lumenredundas

maybe you should race the smaller first friday racees so you can get use to riding balls to the walls in that gear.

XVX

hyperRevue

I probably should ride more races period to get used to it.

lumenredundas

you should ride more periods period. ben and i run through the city every friday or saturday . its about an hour at a time and we keep up with traffic to pace our selves. you should come out with us then after that hit the bars. it will all work out for the better

XVX

hyperRevue

I would if I didn't work all day Saturday.

Anightinthewood

At most races i have been too there have always been more people wearing helmets then not so if your worried about looking like a nerd dont! because your head is worth more then that. So yes go out and buy a nice helmet that is comfy and snug on your head this is one of those peaces of gear you should not skimp out on. get the best you can aford.

transplant

i think what he's trying to say is: wear a helmet. lots of people wear them to races.

my two cents: i push myself much much harder than daily riding, which involves many precarious intersections, red lights, going into oncoming traffic, etc... i'd be plain stupid to not wear a helmet.

random question: anyone else keep emergency contact info in their wallet when the ride/race? of the "if i'm in an ambulance, call this person..." variety?

Doctor Who

You really oughta have a decent idea of the layout of the town you're riding in. Just so you don't get hopelessly lost if you get dropped by whoever you're riding with. If you're new to a town, buy/steal/print out a map of the area.

But you already knew that, since everyone's already said that.

Definitely bring a Powergel or at least a good amount of water. For some reason, I get more parched riding in alleycats than I do in a 50-60 mile road race or training ride. That's probably because I wear jean shants or camo shorts in addition to a jersey and bibbs underneath, but I definitely find myself thirstier in shorter time than I would normally.

Don't forget a 15-mm wrench. That's crucial.

12XU

Re: Gearing down

I was riding 71.3 gear inches in my first alleycat and got plain smashed in the flats, which in turn dropped me less than 15 minutes into the race (having my hat fly off didn't help, of course). I also had some cross tires and my slo-mo wheels on, so I didn't really give myself a fighting chance. For Monster Track, I'm gearing up to about 75 or 76 inches and putting on some road tires so I can have a chance to keep up.

Re: Monster Track as (nearly) virgin alley cat

We're going to get absolutely ***ing smashed...

brooklyn

Totally smashed and enjoyning every minute!

wildrobot

[I go inside, buy a new tube, throw it on the rim, get the tire on, and then go to inflate it at the shop aircompressor. After inflating it, as I'm walking away, I happed to look down, and I swear it looks like the tire is GROWING. Realizing that catasrophic failure is iminent, I throw the rim across the foyer and look for cover. The thing cooks off like an atomic bomb went off in the store and half the staff/ customers hit the floor.
After purchasing another tube, dramatically underinflating it and skulking out of there, I decided I felt like a ****ing member of Al-Queda.]

I've done this more then once before inside my small a$$ apt. Once you've blown out your tire its shoot and will keep blowing up. Sorry to go little off topic .

This years Tour da Chicago is my first alley cats and they are awesome.... I keep getting the beat down some technical difficulties...but mostly I am a lil outta shape lately I'm like 70'something. It's best time I've had on my bike in awhile.

xthugmurderx

dude. forget the hat. my hat blew off at the race in baltimore last weekend. do you know how hard it is to find a brewers hat in philadelphia? just keep riding. ended up getting 9th. probably would have gotten lost if i had stopped and not finished or gotten a dfl. and i run 73 gear inches (50x18) all the time. if you can't keep up you have to learn how to spin faster. yeah. it's awesome.

DoshKel

Thanks. I'm not really worried about looks, but I am just tight on money so I have never got around to buying one.

I'll go look into them at my LBS.