I followed that plan last year and it worked surprising well. I "sat" in for several weeks. Nothing like getting shelled on a number of group rides to get your focus. After a while I became a regular and worked at staying with the pack and doing my share. Some of these were real suffer fests but worth it. The great side benefit was I also met some great people!
I also enlisted the advice of a coach because at 46 I wanted to remain injury free and still get good results.
Originally Posted by
botto
^
good memory.
Bike Racing for Beginners: How to get started
1. Find some group rides, fast group rides. Sit in the back.
2. Don't get discouraged if/when you get dropped from those group rides.
3. Go back the following week and do the fast group ride again.
4. If you're dropped a 2nd time, repeat steps 2 & 3
5. Once you're comfortable with the group and pace (and vice versa), take some pulls.
6. Once you're comfortable taking pulls, try some attacks (if it's that kind of group ride).
7. Once you're comfortable with steps 5 & 6, it's time to enter a race.
8. At your first race, repeat steps 1-6, but substitute 'race' for 'group ride'.