Getting into racing...road/crits more specifically

jbwilliamz
jbwilliamz Posts: 187
edited September 2011 in Amateur race
Howdy!

I'm looking to get into Road Racing over the summer as I'm a triathlete (boo-hiss) who currently can't run. Hopefully it'll build my bike fitness up.

I think I have a decent bike base (did the bike leg of Ironman Austria 70.3 in 2:34 (56 miles - non drafting)) for a triathlete, but is there anyway to gage that up to Road Racing?

I'm from South Wales and near to Bynea CC and Pembrey Crits, although never been down but plan on joining the club in the next couple weeks for TT's and RR.

Would it be a case of joining, buying the British Cycling Membership and turning up to race? I know it's difficult to answer, but would I get torn to pieces in the crit if I gave it a shot?
I'll join the club for the group rides and see how I fare in them, but I'm assuming that'll be completely different to the racing crit, right?

Cheers
John

Comments

  • joeyhalloran
    joeyhalloran Posts: 1,080
    I would say that you won't get torn to pieces depending on how well you think you can handle accelerations, this may be something to work on but your general fitness won't be a limiter.

    I would say join a club and ask them, get riding with them (if they do chaingangs these are an excellent prep for RR). Get the info from them as it will specific and can also teach you how to ride safely in a bunch.
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    Check out http://www.tlicycling.org.uk/

    Some of the racing is a little easier than BC races. Good way to try racing and it's cheaper than BC.

    If you find it too easy - then time to move up to BC races.


    And if do join a club and want to do TTs, check out www.ctt.org.uk
  • emx
    emx Posts: 164
    I don't think you'll find any TLI events in South Wales. Join Bynea, get yourself down to Carmarthen track on Thursday evenings, get on a few chain gangs and by the time the Pembrey crits start in June you should be reasonably comfortable....
  • Tom Butcher
    Tom Butcher Posts: 3,830
    I reckon you'll struggle in a 3/4 crit until you've got some experience - but like Joey says your general fitness is probably good enough to hang in there if you have the confidence/bike handling etc. Hard to say as some people are naturals and some people never really get happy riding in a bunch.

    4ths only races are significantly easier but you may struggle to find any depending on where you live.

    There's only one way to find out though and many people get shelled out early in their first race or two but the biggest step is turning up on the start line - at the very least it'll give you an idea of the level you need to be at.
    it's a hard life if you don't weaken.
  • jbwilliamz
    jbwilliamz Posts: 187
    Cheers guys, will bite the bullet and see what happens.

    I'll have to survive a week in Majorca starting Saturday first though...that should be interesting!

    Will let you know how I get on with the club/racing.
  • racingcondor
    racingcondor Posts: 1,434
    As a Triathlete your base fitness is probably fine, the things you may struggle with are -

    1) Accelerations - Crits particularly ebb and flow and can change pace very quickly. You could be the fastest person there in a straight line and still struggle to get to the end in the bunch if all your training has been based on constant steady riding.

    2) Bike handling - You don't mention how much bunch riding you've done but if you've never ridden in a group of more than 4 please ride with a local club run a few times before you race (even a group of 10 helps and you can get tips). The first few times you ride in a pack of 40-60 take quite a bit of concentration and there are always a couple of riders who make dangerous manouvers. Don't be one of them.
  • racingcondor
    racingcondor Posts: 1,434
    One other thing.

    Good luck and enjoy it. Racing can be really, really good fun. :D
  • jbwilliamz
    jbwilliamz Posts: 187
    Good point, I've not done much riding in a group bar a handful of mates occasionally, but nothing in terms of racing. I'll get used to the club runs and hopefully get used to that prior to racing.

    I'm quite confident on the bike itself though, loads of mtb'ing including a 10 day stage race in the Himalayas (epic)... :shock:
  • jgsi
    jgsi Posts: 5,062
    Pokerface wrote:
    Check out http://www.tlicycling.org.uk/

    Some of the racing is a little easier than BC races. Good way to try racing and it's cheaper than BC.

    If you find it too easy - then time to move up to BC races.


    And if do join a club and want to do TTs, check out www.ctt.org.uk

    You little tinker :wink:
    Ok tli is not BC and actually the better for it.... but a lot of those who compete tli also compete lvrc and thus I dispute the 'racing is a little easier' line, I'm afraid.
    Maybe my views are clouded by bc's ignorance of those over 50.
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    JGSI wrote:
    Pokerface wrote:
    Check out http://www.tlicycling.org.uk/

    Some of the racing is a little easier than BC races. Good way to try racing and it's cheaper than BC.

    If you find it too easy - then time to move up to BC races.


    And if do join a club and want to do TTs, check out www.ctt.org.uk

    You little tinker :wink:
    Ok tli is not BC and actually the better for it.... but a lot of those who compete tli also compete lvrc and thus I dispute the 'racing is a little easier' line, I'm afraid.
    Maybe my views are clouded by bc's ignorance of those over 50.


    I'm not sure what being over 50 has to do with BC?

    TLI races ARE (in general) easier than BC races - merely because they are age-based and not ability based. So you can compete with folks your own age (more or less). Means I don't have to race against 21 year olds!

    I do well in TLI races. I do cr@p in BC races. Therefore I deduce that TLI races are easier!

    But I certainly don't want to give the impression that TLI races are 'easy' - just 'easier.
  • starlet_gt
    starlet_gt Posts: 88
    Bynea club runs are 1pm on Saturday and 10am on a Sunday, think there's a training ride at 08:30 am every Sunday with Chris bates. Not sure if it's currently going though.
    www.flickr.com/starlet_gt
  • P_Tucker
    P_Tucker Posts: 1,878
    jbwilliamz wrote:
    Good point, I've not done much riding in a group bar a handful of mates occasionally, but nothing in terms of racing. I'll get used to the club runs and hopefully get used to that prior to racing.

    Excellent, a triathlete with no bunch riding experience decides to take up road racing. This will end painfully.
  • emx
    emx Posts: 164
    edited April 2011
    P_Tucker wrote:
    Excellent, a triathlete with no bunch riding experience decides to take up road racing. This will end painfully.

    you smug, patronising idiot.
  • pinkbikini
    pinkbikini Posts: 876
    Join the local club, tell them you're planning on racing, go out in their regular chaingangs to get a good feel for group riding. When you feel comfortable in a group (e.g. holding a wheel, drinking, taking one hand off bars, etc) and have listened to the advice from regulars you are probably ready to give it a go.
    Good luck, enjoy yourself. Ignore comments like those from P_Tucker - really not helpful at all.
    Not necessarily directed at the above, but a lot of clubs have arrogant racing riders who don't want to encourage newer riders but are all too willing to criticise when they cause crashes. Some of these people could learn to be a bit more welcoming at the beginning of club rides and it would benefit everyone. I've never seen so many crashes as have happened already this year :-(
  • MRadd
    MRadd Posts: 205
    P_Tucker - Triathletes with no bunch experience do quite well... Just ask my team mate. 2 races overall this year.. and he's scored BCF points. Work that out for the ending painfully bit..
    : "Why don't i remember breaking my face?" :

    : Semi Professional Grease Monkey, Full time Tea boy... :
  • P_Tucker
    P_Tucker Posts: 1,878
    MRadd wrote:
    P_Tucker - Triathletes with no bunch experience do quite well... Just ask my team mate. 2 races overall this year.. and he's scored BCF points. Work that out for the ending painfully bit..

    :lol: Lighten up, Francis. Doesn't sound like it's ended yet.
  • Thick Tester
    Thick Tester Posts: 380
    P_Tucker wrote:
    jbwilliamz wrote:
    Good point, I've not done much riding in a group bar a handful of mates occasionally, but nothing in terms of racing. I'll get used to the club runs and hopefully get used to that prior to racing.

    Excellent, a triathlete with no bunch riding experience decides to take up road racing. This will end painfully.

    There was a triaphrodite ( and one that has won races this year ) in our race at the weekend.

    Strong as an ox but failed to pin his number on correctly and took it off halway through the race......

    No smoke without fire
  • wheeler585
    wheeler585 Posts: 552
    Wasnt a velo29 rider was it ;-)
    Up hup hup hup.....fricking hate that!
  • jbwilliamz
    jbwilliamz Posts: 187
    P_Tucker wrote:
    jbwilliamz wrote:
    Good point, I've not done much riding in a group bar a handful of mates occasionally, but nothing in terms of racing. I'll get used to the club runs and hopefully get used to that prior to racing.

    Excellent, a triathlete with no bunch riding experience decides to take up road racing. This will end painfully.

    Pah! Lots of swerving, braking and sudden accelerations? What could go wrong. Easy.
  • P_Tucker
    P_Tucker Posts: 1,878
    emx wrote:
    P_Tucker wrote:
    Excellent, a triathlete with no bunch riding experience decides to take up road racing. This will end painfully.

    you smug, patronising idiot.

    It's a well known fact that triantelopes have a genetic deficiency that means they are physically incapable of riding in a straight line. It's SCIENCE.
  • tim_wand
    tim_wand Posts: 2,552
    Didnt Lance Armstrong start out in Triathalon, shame he wasn't discouraged.
  • velo19x
    velo19x Posts: 1
    from the sounds of things your already quite fit and 4th cat/ 3rd cat races arent super quick so you should be fine, the only thing to watch out about is your technical skills. criteriums can get quite dangerous and from experince in the wet, you have to be quite careful about other riders losing their lines
  • jbwilliamz
    jbwilliamz Posts: 187
    Did my first Crit two weeks ago in Pembrey (3/4th Cat).

    Only goal was to not get dropped...stayed with the main bunch and felt pretty good. Did the confidence a world of a good and I'll position myself further up next time.

    Was a little worried when they changed the distance at the start to a shorter race (14 laps of a 1.5 mile circuit) but managed to get around in ~45mins...28mph ave?

    Good fun though! Will defo do more of these...
  • jbwilliamz
    jbwilliamz Posts: 187
    2nd Crit after some knee issues during the season...

    3rd place and missed out on the points as the license (my fault) wasn't updated in time for the race.

    Great fun though!! I'll have to aim for a win in the remainding Crit to get the 10pts to move up. :shock:
  • jbwilliamz
    jbwilliamz Posts: 187
    2nd in the Crit last night...two points off 3rd Cat.

    Luckily, I've found another race where I can maybe get a couple points...

    Anyway, I've written about it here -> www.jbwilliamz.blogspot.com :wink:
  • Herbsman
    Herbsman Posts: 2,029
    Cool.
    CAPTAIN BUCKFAST'S CYCLING TIPS - GUARANTEED TO WORK! 1 OUT OF 10 RACING CYCLISTS AGREE!
  • jbwilliamz
    jbwilliamz Posts: 187
    Won my first race last night.

    Cat 3 should be an experience!! :shock:
  • Pseudonym
    Pseudonym Posts: 1,032
    congrats - well done fella. But if you are winning 4th cat races, you will not have any trouble hanging with 3rds.... ;)

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