[Closed] Any other folk my age racing?

you're only 52? 😯

Might just be that you've over trained a bit and just feel knackered. Give yourself a bit of a rest and see how you get on.

Are you being cheeky. Yeah okay I didn't coin the knickname 'oldgit' I was always the oldest in the group.

Why do you worry oldgit? I know, your'e a very competitive person thats why. I'm not, never really have been but did OK in the old Polaris events.
I raced my mate yesterday who's 8 years younger, I won, & he's one of the most competitive people I know.
Stop worrying as much & enjoy (smile) more!

PS, I'm 55 & LOT heavier than my mate. I beat him on the descents only. 😳

sambob it's not that.

I don't race but find intense efforts harder and harder at 43.

You are doing intervals etc?

Gotta work on The weaknesses.

I have days like that, in fact I was like it today but did twice the distance on Wed and felt great. I'm 48 and know that I have to eat and drink the right things if I want to get anywhere near my riding mates who are in some cases considerably younger. If I don't my performance suffers.

At my age I'm concentrating on the challenges rather than being competitive, I'm doing my first 24 hour solo this year.

Why do you worry oldgit?

Vanity? don't know. Been at a long time. Started proper racing when I was 15 a hilly 36 mile 2-up TT and won it, we were called 'schoolboys' back then. That day might have something to do with it.
Extremely hard to let go, and I've tried. I think racing has always been the focus of my riding.

Welcome to old age, oldgit!

I'm 48, and it shocks me to think how much better I was 10 years ago. The people who were racing at your age when I was racing were those who were essentially full time bikies, having taken early retirement, or who had wives that were happy to let/get them out of the way for most of the time.

I think everyone who has raced knows that older guy who can destroy them on any ride, I got to ride with a number of older ex-pros, and one or two who went on to be pros.

I suspect that the guys I knew and respected had wound down from actual professional levels of training to a more realistic level, but they still made me suffer everytime I went out.

In terms of what to do, you either train harder and longer or smarter, which probably involves many more intervals, and fewer miles.

You are doing intervals etc?

Last year I did 9 weeks on the 'Time Crunched Cyclist' the end of which coincided with the start of my cross season. Raced until December, eased off a bit then got back into training.

What I really want to know is how the successful older riders manage.

oldgit

I'm not far behind you, and tbh I've probably shoes older than some of the guys I ride...

What about Grand Vets at the Gorricks?

We are running a 50+ category this year with quite generous prize sponsorship

www.brownbacksracing.co.uk

come and race with us!

crikey, was a bit like that for me. I was lucky to ride with some names of the day, but was probably more of a groupie and fond of making excuses rather than make the most of what was around me.

What about Grand Vets at the Gorricks?

Why do you bother at all? As I said in the Sportives thread, you're only racing against a self-selected bunch of amateurs. Even if you "win", you've only done well against that particular group. Even if you move up a category, you're still only riding against more amateurs. Are you happy "winning" even though you're not actually at the peak of your sport?

Urm if your doing half of what you say your doing in some other threads like racing 8 times a month then id say your overtraining big time and no wonder your fried !

[i]Why do you bother at all?[/i]

If you have to ask, you probably won't understand. ( I mean that in a you really won't understand kind of way, rather than any kind of elitist silly sort of way).

It's about testing yourself, it's about putting your ego on the line, it's about what motivates you, it's about what makes you, you.

trail rat, going back to what worked bast in the past. I.e racing to fitness. It's not huge, a crit on Tuesday night and a XC race Friday night followed by a Sunday club run and maybe a social chucked in somewhere.
Compared to the efforts on the Time Crunched it a stroll in the park. My logic says rather than kill yourself five times a week on the turbos put that effort into racing two hours a week?

crikey - Member
If you have to ask, you probably won't understand. ( I mean that in a you really won't understand kind of way, rather than any kind of elitist silly sort of way).

It's about testing yourself, it's about putting your ego on the line, it's about what motivates you, it's about what makes you, you.

& I think Druidh is talking lots of sense.
Who exactly do you want to beat?

What I really want to know is how the successful older riders manage.

By using their experience and riding smart. Doing what they do best.

I know I ain't gonna beat the young guns in a sprint, they'll eat me alive. Always and early break for me with the right number of riders.

I hate racing in the rain, but I know that as soon as the rain starts half the field are beat. Then throw a few gravelly corners into the mix. Old MTBers to the fore!!!

Just keep on keeping on!

SB

[i]I'm trying to understand. Is your ego happy with winning a third/fourth rate competition knowing that you're not good enough for anything better?[/i]

So, unless you are world champion, no contest is worthy?

Like I said, you don't understand, and it's really difficult to explain why it is important.

crikey - Member
So, unless you are world champion, no contest is worthy?

I hate racing in the rain, but I know that as soon as the rain starts half the field are beat. Then throw a few gravelly corners into the mix. Old MTBers to the fore!!!

Ah, poor roads are my speciallity, but half of that is because I know loads of riders hate them 🙂

A bit sad because an old mate doesn't race anymore. I took him downhill and round the corners and he took me up the hills - heaven.

Surely categorised racing is all about competing against people of your own skill range.
Doesn't matter if it's WCs or OAPs, if you start a race not knowing that you will win, but you could win then that's good enough isn't it 🙂

No druidh, it's not about being the best in the world, it's about being the best that you can be.

As you age your body changes. You may find that you are more competitive in endurance events rather than shorter races where outright speed is key. If you were competitive in your youth (and you ain't that old) and haven't totally larded up (doesn't sound like this is the case!), then I bet you still can be competitive; but perhaps you need to look at the events you are entering and play to your new strengths. To be honest it sounds to me like you are just having a dull patch of form which will almost certainly return.

crikey - Member
No druidh, it's not about being the best in the world, it's about being the best that you can be.

I guess, it is hard to explain. I mentioned intent on the sportive thread, in racing that intent is absolute. There are no excuses no safety rope. I certainly don't get that fear in my belly I get before a race when I do a sportive.
I'm struggling to find reasons really.

I have 2 friends in their 50s who can hold their own in 10s and 100s and still make folk half their age look fat and unfit on 300k audaxes.....

They just train smarter now and pick their events

One of them has been a national champ and has raced at international level ....both achived in his later years

As you age your body changes. You may find that you are more competitive in endurance events rather than shorter races where outright speed is key. If you were competitive in your youth (and you ain't that old) and haven't totally larded up (doesn't sound like this is the case!), then I bet you still can be competitive; but perhaps you need to look at the events you are entering and play to your new strengths. To be honest it sounds to me like you are just having a dull patch of form which will almost certainly return.

Indeed, a lot of racing is very short nowadays and doesn't suit. Long races are hard to find, but I have a 70 mile road race in May.

Druid, your'e confusing me here. You seem to support the concept of racing in a sportive, but seem to take issue with racing in a race?

For me. What it's all about, is knowing that you 'got it all out' on the day.

I've won races that were easy, and felt nothing. I've been pasted in races and it was great because I raced well, and knew that I'd ridden my best.

I know where you're coming from oldgit. Winning is good, but winning the hard way is better.

Again, I say, just keep on keeping on.

SB
BTW - first time ever, the doctor wouldn't give me a medical cert' for my licence. I have to go for tests. I challenged the doctor to a bike race around the block. No joy!!!! 🙂

druid...well on your way to big-hitter-dom...the certificate is almost signed here at cynic-towers!

Seriously though, racing in "proper" races, where folk have trained, you get points, you need a license etc...is way different to sportives. You are competing against the best folk in your locality in your age group (bar pros & those in elite, which are prob non existent over 40). for me it was about the buzz of racing, improving, having good wee ding-dongs with guys you get to know. If you are good enough you can get a medal or whatever - which means something to some.

If you don't get that then I don't know how else to explain. For it to be pointless if you're not aiming towards WC is a nonsense.

[i]But your yardstick is a bit flexible, worn out and varies in length day-to-day. [/i]

But I've got a yardstick.

It's mine, its old, it's worn out, it varies as you suggest, but it's mine. In the grand scheme of things it's not important, but for me, for the way I view myself it means something.

Your mileage, as they say, may vary.

A mate of mine - who hasn't posted on here that I've noticed for a while - started racing CX at around 50ish - doesn't seem to bother him that he isn't at the front, and he can still destroy me on a ride pretty much whenever he wants to!

cynic-al - Member
You are competing against the best folk in your locality in your age group (bar pros & those in elite, which are prob non existent over 40)

How much racing have you done druidh?

I'm not asking in a look-at-the-man-who-doesn't-race way, but to determine your viewpoint.

@oldgit - your right to focus on the longer events, you are less disadvantaged by your age, speed and strength go first, stamina you can go do to better with age.

I have to say I'm quite surprised there are not more age divisions as there are in many sports, eg static rowing.

@druidh - you are just trolling, people compete for many difrerent reasons, the chance of wining being just one

Sorry druidh I don't get your point...are you offended at folk looking down on sportive "racers" so you are just saying they are no different, just a bit fitter?

You are racing to get into that higher echelon. My mate rode his second race Saturday, he is just a 4th cat and was racing 3rds and he got second place. One more point and he will be a 3rd cat, and so it goes on.

I'd like to do well enough in my cross season to be asked to represent my league in the championships.

And I'll race championships with guys coming from the length and breadth of the country, hardly local.

crikey - Member
How much racing have you done druidh?

I'm not asking in a look-at-the-man-who-doesn't-race way, but to determine your viewpoint.

are getting so stressed about what I view to be a fairly mundane level of competition.

LOL...just try it, you won't be calling it mundane.

And I thought you had a point!

cynic-al - Member
Sorry druidh I don't get your point...are you offended at folk looking down on sportive "racers" so you are just saying they are no different, just a bit fitter?

@druidh - competition is never mundane. If it is for you, you are missing the point of competition.

Yes, it's for fun. Serious fun.

SB

I'm also 52. I don't hold with this 'do longer events' thing. Just do what you like most. I race cx in the London League and National Trophy/Champs. I'm not going to beat Mick Bell but I'm not going to stop trying. It's such a magic sport I just love being part of it. If you are getting stale try something else, this year I'll be riding the full Tour of Flanders Cyclo again and then Paris Roubaix. These are just as much of a challenge and give you that satisfaction of being part of monument events. Get your fix of racing by doing some LVRCs but if you are a 'crosser' don't take it too seriously so you are fresh for the winter season.

druidh - Member
No offence Al, though I'm struggling to see where this artificial divide (what is/isn't real racing) arises. For anyone likely to be posing on this thread, it's surely all just a bit of fun?

What SB said...and if you've pummelled yourself through a winter, done intervals/weights/power max tests, compromised other aspects of your life for race days, you'd understand - I guess that's what gives it more meaning to the individual. You can't just ride a bit and then turn up and participate at the same level, which sportives seem to be about, you have to earn it.

I guess that's why we feel it's different and if you've not been in our shoes I don't think you can comment validly.

How much racing have you done druidh?

I've taken part in a few timed events - more for the craic, or to raise funds for charity.

So that's a "none" then - I know it's not the thing to agree with the cynical one, but I think he's summed "it" up pretty well - there's a whole different mindset between doing any sport as a hobby and as a competitive activity......

ride smart. ride endurance.

hilldodger - Member
there's a whole different mindset between doing any sport as a hobby and as a competitive activity......

Looks like you don't get it then?

Ian Wright never slows down, multiple national XC/CX Vets champ.

Unless you are being paid to do it, it is only a hobby.

Hobby? No, it's a passion, an addiction, a compulsion, you don't function right if you don't do it.

You should try it. 😉
It's fun.

SB

Oldgit
You have been posting up this stuff for a while now,and every time I read them ,I think "What does he want,what does he really,really want?".
As Mr plop pants said ( who I think I have raced with ,if he has the Mike Bell target thing going on 🙂 ) set yourself a target,a target you will enjoy when you get there.
This is without turning yourself in to a soulless obsessive with the thousand yard stare ,and nothing else going on in their life.
I am 53 BTW ,old enough and ugly enough to know what I want.
There are thousands of great things to be competitive about on a bike,go find what will do it for you,just don't beat yourself up about it.

Personally I'm too competitive to be happy training all hours to place mid field in the 3rd or 4th cat race. I'd need to be in with a chance of placing. That's why I don't race because I know no matter how hard I trained I'd never be competitive.

. On one hand I can train hard with guys from my club, and they just picked up a 2nd place Saturday in a 3/4 road race. On the other hand I just feel like a slug.

Previous poster thought you were over training and you dismissed him. I agree with him. If your local club guys are either more talented or younger than you you're probably knackering yourself trying to keep up with them and its no surprise you've nothing left for racing.

Have to say oldgit, from seeing your posts, you seem to ride a hell of a lot without any specific goals or training, it's easy for me to say but it does sound like you train without thinking about what you want it to do.

Yes, I would say sort your goals out first. What specific objective are you visualising that gets you out on a wet winter morning, or makes you do that final interval when you would rather just stop?

If you just train hard, then enter events randomly hoping for a result, you need to be comfortable with the possibility that your outcomes will be a bit random. If you train for a specific target, and really put your eggs in one basket, you will have more chance of really getting that special peak. Of course, the downside is a big disappointment if it doesn't work out, but the buzz of getting that win is what you are really after, isn't it?

The tricky thing is setting proper SMART targets. You need something that is possible, but is really challenging. If your target is too easy, you are not really testing yourself, and ultimately you won't get that sense of achievement. Equally, set yourself an unfeasible objective that you are guaranteed to fail at, and you will just feel frustrated and unmotivated.

I'm never going to beat a full time pro racer in their prime, but I still get a buzz if I can ride against other people with the same sort of external constraints (work, family, age, etc)and get on top of that podium at the end of the day. Looked at objectively, racing has no intrinsic value, but competition seems to be something that humans are hardwired for (to a greater or lesser degree) and in the modern world that often manifests itself in sport. It doesn't really make sense, but if you've ever crossed that line first with your hands in the air, you'll understand it!

Going back to your roots, if you aren't enjoying your solo racing, how about combining your experience with some youthful speed by entering some Gentleman's 2-ups? These often have good age-related handicap prizes, and you might get the satisfaction of encouraging a younger rider by helping them to a good result.

Sportives are racing? One word. No.

But Sportives ARE races.

From dictionary.com

race
noun
1. a contest of speed, as in running, riding, driving, or sailing.

noun
1 a competition between runners, horses, vehicles, etc. to see which is the fastest in covering a set course:

Is everyone at a sportive there to race?

I'd guess not, in which case it's not a race, albeit certain entrants treat it like one.

But I don't really care any more.

Unless you are being paid to do it, it is only a hobby.

No, that's the difference between amateur and professional, that is, as a profession. Which is not to say that the amateurs don't treat it as seriously as the professional.

Bloody hell I agree with cynic-al for once 😉

It comes to everyone in time, nick 😉

cynic-al - Member
Is everyone at a sportive there to race?

I'd guess not, in which case it's not a race, albeit certain entrants treat it like one.

nick3216 - Member
> Unless you are being paid to do it, it is only a hobby.
No, that's the difference between amateur and professional, that is, as a profession. Which is not to say that the amateurs don't treat it as seriously as the professional.

from dictionary.com

hob·by1 ? ?[hob-ee]
noun, plural -bies.
1.
an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation: Her hobbies include stamp-collecting and woodcarving.

while you've got the dictionary handy check the definitions of amateur and professional instead of only those sources that suit you

-1

I'm confused.

When I turned 40 I won a local road race that I had never won before I was 40. I had finished 2nd in a previous year and in a faster time.
Given that I won it in a slower time than I was capable of a few years earlier does that mean I should not have run it given that I was clearly past my peak?
Does that invalidate all the runners that finished behind me or only those who were also past their peak and slowing.

In seriousness as an aging competitive runner I am at a loss to understand anyone asking some of the questions above.

oldgit you post quite often on here about not being very good, maybe you should just give up on racing, or thinking you can win, and just enjoy riding your bike.

You need to find a challange you enjoy and stop beating yourslef up about 'not being very good'.

I'm 44 and I've felt quite slow at the start of this year but I'm starting to pick up speed again and I'm feeling good now and looking forward to a year of great riding. I don't race anymore as I just don't feel the need. I understand you may need that though.

[i]Is everyone at a sportive there to race?[/i]

Most are there to race themselves but yeh some people do treat them like proper races.

🙂

My mate way back from the days of black and white reckons I've always been like this when I'm not actually racing.
So in theory a 100 mile round trip to race at the Hog Hill circuit in a few weeks should cure me.

Hello Oldgit. Having ridden with you a bit over the years, I kind of know your strengths and weaknesses, strength = good endurance/diesel engine type rider, weakness = no top end speed. As you age, you need to spend proportionately more time on proper speed work and less on endurance.

You know all this, and you know what you need to do about getting quicker (we've gone through it endless times...), but I don't think it fits in with what you like doing (long rides, group rides). As far as I can tell you don't do the speedwork, so you won't improve your weak points. Simples.

From what I know about road racing, a lot of the old boys are ex 1st cats, elite riders who have a fair bit of natural talent as well as knowing how to train smart. Oh, and Druidh - racing sportives and road races are worlds apart.

So, change yourself to meet your goals (ie train right), or change your goals to match your strengths (ie pick long events, enduros, etc).

druidh
If I was to enter and turn up at a "Road Race" and use it just to check out my progress over the winter - i.e. not racing to win - would that invalidate it as a race for everyone else?

Of course not, but its explicit purpose is to be a race.

You should do it tho, you might understand a bit better.

And stop obsessing about your age in a negative way, maybe try focusing on building a bit more power instead. That's what goes as you get older.

ChrisF - Member
Oh, and Druidh - racing sportives and road races are worlds apart.

Remember ...protect your bubble

I'm sorry to burst anyone's bubble but SPORITVES AREN'T RACES.

They're no more competitive than my local chaingang.

Anyone who thinks they are is kidding themselves.

If they were races they would need far more marshalling and their courses would be severely restricted.

The only bubbles being burst here are those of the wannabe Pros who've just never been good enough to make it and who therefore like to pretend at the weekend that their hobby is something a lot more serious than it really is.

Edit: actually, that sounds a bit harsh. At least they're not clogging up the end of railway platforms....... in their anoraks.

sportives are road racing for golfists who keep fit.

& that's from someone who likes sportives.

[i]The only bubbles being burst here are those of the wannabe Pros who've just never been good enough to make it and who therefore like to pretend at the weekend that their hobby is something a lot more serious than it really is.[/i]

...said the man who never raced.

How do you think sport works?
Do you think that professional sports people emerge, fully formed from the womb?
Or maybe the grass roots of sports are important, maybe that is where the professionals of tomorrow learn how to do a sport well, maybe there is the opportunity for people to pass on skills, to support others, to help them reach their goal. Fannying about in sportives isn't going to produce the next Roger Hammond, David Millar and so on, racing will.

Poor troll druidh. Poor troll.

Passing down any of the knowledge I have has been a fairly rewarding substitute in part.
Forming the club last summer, teaching newcomers how to ride fast in a group, sharing the etiquette, letting them know what to expect on the day etc and then to have one of your guys pick up a second place in the clubs first race of the year. Well that was more than pleasant.

Ah yes - passing on the old ways is important. How else will the next generation of trainspotters know where to get the best view of the 10:18 from Doncaster? 😛

[i]Ah yes - passing on the old ways is important.[/i]

That's why you have a blog?