How long to be a credible Cat 4 or am I just crap (road content)

Shit, bad luck dr…all the best with the recovery.

That sucks, healing vibes to you

🙁 shit man, that really sucks! Hope your recovery goes well.

Dirtyrider, ouch, healing vibes.

Returning to racing this weekend having not raced since end of March (head not in it). Have lost some top end due to 2 weeks of antibiotics….doing 3 races over the next 3 weekends, 2 of which are stage races is a nice way to ease back into racing 🙄 Should have been peaking in a few weeks for my target event but that’s not going to happen after the time off / antibiotics & Laura Trott & Jo Rowsell on the start sheet for it too so maybe just as well my goals have changed.

That’s terrible :-(. From one who is also healing. I do hope you make a swift recovery. There is no doubt that a racing timetable gives some very good recovery goals.

Our little 3 man break stayed out tonight, finally got the elusive point 🙂

Nice work 🙂 Where were you racing?

Stourport circuit, Tuesday night series 3/4.

Nearly didn’t bother with all the rain kicking about!

Seems as good a place as any to ask…I’ve done a few circuits and have been accepted for my first road race in July.

What do you normally carry…spare tube, levers and pump as a get me back?

i wouldn’t bother carrying anything, if you flat its race over surely, you’d never catch back on

Nothing, that’s what neutral service are there for. Plus crashing in a race is bad enough without having pump etc in pocket!

Haha, someone’s been riding to many national events 😉 never seen neutral service up ‘ere!!

Don’t carry anything, the courses are generally only 10 mile loops so the furthest you’ll be away is 5 miles, walk or ride the rim.

Yeah kinda realise I wouldn’t be able to whip the tube out, check the tyre, install new tube then chase back on to a 25mph bunch!

@monksyfudger really?! Even in my local races (Scotland) we will have 2 neutral service cars! Only time I’ve not seen service car was at the early CDNW women’s series.

Yeah kinda realise I wouldn’t be able to whip the tube out, check the tyre, install new tube then chase back on to a 25mph bunch!

whats the point then?

I’ve seen ’em in maybe one CDNW race I’ve done but they sure as hell weren’t following the 3/4’s!

whats the point then?

To get back…

What I carry depends on the race. Normally I carry a tube, small light pump and very basic tool in a holder in a bottle cage (normally one 500ml or 750ml bottle will see me through a 60mile race). Very occasionally I’ll carry a gilet in a pocket as well if the weather looks dicey.

Neutral service is rare in the races I’ve done. Some races can be quite windswept and remote. So I make sure I can get back to the car riding rather than walking or standing on top of a hill in the wind and a summer jersey. The weight will make no difference, might be all of a few hundred grams. You’ll never get back on but I don’t fancy walking in my carbon shoes.

In very short circuit races and crits I won’t bother.

[What do you normally carry…spare tube, levers and pump as a get me back?]

You can give marked up spares to any of the service cars, or make other arrangements. I’ve never carried anything in forty years of racing and I’ve never walked a single inch.
In crits of circuit races the tub will get you back or through a shortcut.

Never carry anything in races, that’s part of the joy of it. No faffing with seat packs, no unnecessary weight, its the one chance you get to ride free!

The one time I was unable to ride the bike after an incident (hit a pothole, blew the tyre) I got a lift back to HQ with one of the marshals.

Generally I won’t even try chasing back on, I treat neutral service as an emergency get-back-to-HQ help.

Cheers, travelling light it is then.

I’ve done a few crits and never bothered since it’s obviously such a short distance, just wondered what the general practise was for road races.

Yep, I’ve been prepared to walk but fortunately not had to yet. Water bottle only.

Its the same on a 10mile TT but I did take my phone with me on the last one. Though if needed, I probably could have walked back to the car quicker than any call for help to my other half.

Well my stage race didn’t go to plan after some stupid inexperienced rider rode into me twice in the space of seconds at 25mph, the second time with enough force to take me down less than 1km from the finish. Head injury, whiplash, road rash, bruises, ribs hurt & damage to my wheel. Fainted when I got home so had a lovely trip to a&e on Saturday night. 🙁

^ Ouch, get well soon ^

First time looking at this thread and it’s brilliant! Proper camaraderie rather than the willy waving macho stuff that takes over most race related threads.

Just got back from the first big training ride since being attacked by a tree at the National round last week, and finally seem to have found some form! My back was still quite stiff but better than it had been (I can actually put on my socks in the morning now ), and putting out much better power than early in the season. 20 minute is up by about 30W (305-335) and I’ve managed to get 5 min power back to where it was last season (425w).

Bring on the national round 5!! 😀

FFS Dirtygirl, feel for you!

Sheesh, bad luck Dirtygirl, I hope your recovery goes quickly!

So, I was going to race a Cat 4 with a suitable profile for me on Saturday, and I’m feeling strong atm. But the club has its annual seaside outing on the same day, a 100 mile opportunity for time in the saddle and the merits of a group ride with good riders, meaning some on/off, turns, pace etc before the Tour d’Cambridgshire and Velothon Wales in the following weekends…

What to do…

Kryton, race, it’s what all the work is for.

Dirtygirl, that’s a right pain, hope you’re back on the bike soon.

Recent racing here has been of the pointy helmet variety only, but any update probably belongs in the bike racing doldrums thread!

Kryton, race, it’s what all the work is for.

this

Hard luck DGOAB, heal fast!

Another 4 points in the bag tonight, but perhaps more importantly I’m beginning to feel a lot more comfortable, able to look around and takes things in as opposed to just hanging on.

Kryton, I’d say race. No better training for racing than racing?

Best of luck with the recovery DG…

it’s what all the work is for.

Good point. I’ve missed the online entry so I’ll rock up and see if I can get in on the day.

This does mean a hilly Sunday ride as well though!

Meh. A flat race, dropped after 10 of 25 laps, asked off after 20 with 5 to go. The race averaged 40kmh. Much worse than I expected of myself. Speaking to my club colleagues I probably made a tactical mistake by starting near the back of the grid, with a 110 degree narrowing bend 50m after the start. Hence I was always at the back of the elastic.

After being dropped I work with 2 then 1 rider. I though we were working together well but after 3-4 laps I looked behind me during my turn and he was 50 yards back. I soft pedalled a bit to allow him back so we could work together but he wasn’t interested and 1 lap later retired. I rode the rest on my own, was lapped by the pack and tried to stay on the back, but I was beyond their pace.

I’m starting to think crit racing isn’t for me. I can OK at XC but for road, I’m just not powerful enough. This is despite increasing numbers and strong clubs rides. Sigh.

Don’t dismiss crits, you just cocked up by allowing yourself to be dropped. The very last drop of your energy should be spent on holding onto that last wheel, but ideally you’ll have been using that grey matter between your ears and will have 50 wheels behind you as insurance.

The necesity to sometimes dig really deep to hold position when all you want to do is to give up will serve you well in xc races.

😀

If you’re starting from the back you need to move up quickly…even going up the side in the wind.

I nearly always end up starting from a similar spot, first time I made the front on Tuesday and missed my clips. Cue a swarm of riders passing…

Clearly you were stronger than the other riders who were dropped. You’ve finished in the bunch before, can can again, probably racecraft and a more technical course made the difference this time.

I spent the afternoon marshalling at the National RR Champs (as opposed to racing in it 🙁 )

I would have won the ladies e1/2 with my effort. 8)

I’m pissed off tbh. I think I had the fitness but not the wherewithal or balls to sit up front on the line. I know this is “only” my 10th race but I had to watch two of my club (And congrats to them because I am pleased) that I ride with as more or less equals fight for top 10 yet I come away with a dnf.

I’m sick of coming away with nothing and finding it hard to deal with, despite watching (another clubs) ladies being please just to finish a race. I wish I could be happy with that, but I can’t.

Krypton, can I suggest maybe a complete break from racing for a defined period of time. I totally understand where you are coming from, you put in all that work but didn’t rise to the heights you aspired to.
Taking some time away from it you come out of that dark place, ride your bike purely for pleasure, and realise the futility of it all. On coming to terms with this (and laughing at yourself for being so obsessed), you can then pick races that you think will be fun to do regardless of the results and start training for them in a better frame of mind.
You will also find that compared to the average mtb’er your are extremely fit and fast, and that’s good for the ego.

Well, except that I’m in the middle of my XC season within which I’m performing to my expectations mostly, I don’t want to stop that, as I have my target event at the end of July.

Its the road stuff that bothers me. I’m happy enough pushing on club rides and sportives, but the crits are mentally challenging because they have the ability to make you feel worse than very average despite all the effort one puts in. I appreciate that on 6-7hrs a week I’ll never be a superstar, but neither do I want to be “that guy at the back”.

The race I did yesterday is part of a three week series – same course same cat an pretty much the same conditions are forecast for next Saturday. Maybe I should do it and get up the front, the only thing stopping me is that I have the Tour of Cambridge ride the next day, within which I wanted to do my share of the work for my club “train” and for my own benefit rather than being tired.

Kryton, you must have realised by now you can’t do well and do hard each and every day, every week, every class.

Keep at the XC if that’s a target, use the crits as training/experience and don’t get hung up on where you finish?

Tough not to be a little disappointed if you don’t do as well as you’d like, but bigger picture and all that…

Surely next weekend a race should take priority over a sportive?