aaronmcd

But don't you sometimes feel like a gladiator? Like the twilight crit where you're basically in the pit, surrounded by crowds, everyone is beating each other up and you're just trying to survive

miyata man

Playing bikes in the murder capital of the Western world is going to be a wakeup call. If that is a needlessly harsh assessment I'd personally be surprised.

Funny you mention gladiators. My favorite U23 racer's social media profile pic is him dressed in a leather and metal gladiator costume he made.

globecanvas

I just remembered, my teammate is a former pro middle distance runner. He is very strong threshold and vo2max wise, good at time trialing, road race breakaways, and cyclocross, and an active danger to himself and others when required to turn his bicycle at speed. He'll be a cat 2 eventually (might already be at cross) but cat 1 or pro is out of the question. (To his credit he knows he sucks at cornering.)

himespau 

miyata man

@TheKillerPenguin, as near I came to crossing the line I think instilling a healthy amount of fear was at least part of the answer here. Head on a swivel, every car is a danger spot, aggressively assuming a defensive stance, fear that overrides being blind to developments forming in the environment around you.

I did two group rides this week. The one lead by someone with some palmares took near beginners, very strong ones with good athletic prowess, down three separate major county highways during rush hour, twice. When I politely voiced my concerns they told me it was fine since they had driven it in their car and then lapsed into comparing battle wounds from being hit by cars with a guy just coming back from nearly having his head severed by one. Suffice to say my sensitivities were pricked. Sometimes it's better to be thought an ******* than an enabler.

TheKillerPenguin

Nah. Those moments are really, really cool though! Big crowds definitely turn the adrenaline up a few notches.

TheKillerPenguin

I guess I see the OP's question as a valid one given he has experience training as a high level athlete in an aerobic sport. If he was a couch potato I would've answered differently. There's no reason not to be welcoming though, the cycling community is small enough and it's great to see someone enthusiastic to play bikes!

RE: danger...well, yeah I guess? It's not not dangerous, but it's not punching a Cobra in the face. Like most other things it's a calculated risk.

scheibo

i don't think this is true. if youre not running anyway, i don't really see cycling hurting your running ambitions. if you are able to run again and like cycling enough at that point then there's also no loss because you found something better.

faster than i ran (my PRs are from when i was 18), enough to indicate you have an engine and likely a high VO2max. i'm friends with 3 runners who recently transitioned to cycling (3:36 1500m runner with achilles problems, a 3:39 guy and a 1:48 guy who weren't quite at the level to pursue it post collegiately) who are domestic pro/PRT level cyclists now.

Depends. When my achilles hurts from running it tends to hurt riding as well, but thats not the case for other runners I know.

Its very different from track. As a middle distance runner you're comfortable with throwing 'bows/getting boxed in and how physical it gets, but its another thing entirely to the feeling of being trapped at 30mph and where the cost of failure is a lot more than a spike wound. Besides the physical experience of it, the way races play out is entirely different than running. You need to actually try racing (more than once) before you can figure out if its for you.

Cat 1 - domestic pro seems correct if it were simply a matter of translating your running fitness, but as others have mentioned, theres much more to it than that. As I mentioned above, my friends with similar stories to yours were able to get to that level fairly quickly, though it took them a while to start finding success there. If the race is straight up a hill or completely flat in a straight line where you just need to follow wheels you probably have the engine to stick with the group, but you'll be hard pressed to find races like that. I ride with a lot of runners, and the flak we get about not being good at handling/descending is usually well deserved. If you grew up mountain biking or BMXing or something then you might be fine, but otherwise you're going to have to put in a lot of work to not crash out.

All the middle distance runners I know excel at 5 minute power (go figure?). The former 800m runner can also sprint, but not the milers. Cycling is strange - it seems like it would use the same muscles as running but it doesn't really. Even if you were a sit and kick miler (90% of milers think they have the best kick...) you might not have a kick in cycling.

Either way, you're going to be looking for selective, attritional 'fitness' contests. You may have been a 'speed' guy on the track, but you'll almost certainly find that even as a middle distance runner you will be doing better at the longer and harder races.

Yes. (cf. Mike Woods, though highly improbably you'd find *that* level of success. Entirely likely you'd be able to make it to Cat 1)

Yes and no. Almost every runner on my track club could bike for about 3 months and beat the majority of bike racers in a hill climb. Maybe not the same in your case if youve been inactive for a year. But that would be enough to indicate you have the fitness chops (not whether your could win *races*). You could then put in a single season and upgrade from 5->1 if you were good and dedicated (where dedication involves being willing to drive a race or two every weekend no matter how far away they were).

my TL;DR: fit athletes (be they runners, speed skaters, rowers, XC-skiiers) tend to be fit athletes and probably can achieve a similar level of performance fitness-wise across various disciples. however, cycling has a technique aspect (with handling/descending) that better translates from motocross/down hill skiing/etc. it also has a strategic/tactical aspect of race craft which is very different from the tactics youre used to in running, and which seems to come down to experience and instinct (or 'luck', just that some people tend to be good at being 'lucky'). you probably have one piece of the puzzle, its impossible to tell whether you have the others. though that being said, you can get decently far on just fitness and not being stupid, you just might not *excel*.

rubiksoval

Probably not. Most people aren't as big an ******* in person as they can be on the internet.

Doubtful even you.

bfish713

Thank you all for the information and your thoughts. It seems the take aways are that I would have the fitness to compete with some of the top guys but would need to really learn how to race for a few years. I'm well aware that I won't be a natural race or bike handler and if I am going to race would invest some time in working on those skills.

@scheiboThanks for your answers you really hit everything. I've actually been training to stay in shape as I'm trying to get back from my achilles injury. Most of it has been on the bike as that's what is easiest and keeps me the most motivated. So I'm in good but not top shape and was riding on my road bike for a few months last summer/fall to actually be outside for my workouts. Also I get your point about giving cycling a go, got to try it to see if I like it. Besides bike handling was their anything else you and those ex-runners struggle with?

The only reason I haven't gone to some group rides and hopped in some races is because the doc said peddling in cleats was bad for my achilles and it might be hurting your recovery. I've also had a few procedures on the achilles that have put me in an air cast so I can't just go out and ride.

You guys have convinced that if when I get out of this boot (next week!) and as long as I am not cleared to run and clear to bike. I'll start getting ready to ride a few local races this summer. That way by the end of summer if I'm back running, I will have the info to decide which I like better, and if I'm not... well easy decision.

You guys for sure answered all my questions and addressed my concerns so thanks a bunch.

bfish713

I'm just curious what it is about what I said that makes you say any of this? I posted this here as opposed to telling random people because it just makes more sense.

I've been beaten over and over on the track but I still love that and spend my winters nights training for that. Idk what corporate lifestyle spin even means. And yes if I do end up in cycling I will come back and ask more questions.

As for the current ploy, it seems people shared the exact information I was looking for so thank you all for that.

You seem to be playing devils advocate to everyone so I want to know, besides the threat of crashes (which is readily apparent and quite scary) makes you not want to enable me? Also what is everyone else enabling me to do besides race? Tell me what I'm missing, maybe it'll be good motivation for me.

Radish_legs

I've had about five friends that tore their Achilles. Terrible injury. In the more explosive sports, many never fully come back. Sounds like you never tore it, and haven't had surgery. As you know, it's part of the body that receives very poor circulation, which is why they are so susceptible to injury and hard to heal.

Ygduf

remind me to never play basketball when you're around. seems like very bad luck.

miyata man

Irony?

So the same ethos you misapplied running your body into ground will garner further positive results in cycling? More so if nobody directly questions anything before encouraging you to be a muscle bound nuisance.

You seem to be afraid of there being some level of scrutiny and to a greater degree a lack of easy friendship resulting from your self written introduction letter. You tell me what is missing in your farce. Certainly not ease with false modesty about how you'll start at the bottom if there is no free pass. After declaring your world class status. Pick one, being treated like an experienced world class athlete and living up to a higher level of expectations or being a fledgling with an injured wing.

globecanvas

Cut the guy some slack, man. It's not like he came in saying "how long to I have to suffer the noobs before I earn my rightful place as a pro." He was looking for some advice, which he got. He'll race and figure out what it's about, or he won't, but it's not like he's naively marching into the battle of Antietam or something.

hack

Yeah ... seems a but rough. Given the decline in this sport's participation, it'd benefit us all to avoid turning away folks with interest in racing.

miyata man

I'll stop at saying this place has gone too far in the other direction if, far from hazing or blatantly being derogatory for no apparent reason, applying some level of scrutiny has become unpopular. I see a deeper responsibility than risking offending inexperienced racers by not tolerating an endless stream of sophomoric thread starting etc. Respectfully, but not always buried so deeply in niceties the edge is hard to discern.

rubiksoval

Duathlon?!



I jest, I jest.

rubiksoval

Dude, you're the inexperienced racer around here. You've done, what, a couple of races? Yet you dole out over-aggressive "advice" and criticisms like you're some sort of expert. And you're not. All you do is read and pontificate endlessly.

That's what I don't get from you.

McBTC

...swimming, cycling, running-- maybe dividing up you time training for triathlons might be the way to go--e.g., Sprint triathlons are short-distance triathlons, usually consisting of a 750-meter swim, 20k-bike ride and a 5k-run. This is half the distance of an Olympic triathlon and less than a quarter of the distance of the Ironman.

miyata man

dot dot dot

PM if you feel so strongly.

TheKillerPenguin

OP is an experienced and talented aerobic athlete asking how guys that come from his sport tend to do in cycling. You have a lot of pent up energy, maybe you should use some of it actually racing

Radish_legs

One of my buddies tore his achilles while I was rolling the gopro (basketball). He enjoyed showing his friends the moment of his injury.

I think this guy should be encouraged to race. It's a declining sport with little interest from the public. Personally I have encountered the "guardians of cycling" (in real life), and they are tiring. The good guys are the ones that encourage and mentor.

If he started a thread on his cycling journey, and gave periodic updates, including accounts of his races, I would be very interested in reading it.

globecanvas

I have no patience for those guys. They are almost always 50 year old cat 4s for some reason. Dunning-Kruger effect in action.

Voodoo76

OP, some good answers here. I was a solid Juco middle distance & CC runner but a washout at D1, so not quite your talent level. Shin problems got the better of me, got on a bike and never looked back. Made it as far as Cat2.

The biggest difference physically, what took some time adjusting to, was the anaerobic aspect of cycling. Take the most tactical, surge filled race you ever ran and multiply that x 10. That's your average training Crit. You have to get ready for that.

In terms of competition/mentality the differences were even bigger. Running (for me at least) got to the point where you pretty much knew the outcome based on who was there. Because of the draft cycling involves a lot more rolls of the dice, position is everything. Draft also allows a mix of riders with very different abilities around you. Picture going into the last lap of a 10K with Usain Bolt sitting on your wheel! I found that chess game aspect of the sport quite appealing and a lot less monotonous than running bacame.

Good luck & have fun!