New to racing

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I'm new to cycling...and a little apprehensive to join a race. I feel that I can hold my own during training rides. What average speed should I be able to hold before I consider joining a race...what about distance?

Thanks!

Racing is more about bike handling than speed. You should feel comfortable being close to other riders in group rides before you head out to a race. If you have been training with others and feel the speed is good and can handle a bike halfway decently, then go ahead and sign up for a local race. Be prepared to see some squirrely riders at the entry level/cat5 race. Ya gotta start somewhere. You might get lapped (many of us did early on), but hang in there. It's like having children, you're never 100% prepared.

A cat 5 (entry/beginner level) race is usually in the 23-25mph area around this area. Sometimes higher around 27-29mph, depending on what teams show up, what the course is like, etc. Final sprints can go 35+mph very easily.

A cat 5 (entry/beginner level) race is usually in the 23-25mph area around this area. Sometimes higher around 27-29mph, depending on what teams show up, what the course is like, etc. Final sprints can go 35+mph very easily.

Point being that average speeds are usually a fair bit higher than you'd achieve on your own in training or small groups - riding in a bunch give you lots more shelter, so that even if you struggle to maintain 30kph solo, in a bunch you could easily be riding along at 40kph for less effort.

consequently, it was literally 33 miles of warm up... 1.75 miles of "race pace"... and a monster sprint with 50 guys swerving and dropping and crashing.




I'm a sprinter, so that sounds perfect to me... :-)

Seriously though, if it's too slow, ride away and win it! Or at least shake it up a little.

taking the step into racing my not be as rewarding as you hope. i HATE to be a wet blanket here... but i'm a little disgusted w/ my last cat 5 race.

it was 35 miles (they always give the cat 5s the shortest distance) and the speeds were sometimes as low as 15mph. the constant word the entire race was "SLOWING". no one could mount any sort of collective effort for a real break away- and no one wanted to lead the damn thing.

consequently, it was literally 33 miles of warm up... 1.75 miles of "race pace"... and a monster sprint with 50 guys swerving and dropping and crashing.

real quality stuff there.

the next day- did a 60 mile training ride w/ my pals which was faster, harder, and more enjoyable than the race i drove 8 hours to attend.

i'm really not trying to hammer you down- ive had great races, too... i just hope you may get a little more insight into the "mystique" that IS cat5 racing.

ive been told that the key is to just deal w/ the cat5 (crap5) until you can go cat4.


my $.02

Ironic thing, no crashes in my Cat 5 race last Saturday even though we had a big field of 55, and some pretty poor road conditions. On the other hand, t there was a crash in the Cat. 4's, and another in the Cat. 3's. My team tent looked like a MASH unit for a while.

In 12 races I've done this year, I've only actually seen 1 crash and heard of 1 other crash in the Cat. 5's.

Everybody talks about how much "safer" it is in the higher Cats., but think about last last couple of TDF's and other pro races you've watched. Ulrich crashes into his team car, Tyler Hamilton crashes and breaks his collarbone, Armstrong crashes in the Tour of Switzerland, yada yada yada.

My point is, cycling involves crashing at every level. Cut the Cat. 5's a little slack, willya.

Bob

I attended my first Cat 5 race this last Sunday. The pace of the leaders was somewhere around 24-25 mph, I was considerably off-pace at 20 mph but still finished respectably and crash-free.

Cat 5 races typically aren't very tactical. That's my experience, but I've only entered in two races...

Cat 5 races typically aren't very tactical. That's my experience, but I've only entered in two races...

If you can get a couple of guys to work together in cat5s, you''ll rule since most guys either hang back waiting to sprint or jump of the front and get cooked using virtually no teamwork. When you move up to 4s you usually have a few larger teams that employ tactics like attacks, blocking, etc.

I attended my first Cat 5 race this last Sunday. The pace of the leaders was somewhere around 24-25 mph, I was considerably off-pace at 20 mph but still finished respectably and crash-free.

They allowed you to finish? In my race today, but was pulled out once I was about to get lapped.

On a side note, if I don't finish a (Cat 4/5) race, does it still count towards the 10 race minimum?

Ironic thing, no crashes in my Cat 5 race last Saturday even though we had a big field of 55, and some pretty poor road conditions. On the other hand, t there was a crash in the Cat. 4's, and another in the Cat. 3's. My team tent looked like a MASH unit for a while.

In 12 races I've done this year, I've only actually seen 1 crash and heard of 1 other crash in the Cat. 5's.

Everybody talks about how much "safer" it is in the higher Cats., but think about last last couple of TDF's and other pro races you've watched. Ulrich crashes into his team car, Tyler Hamilton crashes and breaks his collarbone, Armstrong crashes in the Tour of Switzerland, yada yada yada.

My point is, cycling involves crashing at every level. Cut the Cat. 5's a little slack, willya.

BobThere was a crash in every race I did this year, so far. Around here they call it Crash 5. Rarely any crashes in the local pro,1,2,3 races I've watched, though.

On a side note, if I don't finish a (Cat 4/5) race, does it still count towards the 10 race minimum?

To upgrade from 5 to 4 you need "experience" in 10 mass-start races. You do not need to finish any of them.

Bob

They allowed you to finish? In my race today, but was pulled out once I was about to get lapped.

On a side note, if I don't finish a (Cat 4/5) race, does it still count towards the 10 race minimum?Yeah, they didn't pull anyone from this race. The field size was only 25 so that may have had something to do with it.

A cat 5 (entry/beginner level) race is usually in the 23-25mph area around this area. Sometimes higher around 27-29mph, depending on what teams show up, what the course is like, etc. Final sprints can go 35+mph very easily.27-29mph?!?!?!?!?!?!? For beginners level?!?!?!?!? Where do you live? Beginners that average the same as the TDF riders...AMAZING!

27-29mph?!?!?!?!?!?!? For beginners level?!?!?!?!? Where do you live? Beginners that average the same as the TDF riders...AMAZING!I didn't mean 27-29mph for the duration of the race. 27-29mph bursts are not uncommon. Usually only for a few minutes at the very most.


You also need to think, the TDF stages are mostly 100+ mile races. Its a lot harder to keep a high average speed for that long. I bet if any of them were in a cat 5 length race (usually around 20 miles around here, give or take) their average speed would be well over 27mph because they wouldn't suffer the fatigue associated with the longer races they do.

You also need to think, the TDF stages are mostly 100+ mile races. Its a lot harder to keep a high average speed for that long. I bet if any of them were in a cat 5 length race (usually around 20 miles around here, give or take) their average speed would be well over 27mph because they wouldn't suffer the fatigue associated with the longer races they do.

......not to mention the fact that they race 21 days with only 2 days off & not to mention that their average speeds include stints in the Pyrenees and Alps with the attendant above category climbs.

Bob

......not to mention the fact that they race 21 days with only 2 days off & not to mention that their average speeds include stints in the Pyrenees and Alps with the attendant above category climbs.

Bob
But the average speeds for those stages aren't much slower than flat stages, because they make up so much on the descents.

But the average speeds for those stages aren't much slower than flat stages, because they make up so much on the descents.

Not really. If you do a 20 km climb at 17 kph (vs. 50 kph on the flats), you simply can't make up the time lost on the descent.

Bob

......not to mention the fact that they race 21 days with only 2 days off & not to mention that their average speeds include stints in the Pyrenees and Alps with the attendant above category climbs.

BobExactly. If you put a cat 5 racer in those conditions the average speed over the entire tour would be what? MAYBE 12-14mph?

I'm new to cycling...and a little apprehensive to join a race. I feel that I can hold my own during training rides. What average speed should I be able to hold before I consider joining a race...what about distance?

Thanks!Average speed has little to do with road racing. Road racing is more about acclerations way outside your comfort zone, recovery, bike handling, and accelerating and recovering again, and again, and again. If your training rides are group rides, and you can safely ride hard with others, handle your bike, take a drink, etc., sign up for and commit to doing a series or group of races, not just one race. Most people get dropped in their 1st race, so it's not advisable to base a decision about whether you like racing or not until you do a few races. Depending on where you are in the world, alot of race seasons are winding down.

One of the other posters was complaining about the pace of a cat 5 race being slow (I however didnt notice that poster stating their race result), that's true, there will be times when you feel like you're toodling along doing nothing. Then just when you think racing is easy, a big acceleration will happen and you'll find yourself at or beyond your limit - that's when people get dropped.

Crashing happens at all levels of the sport, worst race I did this year had 6 or 7 crashes, and it was a Masters 30+ race, comprised mostly of Cat 1s and 2s. Crashing in Cat 5 happens too, my observation is that Cat 5 crashes usually are caused by the lack of experience the riders have.