Racing Bikes - Overweight
 

Hey All,

New to the forum. I've been racing triathlon for the last 4 years and have always had strong bike splits in spite of my weight. I decided that I want to give bike racing a crack this year but am super anxious about my size compared to the guys I normally see at our local crits and road races. Am I just going to get smoked because I'm around 250#? Or do I have a shot in cat 5 races to hang on to the field? Of course the hope is to get stronger and lose weight, but in the interim, I'm just wondering if any other large guys or girls are racing and holding their own.

Thanks
Chris

The big boys do great in flat road Crit races, uphills are a different matter

On flat ground, what matters is watts to frontal surface area. You're probably doing flat triathlons? If so, that's why your weight isn't holding you back much. On hills, what matters is watts to kilograms, so you're going to want to enter races with flat courses to be competitive.

I have no scientific data to give. I just like to encourage people to do stuff that makes them happy on a bike. You get your ass on that bike and do your best. You are doing better than the ones on the couch. Go you magnificent bastitch, ride!:thumb:

I had a 6'5" friend that started racing while weighing around 240. He absolutely crushed flat races by doing crazy breakaways from way far out. By the time he made it to cat 2, he had dropped down into the low-mid 190's.

As a newer racer you should be prepared to get dropped and not be bummed about it. I was dropped and lapped in my first crit, even though I was one of the stronger riders. My tactics just sucked. Most of your cat 5 races will be you learning the game and how to read/ride in the pack.

Maybe.

The difference between triathlons and road racing is the surges. If you can handle those, you should be ok. But give it a shot and see what happens. You really won't know until you try it.

The best way to find out is to enter a race (or 10).

Seriously, train, study, learn some tactics and jump in. Worst case scenario is you get dropped, but you'll have the experience.

Also, most areas have weekly training crits where you can jump in and out of the race - ride til you get dropped, catch your breath, jump back in for a few laps. Those are great ways to learn race strategies, develop technique, and build your form.

Plenty of big guys do well in crits and flat RR's, where the raw power is the difference maker. Work on your pack skills and train to go deep, recover, and go again. Also, take a look at the sticky at the top of the road racing subforum.

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I came to bike racing from triathlon myself. As someone else mentioned, it's the surges that will kill you (at first). I could motor along all day, but once I went into the redzone a couple times, I was done.

This was exacerbated by the fact that I had poor pack skills. I wasn't comfortable holding a wheel into a turn and I'd brake, which meant that I would get shuffled to the back. At the back of a Cat 5 race, you've got a lot of guys like that, which creates an accordion effect. The accordion effect means that there will be a slowing and surging at every corner, and sooner or later, you'll get dropped.

So, work on pack skills so you can be smooth, keep your energy high, and stay out of the wind. And work on high intensity with short recovery intervals. 30s/30s or tabatas for example.

Definitely look into Early Bird races in your area. They're exactly for new racers like yourself.

One way to find out :)

If you want to race your bike, then race your bike. Good luck and Godspeed.

There is a forum member and friend who raced cat 3 at 265 pounds. I rode some climbing rides with him when he was 280. He was an offensive lineman in college so he was beastly strong.

Another friend who played football was a great track racer at 260, or so.

At 5'11" and 150 lbs I'm pretty skinny, with ridiculous bird legs -- most of my weight is upper body where it does no good in cycling. I get passed all the time on flats and downhills by big guys with watermelon guts. I catch them on climbs. We go back and forth like that. But they have more raw power. If the ride is long enough eventually I'll outlast them, but over the usual 20-25 mile weekly club rides I'm struggling to keep up with those guys on the mostly flat routes.

Go for it. Have fun. I wasn't particularly good in crits and time trials but I had fun. Mostly I prefer the spirited club rides. Not flat out hammerfests -- at 61 I can't keep up with the younger guys and gals for long -- but fast enough to keep it interesting.

Biggest hurdle to entering a bike race is the fear of getting dropped.

Let me put this out there... literally no one other than you cares that you got dropped. The people in the race probably won't notice because they're too busy trying to hold the wheel ahead of them, the spectators are just there for their friends/wives/husbands/whatever so they aren't going to have any idea you're off the back, etc.

Point is- worrying about whether you can hang in a race is an irrational fear. Just do it and find out, the worst that could happen is that you learn you need to do some more interval work to hang with the surges.

Now, if your primary concern is crashing rather than being embarrassed by getting dropped... I have to be honest, that is a real risk and it is sometimes out of your control. I'd say the majority of races I've done have featured at least one wreck, although I've only been caught in a couple. The more experience you get, the more likely you are to be able to anticipate these things and position yourself safely. Also, although crashes can hurt, I'd have to say most of the ones I've seen in races just lead to some road rash and torn kit, not serious injuries or broken frames. It all depends on how risk-averse you are.

I was on a heavy bike, compared to the racing specific bikes arouind me during my one season attempt at racing. At 6'3" and 230, I was big. Yes, I was strong. But I wasn't fast. And I wasn't willing to listen to advice on getting faster or quicker. I was a good climber. But no way was I ever going to be a sprinter.

I'm pretty sure the extra weight is going to affect you far less when cycling than when running. If you can survive the running part or a triathlon, you should be fine IMO.

Race. Only way you'll know. If you're coming from triathlon then you'll find the surges and basic bike handling to be the most difficult part.

Thanks all. I appreciate the support. Ready for a long winter of training to get as ready as I can. Shame it's so damn cold here, I get to live with the race anxiety until the Spring. Lots of time on TR watching crit replays on the tele.

Just have fun! Try to maybe talk around on group rides to see who races in what among people you know. Buddy up, share a few beers and training rides together so you have someone to pal around with at the race.

Maybe pick something flatter with the current weight for a while. If it's under 30 feet per mile, you'll do fine. I'd say over 50 feet per mile, perhaps could become difficult. I'm not talking like the 50 feet is spread perfectly even over the mile, but that there's some mean hills somewhere.

You can do it. Use that big triathlon engine to your advantage to do some training specific for your race.

I thought this was worth repeating. Might even be worth adding that nearly every racer who's raced more than a season has been dropped, finished DFL, or DNFed. This includes guys who are on the podium in other races. Consider - if there's a field of 50 racers, 47 of them are finishing off the podium. 40 of them aren't even in the top 10. But there will be 50 racers back on the line next week. You can make the point that the most important skill to have if you want to race in the long run is the ability to get dropped, shake it off, and come back next week ready to try again.

BB

"Cycling Games" on YouTube. He posts all of the World Cup cyclocross races in HD. It's gotten me through more than a few winters.

Back when racing I was weighing in at 215lbs. Found that the surges in crits killed me, but I found a road race one year and that was the format that worked best for me. Still did crits, but did as many road races as available. My son races at 220lbs. and does well with the surges. Fortunately he has a team that is into training technique and strategy, which has helped him become a potent foe in the pack. He is a lead out man for the sprinters, and they tell him at some point they will be leading out for him.

Like me, he has found road racing suits his body type best, but road races are few and far between. One thing he has gravitated to is track racing and gravel races. Gravel races are not loops with surges, but longer road races on gravel roads. Track racing suits him well as it is about watts and strategy. When I was racing crits and road, my brother was racing crits and track. He really, really liked track racing. He was a big guy as well. Just have fun, and when it no longer has value for you, move on from it.

Well said.

You're probably going to get dropped.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. Lots of people get dropped. At every single level. I got dropped 20 mins into my first race this year despite racing for a dozen plus years. It happens.

Pack skills are absolutely essential. Amazing pack skills can make up for lackadaisical fitness at times. Most beginners have none, though, so a good group ride is vital. What defines a good group ride is up for much debate.

Also, as keeps being mentioned, the surges. The surges are insanity x triplicate. You can try to prepare for the surges on your own, but you likely won't be able to. Once you get a few races under your belt, you'll start to understand, adapt, and improve.

Racing takes a very, very long time to get good at. The vast, vast majority of people that race never get very good at it. Or if they do, they keep moving up categories until they're not very good at it again. It's kinda silly in hindsight.

Also, something new I think about now to get it out of my head worrying about results or how I'm doing is going back to my golf days.

My golf tournaments growing up would have up to 100 kids. Basically one person "wins" and they might do a little "top 5" podium for medals. I never had to worry about sniffing that. Nor worry about what people thought.

I kept doing it though. So now, I try not to worry about it as much as I used to on the bike.

Do it because you love it or it excites you.

45 if they're doing California Podiums.