First race experience

amaferanga

It went well, but I got dropped on the last lap. Bit of a tactical error - the fast group caught us on the 2nd last lap to make one big group, but I was sitting towards the back when the group split with several riders taking off up the road. Looked like no-one was going to do anything so I had a crack at bridging the gap and joining the break away group, but couldn't quite catch them and blew up in the process. My group then caught me, but I hadn't recovered enough to sit on. By the time I had recovered we were into the windy bit of the circuit and I couldn't close the gap.

Bit annoyed that I didn't get to take part in a sprint at the finish, but next race I'll (hopefully) be smarter and fitter and up there at the end.

Average speed for me was 36.5km/h with normalised power 280W (last FTP test on the turbo gave 280W) and I exceeded what I thought my HRmax was by 5bpm. Its amazing what a bit of adrenalin can do.....

hopper1

Well done, mate. Keep at it.
My first race will be coming, soon...

JesseD

Well done, sounds like you learned some lessons the hard way, but it will stand you in good stead for your next race.

My 1st race is on Good Friday, hopefully I can do as well as you did. 8)

jibberjim

I got dropped on the 2nd lap of my first race, within 8 minutes of the start. So you're miles up on me! You'll do a lot better next time.

sheffsimon

amaferanga wrote:

It went well, but I got dropped on the last lap. Bit of a tactical error - the fast group caught us on the 2nd last lap to make one big group, but I was sitting towards the back when the group split with several riders taking off up the road. Looked like no-one was going to do anything so I had a crack at bridging the gap and joining the break away group, but couldn't quite catch them and blew up in the process. My group then caught me, but I hadn't recovered enough to sit on. By the time I had recovered we were into the windy bit of the circuit and I couldn't close the gap.

Bit annoyed that I didn't get to take part in a sprint at the finish, but next race I'll (hopefully) be smarter and fitter and up there at the end.

Average speed for me was 36.5km/h with normalised power 280W (last FTP test on the turbo gave 280W) and I exceeded what I thought my HRmax was by 5bpm. Its amazing what a bit of adrenalin can do.....

Well done, should have been riding there myself, but had to work

How many turned up to ride??

amaferanga

SheffSimon wrote:

Well done, should have been riding there myself, but had to work

How many turned up to ride??

Only about 35 I think (so few that the plan to make everyone ride 2 marshal 1 in the series was abandoned and it was marshalled by friends/family).

Found out that the NMRRL Thursday night series is full which kind of scuppers my plans for the next couple of months. I might have to get a BC membership now, but even then it doesn't look like there are many races close to Sheffield (Darley Moore looks like the closest, but even that's over an hour drive each way).

Pokerface

jibberjim wrote:

I got dropped on the 2nd lap of my first race, within 8 minutes of the start.

That sounds depressingly familiar.

GeorgeShaw

jibberjim wrote:

I got dropped on the 2nd lap of my first race, within 8 minutes of the start.

That's my first target for later this year.