Old 03-18-23, 03:42 PM
  #4  
alcjphil
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You need to work on technical skills. I am not a big fan of Gran Fondos or Cyclosportifs. You will have riders of varying ability even though very strong. I would much rather do a sanctioned road race where most of the riders will have had road racing experience and know how to ride relatively safely in a racing pack. I rode for almost 20 years as a master and the older we were the safer it was. I rode against ex professionals and even world masters champions. When I started racing, I had been a member of a cycling club for a few years and quite a few of the members were also racing at that time. They were a great help when I started racing, so much so that the very first crit I did I managed to snag a third place finish. FTP is a measure of fitness, It isn't going to help you racing elbow to elbow going into a corner at 50 kph. Road races still require the ability to get through technical sections without losing places in the pack. When I did my first crit, I had the ability to hold my own through corners, I had a lot more trouble learning to hang in in a road race however. Different skill set. If you find yourself having to sprint after every corner, you will always wear yourself out long before the end of the race

Oh, and hint from a racer: The back of the pack is the worst place to be. Being in the front third of the pack is much, much easier
My avatar is a photo taken during the crit stage of Le Coupe Des Ameriques which was at that time the North American masters championship. I was on the front when this picture was taken

Last edited by alcjphil; 03-18-23 at 03:57 PM.
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