When do you know your ready to race?

rhysyd

Just wondering when you know if your ready to race. I always ride on my own so i never know how fast/fit i am compared to other riders. How fast are Cat 4 races? Does anybody have any distance's and recorded times of a cat 4 race?

Thanks

markynulty

Probably best to join a club first and go on some chain gang rides. That way you get to see what riding in close quarters at speed is like and you can talk to their racers.

imposter2.0

If you ride on your own, then race distances, times and speeds (invariably set in a fast moving group) are meaningless. The best way of finding out if you are ready to race is to.............race.

LegendLust

markynulty wrote:

Probably best to join a club first and go on some chain gang rides. That way you get to see what riding in close quarters at speed is like and you can talk to their racers.

This is good advice

Tom Dean

You are ready to race when you can ride safely in a group. readiness to race has nothing to do with fitness.

imposter2.0

Tom Dean wrote:

You are ready to race when you can ride safely in a group. readiness to race has nothing to do with fitness.

Sorry Tom, I'm going to disagree with that. You can't race (ie be competitive) without fitness. There's no point knowing how to ride in a group, when you don't have the fitness to stay in it once the race starts. It is certainly useful to be familiar with group riding, especially if you have only ever ridden on your own - but none of that will compensate for your legs/lungs not being up to the job.

maryka

I think what Tom means is actually the reverse of what he said -- that if you're not able to ride safely in a group, you're not ready to race. Obviously he knows that you need to be fit, etc. too. But ability to ride safely in a group is paramount, so anyone wanting to try racing needs to make sure that part is covered, regardless of fitness level. You'll soon find out if you're not fit enough! But thankfully by being dropped and not causing problems for the riders around you. The forum is filled with stories of ugly crashes caused by riders who are fit but have no skills, because they rocked up to a race with no experience riding in a close bunch at all. So the advice above about finding a club and learning to ride in a group is the best.

Tom Dean

I meant: if you are safe, you are ready. - you don't have to be competitive* to race!

*by anyone else's standards at least - some will be aiming to win, some to not get dropped, some maybe to not get lapped.

ps I agree about joining a club to gain skills and plenty of other reasons besides.

DeVlaeminck

So basically starting off riding solo is the worst way to prepare, you need the group skills for safety but also it makes it easier if you are comfortable holding a wheel and you are used to following the accelerations of others. When you have raced a bit then doing a bit more solo to work on what you need to fitness wise makes sense.

To answer the OP more directly though round here a 3/4 circuit race might be 25mph ave, bit less on the road, depends on how the race pans out, terrain, weather etc. often it's the accelerations that kill not the average pace (especially on circuits with lots of corners and big fields) and being able to hold a position further up the bunch minimises those accelerations out of every corner.

Southgate

Av speed of 4th cat racing is around 24 / 25mph, but it's the surges and short recovery times that destroy you, so you should be mixing some intervals into your training.

In a race you need to hold your line, ride a few inches from wheels at high speed when you're at the point of exhaustion, and not be twitchy on the breaks.

You CANNOT learn these skills riding on your own. It doesn't matter how you rate yourself as a rider, being able to safely ride in a tightly knit group and hold wheels can only be learned through the club route.

So please, please, please DO NOT rock up at a crit race without first learning them. Without these skills you pose a significant and serious risk to yourself and especially to other riders.

I spent three days in hospital this May with my wrist smashed into a dozen pieces, and had my season wrecked; and all because some muppet couldn't ride in a straight line.

rhysyd

Thanks for replied lads, I kinda guessed there's a lot more to racing then just being fit and fast on a bike. Any body know anyclubs in north wales mold area?

imposter2.0

There's a few up there - especially around the Rhyl/Marsh Tracks area....

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/clubfinder

whoof

If you want to 'race' but have only ever ridden on your own it's called time trailling.

wallace_and_gromit

Southgate wrote:

...being able to safely ride in a tightly knit group and hold wheels can only be learned through the club route.

Riding safely in a group and being able to hold wheels in a group are two different things, I'd say.

Riding safely is primarily a matter of common sense (and not dis-similar to what you need to survive riding in busy car traffic) - no sudden movements, don't day dream, don't go for half gaps up the outside, don't try and outbrake those in front up the inside into a corner and don't half wheel etc. There are plenty of very experienced dangerous motorists, and the same mindset brought to a bike race spells trouble. There will doubtless be some riders for whom a few club runs will fine-tune common sense (e.g. the dangers of half-wheeling aren't necessarily quite so obvious as the dangers of going for half gaps) but if someone is aggressive, selfish and oblivious to their responsibilities to others re safety then this is unlikely to change through greater experience. (The equivalent of "driver re-education" for hardcore tw*ts on bikes would be very effective, but I don't think this is practical given the costs.)

Holding wheels is an entirely different matter, as anticipating accelerations, positioning and balance shifts through hairpins has to be learned. Letting a gap open in front of you that you can't close isn't dangerous to anyone else unless a frustrated rider behind you decides to ride dangerously to make up lost ground. And that is their choice/fault not yours.

whoof

Wallace and Gromit wrote:

Southgate wrote:

... but if someone is aggressive, selfish and oblivious to their responsibilities to others re safety then this is unlikely to change through greater experience.

There is a difference between racing and riding/driving on the open road. On the road if someone rides/drives like an idiot, for instance turns right across you they generally drive/ride off and you will probably never see them again. With racing if you do something idiotic you may have to spend an hour in the bunch in close proximity with the people you have just cut up. When the race is over you will go to the same changing room. Next week the majority of the same people will all be at the next race. This all gives a lot more scope for 're-education'.

wallace_and_gromit

whoof wrote:

Wallace and Gromit wrote:

Southgate wrote:

... but if someone is aggressive, selfish and oblivious to their responsibilities to others re safety then this is unlikely to change through greater experience.

There is a difference between racing and riding/driving on the open road. On the road if someone rides/drives like an idiot, for instance turns right across you they generally drive/ride off and you will probably never see them again. With racing if you do something idiotic you may have to spend an hour in the bunch in close proximity with the people you have just cut up. When the race is over you will go to the same changing room. Next week the majority of the same people will all be at the next race. This all gives a lot more scope for 're-education'.

Good point. I meant "greater experience of club rides prior to starting racing". I guess that getting "re-education" from a fellow competitor might make someone contemplate their ways, but I think the only language some folk would understand would be getting "black flagged" by the marshalls and banned for a few races.

As an aside, I got a major shouting at from a fellow MAMIL in one race, and thought I was going to get into a punch up afterwards as he strode purposefully towards me as I was packing up. Instead, he apologised for his self-confessed daft manoeuvre and his bad language. Oddly, I would have been happy to accept that I did cut him up, albeit accidentally. Perceptions of the same event can be very different!

amey

whoof wrote:

Wallace and Gromit wrote:

Southgate wrote:

... but if someone is aggressive, selfish and oblivious to their responsibilities to others re safety then this is unlikely to change through greater experience.

There is a difference between racing and riding/driving on the open road. On the road if someone rides/drives like an idiot, for instance turns right across you they generally drive/ride off and you will probably never see them again. With racing if you do something idiotic you may have to spend an hour in the bunch in close proximity with the people you have just cut up. When the race is over you will go to the same changing room. Next week the majority of the same people will all be at the next race. This all gives a lot more scope for 're-education'.

Such a British problem

Anyway I've signed up for for a cat 4 crit which is happening 2 months from now. I have ridden in groups on club rides but not a lot. I can hold my line, no sudden braking or change of direction etc. I would love to work on those skills more BUT the only convenient club (location wise) to me is not accepting new members unless they are women or cat 2 and above which I am not. So I am left with no other option tbh ..

maryka

amey wrote:

I would love to work on those skills more BUT the only convenient club (location wise) to me is not accepting new members unless they are women or cat 2 and above which I am not. So I am left with no other option tbh ..

Which club is this, if you don't mind my asking? I know my club has brought in something similar but I'm curious to hear if others have as well, and where they are in the country.

amey

Its your club actually I am not snubbed or anything and totally understand the reason behind this. Have signed up for Dynamo and Pearson newbie rides. I am not so keen on dynamo given where I live, pearson or KW would be great!

maryka

amey wrote:

Its your club actually

The Pearson guys should be ok in the meantime. If it's any consolation my club has a high member turnover rate so it won't be long before you get to the top of the wait list.

amey

Where should I keep an eye? I must say (also as a graphic designer) that the website has massive 'design deficit' :P The kit is ace though; one of the best I've seen.