rubiksoval

We're still in the midst of winter. There's only one race in March, one race in April, and the real season doesn't seem to kick off until June this year (which is also when it starts getting unbearably hot). I'm looking forward to getting going again, but still seems a long ways off.

ntnyln

Ditto, but we start ramping up in April. Spring is coming!

hack

I'm still holding out hope that 2019 is a rebound year for local racing.

Doge

Not for kid's area. The rain needs to stop and the weather warm up a bit.

In SoCal - it is too wet.
In CO it is too cold, and too much snow. Races already canceled. Last year this time I was watching a city park crit ~70 degrees. This year no crit was planned and the TT canceled due to snow. First race of the year is the US Air Force Academy one (next week) - and what was a Spring race, may be too icy.

It could lead to a later season. We shall see. April looks good.

TheKillerPenguin

We have racing every weekend from now thru like end of July. Extreme stoke!

I guess regarding taking time off, I burned out super hard back at the end of 2007 and tried to force it for a couple of years which only made the burnout worse, and then kinda pretended to want to race bikes for a bunch of years after that while pretty much hating it, and didn't really get back to it properly til 2015. I mean now I absolutely love it, but for a while I like didn't want to even look at my bike much less ride the damn thing.

I kinda think that if I had stepped back entirely for a year and did other stuff I would've gotten back to enjoying it and improving much, much sooner. If you're feeling burned out I think there's probably less harm done in walking away and coming back if/when you're ready, than is done in half-assing it and getting more and more frustrated every season.

Radish_legs

Alan, the Austin-ite and -33er, who was gunning for Cat 1 last season, communicates to me that he has stepped away from racing.

aaronmcd

I guess that's kinda like last year from me. I burned out in '17 and last year was my half ass year. I rode for fun instead of training, and raced every other weekend instead of every weekend. It showed. I sucked. Early season I was okish, helped the team a few times, but later I got dropped in a fairly flat road race and just filled the pack in crits. My "highlight" last year was probably chasing back a 2 man last lap move just before the leadout so the sprinter would have a shot. I think he got 2nd without a leadout. I thought half assing it would relieve me of burnout, but it seemed to make it worse as you say.

hack

Psimet2001 

When it was straight up Downer's or when it was last run under Prairie State/Intelligentsia series? LOVE that course. Really miss having it. Last year it was run, don't quote me on this, I believe Tom Schuler has to pay the city a lot of money just to have it. something like $20k. I loved every minute of it and visited every local business I could letting them know I was only there because of the race.

If I were to ever get back in enough shape to actually try to care about a race performance (I still race a handful of times every year but I look worse in the pictures than I ever did) it would definitely be for Downers.

There was a poll on Facebook that I think Rahsaan Bahati started asking everyone what the best or top 3 crits ever in this country are/were and Downers was in just about every's picks.

Was one of my only top 10 placings too. Nostalgia.

Psimet2001 

One this month and then some in April. Local races are basically done by the end of May/ first week of June. Then ToAD and then Intelligentsia. Last day of Intelli always signals the start of cross - just a few days before August 1. It's stupid because we lose all of the good days of summer racing to dying on some bug infested grass field but people race cross. They just don't race road anymore.

rubiksoval

Yeah, straight Downer's Grove. Elite and pro national championships. It was a great course. I only did it twice, but I really enjoyed it.

Ygduf

there were even like 30+ guys in the red kite p12! I wasn't sure I wanted to race, but now that I can't it's really bothering me. I want to race and complain about it!

Psimet2001 

Ah - we were there racing the same day then. Good stuff.

Radish_legs

Skipped the crit yesterday. Did group ride instead. Teammate went down with broken collarbone in the crit. Hard for me to regret my decision today.

furiousferret

We had a guy go the ER last night in our TNW and our Saturday ride has more crashes on probably a 3:1 ratio vs racing. My point being, you ride in a fast group there's always in increased chance. I've argued this ad nauseum with riders who do Raincross and somehow think racing is akin to the chase scene in Mad Max. There are some race courses I wont do because of the risks (cough *Ladera Ranch* cough) but most are solid.

Also the amount of riders crossing the double yellow on blind corners on our group rides is going to get someone seriously hurt.

Psimet2001 

At one point we kicked someone out of our group ride because he kept running signs, crossing the yellow, and choosing to jump across large roads with tons of traffic with no notice and at the last minute when only he could get across. He'd then hammer it on the other side as we were left trying to get newer riders to not follow him into traffic. "It;s not my responsibility to ride safely. It's everyone else's. This is the only way I can 'win' the ride. The rest of you can out sprint me."

We had a big group ride a little south of here that was fast and good and had too many people on it. Ended up being really out of hand. I was always afraid someone was going to end up getting killed. Luckily team politics destroyed it.

TMonk

@furiousferret Ladera isn't that bad! Is it b/c of the last corner?

Radish_legs

On our group ride we have had very few crashes, about 4 small ones, caused by the same 2 guys. The crash rate in racing seems to be much higher here.

furiousferret

I didn't go down but was just missed a crash on the first corner, 3 of my teammates crashed on that last corner; 2 went down in a race a few years ago and 1 went down last year. That's 80% of our team! All of them broke collarbones.

Maybe Don's Bikes just has bad juju on that course but we all cringe when hearing that race.

TMonk

Well FWIW I don't think that it's on the calendar this year...

Ttoc6

This happened to our a group ride. Too many people for a couple of weeks. After a crash and super sketch turn out, the next week was the hardest I've ever seen that ride be. Next thing you know all the people who dont belong were doing the b+ group again. And we all lived happily ever after.

JuiceWillis

This. I pretty much quit road racing, and focus on the gym and the occasional track race (maybe a shorter crit or two.) The side effects: my training rides are like 3-4 days a week, barely ever over an hour. I can hit the gym, and I no longer look like I'm dying. Since I changed my focus a year ago (I was only racing for literally one season of road.) I went from 178lbs and looking like I hadn't had a solid meal in years, to about 195-200 now, much more muscular, and except for my inability to ever climb again, all my power numbers went up. Try track its fun.

spectastic

i'm quitting for a year too. i have other areas of my life that needs work, and racing has become a little ridiculous and boring for my liking. i still go to the races sometimes to hangout with my teammates, and I'll still go on rides, but they're not boring interval rides, more like the usual who's dick is bigger kind of deal that goes on with the team pretty much every single time. gravel is fun too. less cars, friendlier, change of pace.

TMonk

@spectastic tell us how you really feel! Sounds like you need a break. Also describing intervals as being boring sounds moot point. Of course they are! Intervals are for training and working out, not fun and recreation. That's what they'll always be for. If you don't want to do them, don't!

If you have other life things that are putting racing on the back burner, that's important and there's no shame in that. Try some track, MTB or gravel, if you wanna jump on that bandwagon, trendy as though that may be.

Just curious, what about racing is ridiculous and boring to you? You've had quite the meteoric rise and are at a higher category than me, so you might have a different perspective. I've been mediocre and (arguably) complacent for years, and am finally knocking on the door to cat 2 after some solid success so far this season. So I'm enthusiastic right now

spectastic

i still find it exciting. i just don't see the rewards to be very worthwhile anymore, especially racing p/1/2. you have to sacrifice quite a lot to be able to hang with guys who more or less do it for a living. I've been doing more gravel events, and find those pretty fun. But overall, I've realized that I enjoy riding my bike and being fit more than paying hundreds of dollars and dedicating several months of preparation for a few events. I'm sure i'll be doing more USAC events in the future, maybe next year. but not this year. I need to figure some things out.

as for being boring and ridiculous, that has more to do with seeing the same people, having the same conversations after the races, doing the same poses. it's gotten old for me. on top of that, I don't like the attitude of some of these roadies, thinking the world is all about them. that's probably the one thing that drives me up the wall the most, people and their egos, taking the sport too seriously, like they've got some kind of future in the world tour. nope, bye.