At what point do you think you can become competitive?
i.e. local XC race's
I' used to be fast then I had a 8 month gap in riding, after todays ride round Sherwood pines and smashing a few PB's, I got wondering how close I am to being competitive, Now I'm not saying for one second that I'm at that stage yet but we have to have aspirations right?!
I'm averaging a top 10-25% on Strava segment tables,
Is this anywhere near good?
The majority of my rides are spent lone riding but the occasional weekends friends (some of which who are a little faster),So I have little to compare to when actually out, hence the use of Strava,
I'm sure with coaching on skills and practice I could push myself much further.
Or am I just barking up the wrong tree and slow down to enjoy the scenery?!
I thought Strava was for people who didn't race (as it was too hard)....
give it a try, nobody'll die
(as a direct result)
(probably)
race what you like when you like really no one cares
you might not win , you might not come last , who gives a hoot.
one things for sure- you will get faster racing than any training or stravaing will ever get you.
i have alot more respect for those at races who turn up with no hope of winning but a gert big smile than the serious race heads who throw tantrums when it goes wrong.
You'll be amazed at how fast races are, I remember thinking I was quick then being just gob smacked at how fast races were after lining up next to a mate on the second line of an NPS XC Masters. Then I realised Master's was just full of Elites who were trying to sandbag and raced Sport instead, much farer race, but still ridiculously competitive.
footflaps - Member
I thought Strava was for people who didn't race (as it was too hard)....
Too true thats why there is a lot of racers on there doing training....
Honestly you wont know until you try, I top the local segments in some areas in others I'm nowhere near, it's hard to make a 20-40km looped segment round here.
Turn up join the bottom cat and see how you do, if your top 5 move up one
I'm liking the words of encouragement, sod it, what's the worst that could happen?!
You could crash and break your bike and yourself?
Enter open. You'll come mid table at worst, top 10% at best. There really is only one way to find out!
I just did some interval hill training, I chose two hills that I knew were short Strava segments. On one I got 3rd/38 (yay!) and the other I got 38/250-odd. These were road segments though and the top of the leaderboard were that quick that I was able to google their results.
Want to race - join a event that will give you real feed back. Or why not join the STRAVA challenges thats more of a level playing field.
It depends, are most of your local ridersI'm averaging a top 10-25% on Strava segment tables,
Is this anywhere near good?
A. average stwers ie middle aged over weight dandy horse-ists
or
B. 9stone racing snakes with a resting heart rate of 12 and a BC approved training plan
?
but yeah give racing a go, it's fun*
*i have never [b]raced[/b] raced, I've only done events which involve a slight element of competitiveness and a rather larger element of having a laugh (ssuk, htn etc)
There are a lot more quick people on the road segments btw than MTB ones.
Just do it, When I first raced I was terribly slow but it soon gave me something to aim for. I wouldn't go straight into nationals, partly as they are not as welcoming and also the courses tend to be quite dull, (In my experience.) Depending on where you're based I would go for something like Nutcracker or Brownbacks.
There are a lot more quick people on the road segments btw than MTB ones.
This. There's no chance of a KOM on most roads in my area - they're blocked out by Ian Bibby, Jack Pullar and Tejvan Pettinger.
I'm always happy with a top 10.
This. There's no chance of a KOM on most roads in my area - they're blocked out by Ian Bibby, Jack Pullar and Tejvan Pettinger.
I'm always happy with a top 10.
Yeah me too, held 5th for a while, tbh I never pushed it since, shame on me!
Strava isn't really much of a guide for races...I reckon you either are competitive or your not so you don't suddenly just turn competitive...during a race you will get a race head on and either go eyeballs out and finish or not...but basing it on results from Strava isn't going to tell you anything until you enter a race and see how you go against proper racers...
So get up and get entered...good luck!
Unless you're a genetic freak, racing just consists of hitting the pain barrier within 10 seconds of the start, then staying there for the entire race, before collapsing afterwards. I have some shocking HR plots from XC races, normally mean HR was over 185 and peak about 197 for 90 mins or thereabouts:
[url= http://farm1.staticflickr.com/232/470157963_2f0c8573a7.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/470157963/ ]HR trace from SXC round #1[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/brf/ ]brf[/url], on Flickr
Footflaps looks a lot like one of mine! XC races are flat out sprint from the start line to the finish (well for me anyway.)