Today I found out I am not nearly as fit as I thought I was

Zachariah

So I turned up for a club run with the local racers, after doing a few rides with the more leisurely club. How hard could it be? Bit faster, bit further, pah! I commute fast!

Turns out, much much much much much harder.

At least it's motivation for more training. I really thought I was approaching race fitness...What an idiot.

johnsilva

Ha! Brilliant!

twotyred

Unlike most sports the trouble with bike racing is that you have to be really good just to be censored .

nmcgann

twotyred wrote:

Unlike most sports the trouble with bike racing is that you have to be really good just to be censored .

Unfortunately that is true.

ratsbeyfus

Yep. Why isn't there a cat 5 or even 6 for pot-pellied pringle munchers like myself? People who can't actually be arsed to train / don't have any talent, but fancy Ihaving a race.

If there are any other lardy-slow arses out there... do you fancy doing a race somewhere? 2 laps of the B&Q carpark in Brighton?

LJAR

yeah I got a bit of a shock when I went for m first club run, and my first race.

2 years later I am beginning to hold my own, hey-ho.

Garz

..and it's an expensive hobby!

Pokerface

ratsbeyfus wrote:

Yep. Why isn't there a cat 5 or even 6 for pot-pellied pringle munchers like myself? People who can't actually be arsed to train / don't have any talent, but fancy Ihaving a race.

There is. It's called TLI. 8)

softlad

ratsbeyfus wrote:

Yep. Why isn't there a cat 5 or even 6 for pot-pellied pringle munchers like myself? People who can't actually be arsed to train / don't have any talent, but fancy Ihaving a race.

you don't have to be fit to race - so there's nothing stopping you from entering a go-race or 4th cat event.

However, obviously the fitter you are, the less likely you are to be dropped in the neutralized zone....

celbianchi

Pokerface wrote:

ratsbeyfus wrote:

Yep. Why isn't there a cat 5 or even 6 for pot-pellied pringle munchers like myself? People who can't actually be arsed to train / don't have any talent, but fancy Ihaving a race.

There is. It's called TLI. 8)

Hmm - I guess that is somewaht toungue in cheek. The TLI races up in the NE are often harder than BC races - 90 minutes of full on action. Ours attract local pro riders using them as part of training.

jibberjim

Zachariah wrote:

So I turned up for a club run with the local racers, after doing a few rides with the more leisurely club. How hard could it be? Bit faster, bit further, pah! I commute fast!

Turns out, much much much much much harder.

At least it's motivation for more training. I really thought I was approaching race fitness...What an idiot.

When E/1/2 riders go hard on a training ride, plenty of 4th's and even 3's get shelled very rapidly, just because you struggle on that training ride, doesn't mean you won't do fine in a 4th cat race - particularly as the bunch will be bigger so more of a rest...

johncp

ratsbeyfus wrote:

Yep. Why isn't there a cat 5 or even 6 for pot-pellied pringle munchers like myself? People who can't actually be arsed to train / don't have any talent, but fancy Ihaving a race.

I think you've just described a sportive!

smithy1.0

Agreed. In a road race, I think someone with lower ability could at least finish with the bunch if you keep yourself positioned correctly.

I got a bit of a suprise at my first MTB race, too. Headed out far too hard and completely cracked half way. Although, I came back from that pretty well, winning my second race 8)

ratsbeyfus

Johncp wrote:

ratsbeyfus wrote:

Yep. Why isn't there a cat 5 or even 6 for pot-pellied pringle munchers like myself? People who can't actually be arsed to train / don't have any talent, but fancy Ihaving a race.

I think you've just described a sportive!

Take cover! Take cover! Sportives are/aren't races rants coming up! Take cover!

airbusboy

how quick is quick.........

amaferanga

ratsbeyfus wrote:

Johncp wrote:

ratsbeyfus wrote:

Yep. Why isn't there a cat 5 or even 6 for pot-pellied pringle munchers like myself? People who can't actually be arsed to train / don't have any talent, but fancy Ihaving a race.

I think you've just described a sportive!

Take cover! Take cover! Sportives are/aren't races rants coming up! Take cover!

Don't think there's any debate is there? They're not officially races, but a lot of people treat them as such. Simple as that.

gavintc

softlad wrote:

ratsbeyfus wrote:

Yep. Why isn't there a cat 5 or even 6 for pot-pellied pringle munchers like myself? People who can't actually be arsed to train / don't have any talent, but fancy Ihaving a race.

you don't have to be fit to race - so there's nothing stopping you from entering a go-race or 4th cat event.

However, obviously the fitter you are, the less likely you are to be dropped in the neutralized zone....

Oh my god, that is so true. I thought I was up for it. On my 2nd race, we congregated in the town centre, rolled out for 3km neutral zone and bang the speed went up to 30 mph (in the neutral zone). My heart rate was up to max, before I crossed the line. And then..... we went up a decent long drag hill straight after the start. My 'race' lasted about 1km before I was just having a nice ride in the countryside with about 5 other riders. Racing is brutal, but you get better.

At least here in Italy, the races are more sportives and there are is a peleton to ride with. We still ride for time on closed roads, but I do not need to be in the front peleton to have a good ride. At 53, my race is against my age group and I can hold my own.

freehub

Some of the races I did I was nearly throwing up to keep up and it was giving me immense heartburn, some of the people looked like they were just out for a nice steady ride lol.