My first impressions of racing...
nic_77
Posts: 929
After several years of triathlon racing and sportive riding I decided that it was high time I showed my hand in the shadowy world of bike racing. Encouraged by other members of my club’s racing contingent I arrived at the Milton Keynes Bowl a couple of weeks ago for race one of the Thursday night series. An hour later, I’m hooked and eager to return the following week.
The race series is billed as a great opportunity to acquire some race experience – with a surging peloton of sixty riders and a tight fast circuit the learning curve is certainly very steep. The opening course follows a service road around the concert venue, a kidney bean shape of largely good quality tarmac.
I had one goal for my first race – finish without crashing. If listening to Phil Liggett has taught me one thing it’s that the safest place to be is near the front of the bunch, but getting there is harder than it seems. As a beginner it seems sensible to keep to one side of the sprawling mass of riders, at least I’ll have an escape route should the worst happen. Although the pace is high, I find it easy enough to ride with the group, and with a little effort I can glide up the outside. In my first race this approach put me inadvertently on the attack, out on my own with half the race to go. It didn’t last more than a few hundred metres, before I’m sliding back on the inside. Five laps later I try the same thing, this time with the deliberate intention of making a break. Needless to say, I’m quickly reabsorbed into the peloton and deftly shuffled back towards the rear again. It seems impossible to sit near the front without stretching the race, yet I watch my club mates Tom and Jason slide effortlessly into good positions. Throughout the race both riders are very active at the front, constantly involved in opening up and closing down a number of small breaks.
After fifty minutes or so the five-lap-to-go board appears, and the race shifts gear noticeably. Soon everyone with aspirations of contesting the finish is fighting their way through the field. Tom is forced to cruise to a halt with a front wheel puncture (another club rider Luke had already been forced to retire early with a jumping chain). As the race approaches the finish for the last time, a sprint for the line breaks out. I’m out of the saddle with the rest of the pack, whilst Jason pushes on ahead for tenth place.
The second race in the series is an altogether more nervous affair. The damp circuit definitely contributes to slower race, with fewer riders prepared to stretch out the peloton. On each lap the slight rise towards the finish area is congested as the riders bunch together – a crash looks imminent. After twenty minutes or so, Jason (my only club-mate this time out) goes on the offensive, and with one other racer he holds a decent gap for the best part of two laps. Meanwhile, I bide my time riding on the inside of the circuit about one-third of the way back – I feel more in control this week. Ten minutes or so later the ‘A’ race goes through (a faster race is run concurrently for the 1st, 2nd and more ambitious 3rd category riders), and shortly afterwards my enthusiasm gets the better of me and I go clear on the outside. I feel relaxed and am willing to make a concerted effort, but quickly catch the riders from the slowing ‘A’ race. It is against the rules for riders in the ‘B’ race to take shelter from the faster riders so my almost certainly futile attack is aborted. A few laps later a number of riders try again, I jump onto the back, but again we catch the ‘A’ race.
From then on, with the exception of a number of small exploratory breaks, the pack stayed together until the climax of the race. At the bell for the last lap there was a touch of wheels on my inside and a number of riders come down noisily at speed. I felt very close to the action, but Jason told me afterwards that one of the riders had actually collided with him on the way down. Luckily we both rode clear of the crash with a reduced group of around twenty-five. However we had lost our momentum and could not regain position for the finish – my second race and a satisfactory second bunch finish.
Race three is very different. The organisers have extended the circuit with a loop into the perimeter of the MK Bowl complex to incorporate a series of six additional tight corners. Right from the start I receive a stark lesson in the art of cornering, as the pack accelerates away from the line and sweeps through the first lap. Contrary to previous weeks the race is immediately strung out into one long line, with riders focussed on holding the wheel in front on the racing line.
I immediately find myself near the back of the train, and within three laps a split occurs a few riders in front of me. The gap widens as I try in vain to fight my way to the front of the following group – an inability to hold my speed through the twists and turns is critical as we lose the fight to chase effectively. With the main bunch now out of sight a small grupetto initially of around five riders forms, and we strive to work together and maintain a decent speed. As the race progresses we are joined by other riders as they slip from contention ahead. Two more laps later the first of the other riders from my club falls away from the main group, and then after around ten laps Tom drops back also – a victim of the fast pace and another rider in front of him allowing a gap to open.
By the time our group is fifteen strong, the organisation becomes somewhat erratic, but my confidence in riding the circuit grows with every lap. I find myself throwing caution to the wind through the bends, attempting to ride with the economy of effort that allows me to retain as much speed as possible. Maybe as the race goes on the fear of losing the wheel in front and having to sprint to regain contact starts to outweigh the fear of losing control on a corner!
Both Tom and I finished the race working hard at the front of our group. Our average speed is a decent 25.5 miles/hour but yet we are a very long way from the sharp end. I’ve gained some good experience, but I know it will take much more to bring me to the next level. On Sunday I will tackle my first race on the open road, joining the other club riders in the St Ives Techniflo Road Race… I am expecting another eye-opener!!
The race series is billed as a great opportunity to acquire some race experience – with a surging peloton of sixty riders and a tight fast circuit the learning curve is certainly very steep. The opening course follows a service road around the concert venue, a kidney bean shape of largely good quality tarmac.
I had one goal for my first race – finish without crashing. If listening to Phil Liggett has taught me one thing it’s that the safest place to be is near the front of the bunch, but getting there is harder than it seems. As a beginner it seems sensible to keep to one side of the sprawling mass of riders, at least I’ll have an escape route should the worst happen. Although the pace is high, I find it easy enough to ride with the group, and with a little effort I can glide up the outside. In my first race this approach put me inadvertently on the attack, out on my own with half the race to go. It didn’t last more than a few hundred metres, before I’m sliding back on the inside. Five laps later I try the same thing, this time with the deliberate intention of making a break. Needless to say, I’m quickly reabsorbed into the peloton and deftly shuffled back towards the rear again. It seems impossible to sit near the front without stretching the race, yet I watch my club mates Tom and Jason slide effortlessly into good positions. Throughout the race both riders are very active at the front, constantly involved in opening up and closing down a number of small breaks.
After fifty minutes or so the five-lap-to-go board appears, and the race shifts gear noticeably. Soon everyone with aspirations of contesting the finish is fighting their way through the field. Tom is forced to cruise to a halt with a front wheel puncture (another club rider Luke had already been forced to retire early with a jumping chain). As the race approaches the finish for the last time, a sprint for the line breaks out. I’m out of the saddle with the rest of the pack, whilst Jason pushes on ahead for tenth place.
The second race in the series is an altogether more nervous affair. The damp circuit definitely contributes to slower race, with fewer riders prepared to stretch out the peloton. On each lap the slight rise towards the finish area is congested as the riders bunch together – a crash looks imminent. After twenty minutes or so, Jason (my only club-mate this time out) goes on the offensive, and with one other racer he holds a decent gap for the best part of two laps. Meanwhile, I bide my time riding on the inside of the circuit about one-third of the way back – I feel more in control this week. Ten minutes or so later the ‘A’ race goes through (a faster race is run concurrently for the 1st, 2nd and more ambitious 3rd category riders), and shortly afterwards my enthusiasm gets the better of me and I go clear on the outside. I feel relaxed and am willing to make a concerted effort, but quickly catch the riders from the slowing ‘A’ race. It is against the rules for riders in the ‘B’ race to take shelter from the faster riders so my almost certainly futile attack is aborted. A few laps later a number of riders try again, I jump onto the back, but again we catch the ‘A’ race.
From then on, with the exception of a number of small exploratory breaks, the pack stayed together until the climax of the race. At the bell for the last lap there was a touch of wheels on my inside and a number of riders come down noisily at speed. I felt very close to the action, but Jason told me afterwards that one of the riders had actually collided with him on the way down. Luckily we both rode clear of the crash with a reduced group of around twenty-five. However we had lost our momentum and could not regain position for the finish – my second race and a satisfactory second bunch finish.
Race three is very different. The organisers have extended the circuit with a loop into the perimeter of the MK Bowl complex to incorporate a series of six additional tight corners. Right from the start I receive a stark lesson in the art of cornering, as the pack accelerates away from the line and sweeps through the first lap. Contrary to previous weeks the race is immediately strung out into one long line, with riders focussed on holding the wheel in front on the racing line.
I immediately find myself near the back of the train, and within three laps a split occurs a few riders in front of me. The gap widens as I try in vain to fight my way to the front of the following group – an inability to hold my speed through the twists and turns is critical as we lose the fight to chase effectively. With the main bunch now out of sight a small grupetto initially of around five riders forms, and we strive to work together and maintain a decent speed. As the race progresses we are joined by other riders as they slip from contention ahead. Two more laps later the first of the other riders from my club falls away from the main group, and then after around ten laps Tom drops back also – a victim of the fast pace and another rider in front of him allowing a gap to open.
By the time our group is fifteen strong, the organisation becomes somewhat erratic, but my confidence in riding the circuit grows with every lap. I find myself throwing caution to the wind through the bends, attempting to ride with the economy of effort that allows me to retain as much speed as possible. Maybe as the race goes on the fear of losing the wheel in front and having to sprint to regain contact starts to outweigh the fear of losing control on a corner!
Both Tom and I finished the race working hard at the front of our group. Our average speed is a decent 25.5 miles/hour but yet we are a very long way from the sharp end. I’ve gained some good experience, but I know it will take much more to bring me to the next level. On Sunday I will tackle my first race on the open road, joining the other club riders in the St Ives Techniflo Road Race… I am expecting another eye-opener!!
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Comments
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Great update Nic, I did my first race a few weeks ago and had similiar experiences. The bug has also bitten me. Good luck on Sunday.0
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A good report! I reckon this should have been posted in the race reports thread.0
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A very interesting read! I assume yours was a 3/4th cat race. Do you have any idea of how many of the riders were 3rd and how many were 4th, and what the skill/speed difference is between the two groups?0
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That's right, fairly obviously I'm only a 4th cat myselfobizzle wrote:I assume yours was a 3/4th cat race.
Very difficult to say, I get the impression that most of the other racers are much more experienced than me... a lot certainly seem to know one another, and the best lines already. I wouldn't say there is a lot of difference in speed, however it is easy to spot the riders who can corner better because they don't have to keep chasing gaps.obizzle wrote:Do you have any idea of how many of the riders were 3rd and how many were 4th, and what the skill/speed difference is between the two groups?0
