Which category do I fit in?

MTB noob

I am a newbie to road cycling (only about 500km on my Cannondale) and mainly I do solo riding across the south coast of West Sussex. I have done a couple of recent rides (only 30km) with the local cycling club and apart from sticking out like a sore thumb; loose clothes, BMX helmet flat pedals and downtube shifters, I can keep up with them.

Despite this, I don't know whether I can do any rides of substantial length i.e. a sportive. I am trying to get my stamina up to scratch but I still don't know if I can make it before the time limit and embarrass myself. I don't want to go into something too out of my depth!

The question is how do I know where I fit in with the road bike crowd and know my ability so I don't make stupid costly decisions?

Thanks

dj58

Hi and welcome,

Buy yourself some closer fitting cycle clothing, Jersey and Shorts with padded seat, they will be more aerodynamic and less energy sapping than your baggy clothing. Consider using clip in pedals like shimano spd, do you use a cycle computer so that you can log your rides for time, distance, avrg. speed etc.? This can be helpful for gauging your training improvements over time.

Try and increase your ride distances and duration as you build up your stamina and endurance. Look online at the sportive events listings, choose a distance and plan a circular route in your local area to test yourself. Have you joined that cycling club you mentioned? Riding with other experienced riders can help you develop your road riding skills.

The main thing is to ride and build up your base miles and don't worry about fitting into a particular category. If you want to do sportives and aren't sure which distance to do start off with a short 35m route.

Take a look at this website http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/sportivetips

mattrixdesign2

Just keep pushing the miles out, if thats what you want to do. Do 20miles this week as a target, then a few weeks later consider 30miles and so on. Once you have cracked them, then its so much easier to do it again plus some! It grows.

Coming from MTB to Road Bike, I found 10miles stretching, then 30miles was a big ride, not 30miles is just an evening pootle or a short ride to go at hard, now anything less than 50+hills is a "short ride". It takes time, but you will get to where you want to be in stages.

Also if you have an eye on say at 50mile sportive, you don't need to be doing 50miles prior, get to something like 40miles, and the extra 10miles will come to you on the big day/challenge.

To help you along, consider clip in shoes/pedals for noticable efficiency, search routes in your area using the web (i.e. well liked cycling routes) following them with planning or a GPS unit. You don't have to wear lycra, but having kit that is comfy helps, especially on longer rides.

There are no categories to worry about, its just what you want to achieve?

MTB noob

DJ58 - I have never tried SPDs or clip-ins because it is a big jump for me in terms of skill, especially as it'll cost me if I didn't like it. For the cycle computer thing, I'm using the free version of Strava on my HTC where I log in my mileage. I do roughly 250km per month (uploaded) which now is about 50/50 between MTB and road now. My local rides on the road have been my town circuit route but I haven't joined the club because I don't think I'm of the fitness to do so. The issue I have with sportives is that I don't have a car so I can't just simply drive there.

mattrixdesign2 - I do mountain biking as my main form of cycling but am moving towards road cycling to save money. The point I'm trying to put through is that I want to join a cycle club but not end up forced to the back and dropped off by carbon machines. I can probably do 50 miles in a day but not without 1 or 2 breaks in it. I may roll the dice and buy a clip in setup and just hope for the best.

If this may help, I've attached my first local club ride http://www.strava.com/activities/130613807

dj58

MTB Noob,

Don't you use spd's on your MTB then?. They are not difficult to master and would make a difference to your pedalling efficiency, have a read through this thread. You don't need to spend a lot of money to get started.

viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=12967858

I appreciate what you mean about not having a car to travel to do sportives, can you not find any events you can cycle to that are local to you?

You are in West Sussex, a quick search and I found these near to the south coast, Train route runs near to these apart from the Goodwood Race course one, I've ridden from Funtington, (West of Chichester) to the Trundle on my Hardtail MTB using the country lanes approx. 45-50mins IIRC, should be quicker on a road bike.

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/event ... ne-Sportiv

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/event ... lenge-2014

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/event ... /GSD-Giant

goonz

lol you averaged 20mph over 20miles and you are worried about what?

And you did that without clipless pedals?

Either that isn't your strava page or you are more than good enough to do pretty much any sportive length you want. Not sure what you are worried about?

mattrixdesign2

goonz wrote:

lol you averaged 20mph over 20miles and you are worried about what?

And you did that without clipless pedals?

Either that isn't your strava page or you are more than good enough to do pretty much any sportive length you want. Not sure what you are worried about?

What he said

You will do fine, and no decent club will leave you behind! One thing that may catch you our initially is pushing the miles out, you can clearly do 20 at a decent pace, but a lot of roadies will be used to 50miles plus, its a different approach, and I doubt you will be doing 50miles at your 20mph average, but well done if you do

ForumNewbie

Yes MTB noob, if you can average 20 mph over 20 odd miles, even if your speed dropped considerably doing a sportive of say 50 miles, you are still going to have a perfectly good time, probably faster than most. It certainly would be faster than me, but I'm getting on a bit

markhewitt1978

MTB noob wrote:

Despite this, I don't know whether I can do any rides of substantial length i.e. a sportive. I am trying to get my stamina up to scratch but I still don't know if I can make it before the time limit and embarrass myself. I don't want to go into something too out of my depth!

With sportives you have the ability to draft other riders, feed stops and the general buzz of the day means you'll be able to ride further than you otherwise would on your own. If you're doing 20 miles at 20mph I would think you could do 50ish miles in a sportive without too much trouble.

Don't worry about time limits, the majority of sportives, e.g. Evans / Wiggle don't really have a time limit as such although they do have a 'broom wagon' who will pick you up and take you back to the start if you hit problems.