ZXiMan

Yeah, I know... I was being silly, hence the ""

ZXiMan

If there were more USCF point races that were local (I mean local, not having to drive 6-8 hours round trip) I'd definately race to upgrade and be more serious about that kind of competition. The reality is, I have my children every other weekend starting on a thursday, ending on a monday so it makes it difficult for me to drop everything and do road trips. With the club races, I only have to drive 25-30 minutes each way, race for an hour and a half and be home for dinner. The fact that they give points and keep track of stats makes it more than just an A group ride. The course is the same every week, starts and ends at the same place (so tactics depend on conditions and who is in the race) and they even have an awards ceremony at the end of the (LONGISH) season. One of the local TXBRA promoters in our area that usually does TTs is going to do a crit race next year, so I will definately do that becuase it will be about 15 minutes from home. I too plan on buying a TT bike and doing some TT events.

I'm retired though so other than the visitation thing, I can ride as often or as long as I want so I at least have that going for me...

patentcad

I'll be 51 years old in a few weeks. I don't know how much longer I can ride with the 35+ or even the 45+ guys. Sure, I know guys who are 60+ who do that, but they are generally riders who were considerably more talented than I ever was as a younger cyclist. At my best, I was a strong 4 who could have upgraded to 3 had I raced 35+ times as a Cat 4 and made it my mission. But I quickly started doing Vets races because they were so much safer and saner. I never saw the point of upgrading to 3, because as a 3 I would have been out of my depth anyway. Now I think about trying again, but the sheer volume of racing and travel I'd have to do make me prefer 35+ races (where I can try to help the team I sponsor), TTs and local competitive rides like Nyack. I do enjoy all that.

So I figure maybe I can keep hammering for another 5-6 years. If I can go longer than that, great. Hell, maybe I'll be doing 55+ TTs until I'm 65, and then 65+ TTs. But you never know. You're one little surprise tweaky pain from the end of you racing career at all times. Don't I know it.

It's fun trying my little Road Nazis. For all the idiot elitism that pervades this sport, it's mostly very cool guys who are mostly helpful, friendly to newcomers and don't fit that stereotype. Mostly. It's easy to find the aholes of course. They're at every race.

ZXiMan

I'm just 40 years old... I wish I had started riding like I do now, 20 years ago.

I hope to be as competitive or more when I'm your age but I know there is no such thing as turning back the clock... heh.

patentcad

You know what boys? It doesn't change. You go out and train the best you can and on race day you go as hard as you can as long as you can whether you're 25 or 55. The results? For me that's the scene, the workout, the camaraderie and the thrill of riding 30 mph in the bunch. If I can help my team by stringing out the field on the last lap to discourage any 1000 meter man attacks, that's even better. Nothing's as rewarding as the 'attaboys' from your team mates after the race when the team leader gets a result.

ZXiMan

That's good to know, but right now I'm unattached.

Cadd

I'm just curious what the logic is of having a race bike AND a training bike? Most of the time, you ride your training bike (I'm assuming) and only take your race bike out for....well, only races.

But since you're logging miles & miles & miles on the training bike, shouldn't you race with it also?

Why wouldn't you go on training rides with your race bike? I think it would make more sense to train on a bike that you would race with.

ilvwhtgrls

:slaps on the ass: attaboy good race

ilvwhtgrls

imagine having sex in there... i'd probably pass out. hahahaha

ZXiMan

I used to use both my bikes for both training and races. Now I just have one bike so I use it for both too.

The only difference now is wheelset and gearing (I use '08 Mavic SLs with a 12-25 cassette for training and Zipp 404s with an 11-23 for races). I do some flat, smooth training rides with the Zipps on occasion.

substructure

Me and my wife have one of those. We put laughing gas in it though. Really fun stuff.

roadwarrior

Top cyclists, the type that you see on TV or even on domestic teams don't come from CAT 5, 4, or 3.

I raced as a junior, was picked up by a team that was sponsored, I never raced anything other than Pro 1, 2. From there, I went to Europe for two years and learned I was a mid-pack racer at best, had my fun and went on to a business career. For a while I raced while I was building a career, ran as a 2, but had no time to train properly. I didn't want to live in a Maytag box under a bridge to race bikes.

Unless you are a miracle, if you are 20 and up and racing 3 or 4, it's not happening no matter how much money you spend.

Now, if you spend money to reach your potential, that's great. But keep it real. The closer you get to your potential, the more fun you will have. But Johann will not be calling.

I am a single digit handicap golfer. I can shoot in the mid-70's...if I get Hank Haney to coach me, I'm never going to the PGA Tour. It's not happening.

ldesfor1@ithaca

yah, Fishbowl, Subby/Ms.Subby!!


laughing gas is the best performance enhancer!!




Jealous, by the way. I love sleeping in tents!!


-L

Duke of Kent

Ah. True.

No reason I can't hand it to them on a silver platter every once in a while, when Mars and Jupiter are aligned just right.

I will be a pretty mean SOB this year in them thar hills.

Lithuania

i have no illusion of becoming a pro racer. i dont use my coach to teach me how to race. i use him to get me fit enough to learn how to race when I go on group rides.

Chucklehead

I figure Cat3 is the best place for someone like me to be. I have no teammates, no interest and not nearly enough dedication to go race at the next level, but I'm more than competitive enough to enjjoy myself in the 3's. I really don't even put that many hours in on the bike(I get bored after a couple of hours), but I try to make the most of the time I do spend out there, and that seems to work just fine for me. Perfect, because I've more or less built my ability around crits. There are plenty of P/1/2/3 races to enter if I want to dabble, and since I'm old I can also enter the masters races and get smoked by the Amgen guys as well.

patentcad

Correct. If you are 20 and up and racing Cat 2 it's probably not happening either, and even if it does, the first level of pro racing is hardly what most of us would consider 'a living'. The one pro racer that I personally know essentially couldn't do it without the support of his parents. He is 27 years old now, he's been racing as a domestic 'pro' for several years. Even competed in the US TT championships last year. It's a rough gig.

But try convincing some 22-28 year old Cat 2's of this reality. They do have to find out the hard way. But holding on to your dreams isn't necessarily a bad thing in my view, and they do die hard. It's a tough friggin sport on every level from Cat 5 to UCI. I told the guy I was talking about above to keep hammering, because he'll have the rest of his life to strap on a suit and sit in front of a computer like most of us who wish we were out riding more. Well, not me, I ride all I want, but you know what I mean.

CastIron

I'm a loser baby!

gsteinb

I don't know where all these guys are who are expecting a pro contract. I only know one guy who thinks he can do it, and he might well be able to. Most everyone else I've ever met who takes the sport seriously does it because it's what they do, not because they think they'll be racing in Europe. I train longer and harder now than when I was a 20 something cat II and it isn't because I think Johann will want to replace old Ekimov with equally old Gary. Seems to me the point of the thread was more along the lines 'how seriously do you take this sport where you can't really reach the upper levels' than 'what are you doing to get to the upper level.' Besides, it's guys pushing the limits of seriousness that lights a fire under the ass of the kid who does make it the top.

patentcad

It's hard to take a sport that you suck at (as much as I do) seriously.

92degrees

It's hard not to suck at something you don't take seriously.

kudude

but somehow you manage

patentcad

I spend serious time and money on it because I enjoy it. Don't mistake that with taking it seriously. Frankly, we all do this for fun, so any seriousness is all in your own head. Which is a perfect place for such notions to be.

I can understand those of you who don't suck at racing being more insane about it than I am. Of course. If I had any ability at this at all I'd be racing 50+ times a year. Not for nothing, but I sucked back in the 90's too and I was doing this idiot sport 30x a year. I just like it. If I could win or place in every race I'd be utterly obsessed with it. Thankfully I'm just half-obsessed with it now. More obsessed with riding my bike for the endorphins than the racing. The racing is just so my Self Loathing stays fresh.

92degrees

Spending serious amounts of time on something is taking it seriously. Sorry.

ElJamoquio

It's not the altitude, it's the humidity. It gets warm and very, very humid.