Bicycle Racing

A common question that comes up every year that we do the Otterville Road Race and the Sedalia Historic District Criterium comes from the guys that are just getting into bicycle road racing and are a bit older.  They can race in the 40+ or 50+ race but according to their category they can also do the Cat 5 races.

This proves to be quite the dilemma for some.  Peter e-mailed me this week and asked this very same question.  He is just getting into bicycle road racing and he is 49 years old.  That puts him at the older end of the 40+ but he can also race in the Category 5 race as well.  Here is what I told him:

Peter,

That’s great that your getting into racing…there are a couple of things to consider when you can race in the 40+ or the Cat5. 

The 40+ guys are fast, smart, and experienced.  Some of these guys can also race in the Cat 1-2 or 3-4.  Most of these guys have been riding and racing for a long time.  With that said it is a far safer and less chaotic race than the Cat5.  You should be able to sit in longer and the riders are calmer and more predictable.

The Cat5 race will have a lot of younger guys that are really just starting.  The racing can be way too fast for the length of race at times but then everybody blows up and the pace slows.  The experience level of the riders also makes it a bit crazy at times as the riders sometimes make mistakes that you just wont see in the 40+. 

If you are putting in 200+ mile weeks (he said he was putting in 200 mile weeks, that is not a requirement), and you continue to do that until August … you should have no trouble competing in the Cat5.  You could even win it.  Just stay at the front but out of the wind as much as you can, maybe try and get a pace line going.  If you decide to do the 40+  some of the guys will probably be faster but if you don’t take long pulls on the front and work with the other guys you should be able stay with the group most of the time.  If you ride the 40+ you may be able to learn a thing or two and either way you’ll gain valuable experience.

I hope this is useful for anyone else struggling with this question.  Anytime is a good time to start bicycling whether you want to race or not.  40+, 50+, or 60+, just get out there and ride.

Happy Cycling

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In my last post we discussed how many sets of wheels you should have  when you start racing.  In this post we’ll talk about what kind of tires you should use for training and racing.

First let me say that you don’t have to have a different tire for racing and training.  Your race tire or training tire in most circumstances will work just fine.  But, I think there are some advantages to using a different tire for racing and training.

Training Tires

I look at the tires I use kind of like a baseball bat.  When a batter gets on deck waiting for his turn at the plate he’ll usually slide a weight on to the bat or sometimes use a special bat that is heavier for several practice wings.  This makes the batters muscles recruit more muscle fibers to swing the bat.  Then he can swing harder with the lighter bat when he gets to the plate.

Your bike tires can do the same thing for the most part.  if you use a heavier training tire, you will get used to riding with more rolling resistance.  When you switch to a lighter racing tire you can really fly  because a lot of the resistance you are used to is gone.

This goes beyond just the weight of the tires.  Any property of the tire that increases its rolling resistance is like adding more weight to your practice bat. 

I think heavy training tires on heavier wheels with slime tubes (really slows you down and you don’t have flats on long training rides) is the ideal training setup.  You will get used to pushing that increased resistance around and it will make you work a lot harder when your training.  So when you switch to your race tire setup you will be able to spin them up really fast.

Racing Tires

There are a lot of different opinions out there when it comes to which is better, tubular or clinchers, brand X or brand Y.  That’s all for another discussion. 

Picking a race tire for me is much more simple than that.  I look at a couple of things.

1. How much does it cost?
2. What are my friends riding?

Note:  if your friends are riding $500.00 tubulars aged by some guy in Italy, don’t bother unless you have more money than you really know what to do with or Michael Ball is picking up the tab.

Seriously though, don’t get too caught up in tire weights and rubber compounds.  When in the end you would be better off getting an extra 30 minutes of training instead of worrying about 10 grams of weight difference.

So don’t break the bank for minimal weight difference and ask around to see what other people like.  Talk to someone at the bike shop.  See what they ride. 

Oh and the advantage of asking someone working at a bike shop is two fold. First they work at a shop and they know what’s up with the products they sell.  Second, they don’t have any money either because they work at a bike shop so if they are riding it they are usually going to be fairly affordable.

So what is everyone training and racing on?  Please tell us what tires you use in the comments.  It might help out someone just getting started.

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Team Astana has been barred from racing in the 2008 Tour de France. The powers that be are saying it is due to a tarnished team image.

Levi Leipheimer has a site setup called Let Levi Ride. Everyone should go there and sign the online petition to allow him to race.

I’ll post more on this subject after I get some more details. In the mean time go sign the petition.

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