LVRC

Tom Butcher

What's the racing like compared to lower cat BC stuff. Anyone in a position to compare it to 3/4 cat racing - I know the top guys are faster but is it generally tougher all round, how big are the fields, style of racing, length of courses etc ?

jimmoffatt

Tom

I am a vet and rode both vets and BC 3/4 races last year. Firstly, the racing is different. My experience is that the bike handling in the vets races is much better, presumably because a lot of the riders are ex top riders. Also breaks go and stay away more in the vet races because the bunch does not chase them and then all sit up and wait for a bunch sprint.

Obviously, it depends who rides but the good vet races are harder then a 3/4 race. Distance is about the same and the courses are fairly similar around the north of London/Chilterns area where I was racing.

The fields are usually big but organisers split them into age categories to keep each race to around 40/50.

All the vets seem to have £5k bikes :roll:

Jim

Toks

Tom Butcher wrote:

What's the racing like compared to lower cat BC stuff. Anyone in a position to compare it to 3/4 cat racing - I know the top guys are faster but is it generally tougher all round, how big are the fields, style of racing, length of courses etc ?

I did a few of the LVRC races on alternative wednesday's at Hillingdon. In general the the bike handling is better and people instantly know what to do when they get into breaks - thru and off. In terms of intensity it felt like a 3rd cat race overall. The race always seem to fragment into different groups after a few laps, I was usually in a group behind the leading breakaway.

OffTheBackAdam

I rode a few many years ago, very embarrassing for a "mid -30s" rider to get completely thrashed by some old codger pushing 60! :oops: , especially when said old codger tells me not to get in the way of him & the other old codger in the sprint.
Get in the way? I was 20 yards behind them at the line.

Me " I got absolutely stuffed in the sprint by that old git"
Teammate "Do you know who he is"?
Me "No"
Teammate " He's ....... ........., won the Tour of Britain in 195-"
Mind you, Malcolm Elliot would qualify for the 45-50 age group.
Then again, so would I now

Monty Dog

The races and courses obviously depend on what region you're in. I ride region 9/10 races and can confirm the races are better than BC races - in the A/Bs we often have 1st & 2nd cat riders keeping the pace high. You'll often find quite a few ex-pros and elites riding too. Races usually split up into smaller groups, so large bunch sprints are rarer.