 01-17-12 07:06 PM


Originally Posted by rkwaki (Post 13732612)
Ohhh and don't let the big bad meanies scare you off...

Indeed. Thick skin is useful around here, but really, everyone's pretty much well intentioned. Except that guy from The Socialist Republic of Canuckistan.

hammy56 01-17-12 07:41 PM

or if that one mountain biker guy has been training too much and starts going 'kensuf' on people...

carpediemracing 01-18-12 07:50 AM

As a new racer you should read the USAC rulebook.

As a Junior (verify that you're a Junior), you really need to read the part on the gear limits a Junior has to observe.

Some thoughts on that. FYI when I started I was a Junior and had no idea there was such a thing as a Junior gear limit.

rkwaki 01-18-12 08:08 AM


Originally Posted by kensuf (Post 13733256)
Indeed. Thick skin is useful around here, but really, everyone's pretty much well intentioned. Except that guy from The Socialist Republic of Canuckistan.

You gotta watch those Canuckies... his ultimate goal is to bring everyone down to his childish level.

shovelhd 01-18-12 08:14 AM

Read the rulebook. Not like you're studying for a final.
Read the New To Racing botto sticky. Great stuff in there.
Go through all of CDR's blog videos. They are internet gold.

I ride (and sometimes race) with Juniors a lot. I'll put them into two categories.

The ones that are cocky, know everything, ride stupid, and are a general pain in the ass.
The ones that are eager to learn, ask good questions, and follow through on advice.

Be the latter. And welcome.

rkwaki 01-18-12 08:22 AM


Originally Posted by shovelhd (Post 13734831)
Read the rulebook. Not like you're studying for a final.
Read the New To Racing botto sticky. Great stuff in there.
Go through all of CDR's blog videos. They are internet gold.

I ride (and sometimes race) with Juniors a lot. I'll put them into two categories.

The ones that are cocky, know everything, ride stupid, and are a general pain in the ass.
The ones that are eager to learn, ask good questions, and follow through on advice.

Be the latter. And welcome.

Guess who else fits into this category???

saratoga 01-18-12 10:42 AM


Originally Posted by rkwaki (Post 13734850)
Guess who else fits into this category???

LOL At least 2-3 people every season in every category I've ever raced in (not limited to any age however).

There was a Jr back around 05-07ish that I remember... he was actually a good rider but talked trash to everyone. It pissed a lot of people off, but made me laugh when he'd yell stuff like "Hey fatsos... let's go, this is a race!"

rkwaki 01-18-12 11:16 AM


Originally Posted by saratoga (Post 13735359)
LOL At least 2-3 people every season in every category I've ever raced in (not limited to any age however).

There was a Jr back around 05-07ish that I remember... he was actually a good rider but talked trash to everyone. It pissed a lot of people off, but made me laugh when he'd yell stuff like "Hey fatsos... let's go, this is a race!"

Ohhh we've met :)
My ego can be hard to take and I have since checked it at the door. Problem is that I have a very demented sense on humor which doesn't help. Yes I have said many things that I regret but those who know and understand me know that I have a good heart and am playing around most of the time.
I whistle and sing at times and it pisses everyone off...

jfmckenna 01-18-12 11:41 AM

Feb 19th is right around the corner. You'll need to get right on it. In the mean time maybe do some lunges, squats, heal raises and step ups till you can get on a bike.

Lanceeden 01-18-12 12:21 PM


Originally Posted by jsutkeepspining (Post 13732917)
bonjour! i'm a fellow junior, my one advice for you is dont race junior races :) honestly soe of the most boring races i've ever done. Also find a good mentor, either a coach or a senior on your team and stick too him for alittle bit till his knowledge starts to rub off on you.


Haha I'm gonna start with junior races, but I might do some cat 5/4 later on.

Already got a few people who are good with teaching me new stuff.
I'm in Arizona btw.




Originally Posted by carpediemracing (Post 13734767)
As a new racer you should read the USAC rulebook.

As a Junior (verify that you're a Junior), you really need to read the part on the gear limits a Junior has to observe.

Some thoughts on that. FYI when I started I was a Junior and had no idea there was such a thing as a Junior gear limit.

My gears are good, I've had a good look at the rulebook. Thanks for the link, I'll take a look.



Originally Posted by jfmckenna (Post 13735581)
Feb 19th is right around the corner. You'll need to get right on it. In the mean time maybe do some lunges, squats, heal raises and step ups till you can get on a bike.

I've been working on my core a bit, doing some lunges and running. That race is more of a warm up race, as all the ones I'm basing my season around are in April.

Homebrew01 01-18-12 02:48 PM


Originally Posted by Skyline516 (Post 13732600)
well, you have a perfect name to race.
I'm a junior also and my planned first race is not until may because of the crappy weather where I am
Good luck man.

You're in Maryland. How bad can it be ? Up here we're racing in March.

MDcatV 01-18-12 03:25 PM


Originally Posted by Skyline516 (Post 13732600)
well, you have a perfect name to race.
I'm a junior also and my planned first race is not until may because of the crappy weather where I am
Good luck man.

the weather this year has been fantastic for winter training. best i can remember in years. your first race should be on march 29 at the blackhills circuit race. It was a first time on the calender last year and had jr. categories, they probably will again this year. What time are you home from school, 3:00? You could be riding outside for 1.5 hrs. every day!

In case you dont have, MABRA race calender is here.

Skyline516 01-19-12 02:25 PM

I'm using the weather as an excuse to keep swim training
I am a year round swimmer, so in theory i should be going till july
but, I have decided to take the summer off and focus on cycling
I know about the black hills race, but it's a bit far from baltimore
I'm gonna make my first race the kelly cup, which is less than a half hour away from where i live
Also, I'm gonna get a couple friends to do it with me and they're not particularly keen to go out to boyds md
It kinda sucks that there's not more races near baltimore, but that problem will be solved when i go to college hopefully


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