Originally Posted by
mikewaters
41 years old, never raced. Been back on bike about 14 months after 5 years off, and never fast before that. Total mileage in 14 months about 2200 miles. I know I'm nothing to brag about, but I'm wondering if I'm both physically ready and/or psychologically ready. It's actually more likely that I will try my first race on the track at the C level. I keep looking up local crit results in the Cat 5/C races, and seeing guys who are way better/faster than me (sandbaggers?). I'm 5'10", 190lb, so I know that improvement will rely on losing weight.
Well my personal experience telling me that to have fun racing you have to have some understanding of tactics (how not to panic in group, how to keep on right wheels and so - look at my topics I am struggling) OR better fitness than everybody else. I have arguably better fitness than most of cat5 racers in races that I do so that make practicing those interesting for me (ie I do not get dropped most of the time). Find free practice criterium around where you live that helped me a lot.