Your First Race

[nescius]

Finally bit the bullet. Signed up for my first race which is a 48km handicap race. Assume I will be in the first group off, no idea how they can handicap me given I have never raced before or ridden with them at all.

Either way, slightly nervous but pretty excited.

Good stuff! Handicaps are all about working with the people in your bunch to stay ahead of the chasing bunches, be prepared to work hard

[GAV!N]

Just signed up for the rest of the year and 2014. Should get a few races in before the end of the year! Excited!

[Pedaling]

Hey Derny,

Thanks for the great advice, as I signed up to a race license with Randwick Botany on the 1st of October.
Unfortunately there is no racing this weekend at Hefferon, so I will have to wait until next week.
I am tagging along with some of the lads tomorrow riding the three gorges ride. Should be a blast.
Cheers DD,

Darrin.

[Derny Driver]

Hey Derny,

Thanks for the great advice, as I signed up to a race license with Randwick Botany on the 1st of October.
Unfortunately there is no racing this weekend at Hefferon, so I will have to wait until next week.
I am tagging along with some of the lads tomorrow riding the three gorges ride. Should be a blast.
Cheers DD,

Darrin.

Good stuff mate. You wont look back now.
There is a nice 37km scratch race on at Illawarra on Sunday 8:30am. Grades A,B,C,D. + kids races and women only races.... on a real road with hills and stuff. 1hr15mins drive from Maroubra/ Randwick.
Come down and get your arse handed to you by old blokes in wheelchairs and 14 year old pimply faced kids.
We race every Sunday morning, google Illawarra cycle club.

[nickobec]

Finally bit the bullet. Signed up for my first race which is a 48km handicap race. Assume I will be in the first group off, no idea how they can handicap me given I have never raced before or ridden with them at all.

They will handicap you by sight alone (age, build, leg muscles etc)

Handicappers are not known for their generosity (unless it involves bottles of port ) and are usually conservative in natures, so expect to be in a group or two above what your really would be in.

[Toolish]

Early 30s, legs not toned or shaved, carrying about 15kg extra fat...should be a shoe in for the lowest grade I hope!

[ironhanglider]

Early 30s, legs not toned or shaved, carrying about 15kg extra fat...should be a shoe in for the lowest grade I hope!

What and ride against folk who are older and fatter? There are lots of us out there.

A handicap can be a tough way to start. The only way to win a handicap is to catch those in front and to stay ahead of those behind and the most likely way to do that is to make sure that your bunch is the one that wins. This means that a bunch that works together will usually perform better than one that has people shirking their turn and others getting upset by that (because they assume that everyone has the same ability and should therefore should be doing the same amount of work).

If you are familiar with riding in bunches that are working together this should be ok. If not, let the others know before the start and ask them to let you know what you should be doing. That way they may be happy for you to just sit on the back and watch for a while at the start so you can see what is expected.

I was going to write a brief description of how it works but this does it pretty well.




Cheers,

Cameron

[nickobec]

Early 30s, legs not toned or shaved, carrying about 15kg extra fat...should be a shoe in for the lowest grade I hope!

Probably not

The rider off limit at the handicap today was 76. He is a good ITT rider and managed to beat a number of riders home and managed better times than riders who started behind him in groups.

I joined the local masters club and was told too young and too skinny to ride D grade, I need to ride C grade (Grades range from A to E) I am early 50s, carrying extra 5kg and legs a little toned but not shaved.

[nickobec]

duplicate post deleted

[Toolish]

First race done, there was 1 guy who went off alone, I was in the next group. Full report coming to the race report thread, short story - that was fun and it hurt!

[ldrcycles]

short story - that was fun and it hurt!

Yep that sounds like a race, you're doing it right! . Congrats.

[foo on patrol]

First race was in the novice section at Ipswich Velodrome, on a bike I made up from the dump and won it. As the say the rest was history because the bug had bitten.

Foo

[ironhanglider]

First race done, there was 1 guy who went off alone, I was in the next group. Full report coming to the race report thread, short story - that was fun and it hurt!

Looking forward to the report!

Cheers,

Cameron

[Pedaling]

I am racing my first race at Hefferon on Saturday.
It is a crit, and I have been watching the crit races now for the past two months, to see who is strong, tactics, etc.
I have also ridden the course many times in different conditions, although nothing like racing.
During the crit who do I work with?
How do I motivate people to join in to work together to chase, or break away?
I suppose all will be revealed on Saturday,
Thanks.

Darrin.

[Derny Driver]

I am racing my first race at Hefferon on Saturday.
It is a crit, and I have been watching the crit races now for the past two months, to see who is strong, tactics, etc.
I have also ridden the course many times in different conditions, although nothing like racing.
During the crit who do I work with?
How do I motivate people to join in to work together to chase, or break away?
I suppose all will be revealed on Saturday,
Thanks.

Darrin.

Just try to stay near the front all race, in the first 5 or 6 riders. Don't spend too much time leading the race. Try to relax and just follow wheels. Near the front you will get a better run around the corners. Maintaining good speed around the corners is the key. If you get caught at the rear of the field you will be blocked into the corners and have to accelerate hard out of them. Then you will cook yourself real quick. The trick is to just roll around the corners maintaining speed and conserving energy. In a breakaway the riders usually pull a turn for the length of a straight then run wide in the next corner and allow the others to cut inside. You then go to the back of the group or slot in a few riders back. I would advise you to not attempt to create a breakaway, and let others close the gaps to breakaways. In other words, do nothing except follow wheels and stay near the front. If the race splits and you are in the front group, well then pull a few turns. But in your first race, don't even expect to finish it, let alone dream of a result. It took me about 6 crits before I finished one and I was actually quite good at them. It will take time to get the hang of it.

[WarrenH]

The first race, was about three decades, plus a couple of years, ago. It was a 10k TT on the parkway here in Canberra. Two notable riders in the race were, Neil Stephens and Stephen Hodge. They just looked like ordinary guys ... just the local LBS guys. I can't remember if I raced dope free then, but perhaps not. It was in the early 80's and there was plenty of cheap Budda going around and I blame my performance on ... associating with art student, back then.

Steven Hodge built my race bike when he was working for Spokesman Cycles. Spokesman Cycles were at the O'Connor shops back then. The bike was Ishiwata cromoly tubing with Campagnolo 80th Anniversery gear and Mavic rims. I had the same bike as Steven Hodge back then. He told me that it was the second best racing bike in Oz then ... only his was better, because of him.

I enjoyed my first TT immensely. When the times were being read out after the race, my time was creditable and a couple of riders came up and welcomed me to the group and asked me if I would like to join them before work, pelotoning on the Parkway at some ungodly hour. Then one of the blokes said, "Next week, think about getting rid of the Dunlop Volleys, they're not the best shoes to race in." The next day I went back to Spokesman and I bought some Sidi cycling shoes and some expensive leather fingerless gloves.

I'll post some shots from back then ... It might take a while to find them. It will be good to drag them out.

Warren.

[ldrcycles]

I'll post some shots from back then

Warren.

Please do, it sounds cool.

[Pedaling]

Thanks DD,
I have been training hard over the last four months, so I hope I am strong enough to hold on.
I would like to come down to the Gong when I have a bit more experience, and race, hopefully before Xmas.
Thanks again, your advice is great.
Cheers,

Darrin.

[ft_critical]

How do I motivate people to join in to work together to chase, or break away?

This is a great question.

From my experience, very few people even try, thus they never know nor does anything ever happen. Yet, I think it is a big advantage in a race. If you are the motivator, you essentially have people working for you (with you at least) like a team. You are a bit like the Captain.

I try to do it when we get a small break. You are most convincing as you roll back from a decent turn, talking to each of the riders, encouraging them to work together. I think that you would be surprised, that these little words and offering that faint hope can be super motivating to people in the break. Really cycling is so simple, everyone thinks pretty much the same, so you just need to spark them.
It is funny though, I have been in the breaks where no one talks, you just roll through, you don't need to talk. Rolling past tighter and tighter as the rhythm grows. Everyone becomes this silent, symbiotic being. That is so cool when it happens.

Getting people to chase the break... In the Nat Masters ES rolled up the line and got everyone organised and working. It was simple words, 'work together, roll turns etc.' nothing special. But that was all it took for 10 of us (so not everyone) to suddenly work hard together to chase the break down. All but one rider caught it turned out and of course ES rolled us on the line for 2nd.

In summary, few people do it, more people should and it takes surprisingly little to motivate people. That is just my experience though.

[Pedaling]

Thanks FT,
Appreciate the advice, especially the part about when to start talking/motivating, and how to demonstrate your willingness and credability to the group.
Cheers,

Darrin.
BTW where do you normally race mate? I have just joined Randwick Botany.

[ft_critical]

BTW where do you normally race mate? I have just joined Randwick Botany.

Anywhere my wife will let me


I am NSCC. Beaumont (home race), West Head, Heffron, Lansdowne, Eastern Creek, Calga. Very occasionally, Penrith and SOP. Some races in the country

[WarrenH]

Please do, it sounds cool.

Idrcycles, G'day. From 1982-'83, in the era of the hair nets. I didn't have a hair net, I was a progressive, and had a shell style helmet ... and stinking hot it was too. It only lasted one season before it got the boot.

The climb to Smokers Gap. The bloke on the far left is Eddie Salas (aka Eddie Salas Cycles in Rooty Hill). It was rumoured that when Eddie started to sprint, he peddled with so much power, that the earth stopped rotating.



I wont have a chance to post more images until next Tuesday. Please call back.

Warren.

[ft_critical]

The bloke on the far left is Eddie Salas (aka Eddie Salas Cycles in Rooty Hill). It was rumoured that when Eddie started to sprint, he peddled with so much power, that the earth stopped rotating.

Funny. He is the same ES I refer to in my post three above yours.
He can almost still stop it.

[Pedaling]

How good was that!
Completed my first race today, at a windy Heffron park.
Raced C grade crit race with Randwick/Botany, learnt a hell of a lot, and a great time doing it.
Really appreciate DD's advice, stayed at second and third wheel for most of the race, until the sprint.
Premature sprint, I went way too early, but you live and learn.
I will post a race report later.
Cheers,

Darrin.

[foo on patrol]

It's bloody good when you become hooked on racing Darrin!

Foo