phoshizzo

I'm curious to know how many amateur racers have cycling coaches, chiropractors, masseuses, multiple power meters, training bike and race bike? How many of you are paying out of pocket for all this?

I'm not knocking it if you have the time and money to do the mentioned above, because I'll admit that if I could afford the time and money, I'd probably do it too.

I raced Cat 3 this past season and while chatting at the races w/ other competitors and over hearing conversations, I was surprised to find out how much money is being dished out for personal "internet" coaching, weekly chiropractor and massage appointments, and other training aids. Most of these guys are 3's, 4's, and 5's. Yes, some of them are striving to be Pro's and Cat 1's, but it just seems a bit much for amateur Cat 3-5 racing.

As for me, I've read a lot of training books and read the forums for info. I have a new race bike and kept my old bike as a training rig. I go get a massage or go to the chiro every once in a while. I'm in my mid-30's, married, and have 3 little guys. No time for weekly appointments or strict training schedules.

cedricbosch

I'm a cat 3. I have a Fuji I bought for $1,200 when I worked at Performance.

Cycling isn't as hard as people make it seem. The more you ride the more you win, and the faster you go.

That said, I did buy the Friel book and I do have a very specific training plan. I use a heart rate monitor. But that was free. All it takes is a little brainpower and you can be training as efficiently as the pros.

There is a certain level you can get to without a heart rate monitor. Most people are nowhere near this level. Once you get a HRM you can increase this by ~15%. Then you can get a power meter and add maybe a few percentage points.

ridethecliche

I'm a lowly CAT5 who was just starting to get into the swing of things before I crashed and had to stop riding for about half a year.

I have a coach. Basically he's a pro local to the area who does coaching and nutrition stuff and is sponsoring my collegiate team.

I'm buying some self massage tools (The Stick) so I can reduce my recovery time after hard workouts. I saved up and bought myself a CAAD9 as a race bike, and I built an 84 trek 760 as a training bike. It ended up becoming my girlfriends bike. That bike cost maybe 600 or 700 bucks to build.

I'm going to start training with heart rate soon. I love data, but I feel that I can grow a lot as a rider without a powertap. I'll get a power meter when I get competitive in the 4's or 3's. Spending money on things that will make me more comfortable for now.

I don't have the cash for massages/chiropractors and all that stuff. College is as humbling an experience as it is awesome.

Chucklehead

Last time I said that, everyone jumped on me like I was the Antichrist.

challaday

I haven't raced in years, so I can give some historical perspective. The last time I raced, the little kid's category was called Midget (which didn't seem to bother anyone on the Political Correctness front at the time) so it has been a while.

Back in those days, most people I knew rode many miles, kept little log books of mileage and such, and showed up on saturday to race. Today, it shocks me to see how many weekend warriors have very strict training regimens with ungodly amounts of dollars spent on both gear and training.

But, I understand that the world is a different place than it was when I ran my first race in 1982. Just the advances in Sports Physiology, not to mention Bike Technology probably precludes "simple" racing anymore.

ridethecliche

Well, Pcad disproves that theory all the time. He rides more than anyone else, and he still sucks

urbanknight

I'm a cat 4 with a pretty cheap bike, no powertap, can't afford a trainer. I also don't win races.

fatallightning

my insurance covers weekly massages. i have a 15 hrm from nashbar and just bought a used ibike pm off ebay for 135. my bike was a 350 from target.com, got a set of used rollers for 20 off craigs. im all about low budget. my main impetus for the power meter was to make sure im making the best of my bike time this winter, and not just spinning junk miles. going to try and do an hour a day switching between lifting and bike time and hopefully come out strong this season in cat 5.

MrCrassic 

I'm a Category 5 and Collegiate D racer. I have a 2000 Trek 1000 (with good wheels, of course), but I am planning on getting either the Cervelo SL1 or a Cannondale CAAD9. I sucked my first year of racing. However, that was because I didn't have a goal or a purpose, and treated it more "meh" than I should have.

I don't have a coach, a PowerTap, massaging service or anything like that. Honestly, I cannot afford those kinds of things. The only training device I have is a HRM, and it has helped my training significantly. I'm also raking in the miles, most of them throughout the week during my commutes (which are also used to train).

My friend (who's on this forum) trained harder and is on a team, but doesn't shell out for any of the extras, and he just upgraded to 4.

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derrickhackman

i am a 3 for now and i am self-coached. I use a HRM and the club has a powertap that I borrow to get power data on a monthly basis. i do use Hammer products and I do *not* have a masseuse. for bikes i have an '94 litespeed ultimate (bad-weather bike) and a look 585 (race bike). i do not have ultra-high-expensive wheels because you can taco them in a race and that wated coin is pointless. i do try to run good tires however.

i don't think everyone needs a coach (human that is). i am pretty sure that a machine can give you all the information, training plan changes, and motivation that you need and i am actually working on a venture that will do this for athletes that do *not* want to pay for coaching (ie. training peaks etc...). anyhow more on that later.

ldesfor1@ithaca

I bury myself in training, I bury myself in training information and I spend too much time thinking about racing, nutrition and human performance (I'm a trainer by trade).
I bury my credit card to pay for races, food and decent bike stuff.
I get a free massage 5-7 times a year and do lots of self massage and roller work.
I'm self coached, with the help of a few fast friends and this forum.
I have 5 bikes and ride the snot out of all of them.
I have no car.
I have a used Ptap and am looking to get another Ebay ptap. Best investment towards performance.
Every bike purchase is performance oriented, never aesthetically motivated.
I'd rather be poor from racing than poor from drinking or cars or kids. That's just me.


Cycling is a rich man's sport, brother. I've tried to convince myself otherwise, but cant change reality. Cycling is a rich man's sport. I aint no rich man, but I love cycling. Sacrifices are made.


I'm a pro Cat3 and wouldnt change a thing.




-L

patentcad

Correct, and thank you.

Lithuania

i am a pro cat 4

patentcad

First come out on the Nyack Ride and see if you can hang with the bunch until Tenafly (about 10 miles from the start). Then we'll talk about your Cat 5 plans.

carpediemracing 

Heh I first thought of a former local Cat 3 team whose mission was to be a "Pro Cat 3" team. They even had their jerseys designed by the guy who designed the Saeco jerseys (including the Peace, Caesar, etc). They aggressively recruited the best racers and they went and won all sorts of races all over the place. A couple were former Cat 2s (one from CO I think) and they were really, really, really good. But that's a different topic altogether.

I'm a Cat 3 that's pretty much peaked at Cat 3 (been one forever). I have multiple bikes, currently only one almost new primary (1 year old now) with no related back up. I still have my old primary and its backup (both Giant TCRs, from about 5-7 years ago). I have a track bike, mtb, some others, but I've had a lot of those for a while, 10 years on the mtb, 15+ for the track bike, etc. The primary came with an SRM so I use that for power, and I have a Timex HRM that I use otherwise.

I only got massages when my (now ex-) was getting certification for massage - I even got two massages in one day when students had to pair up and massage the same person to get feedback from "one client". I made sure I did a hard ride before each of the 5 or 6 massages so that the massages would be useful. That was in the mid 90s.

My recent best year ever (2005) I used up my company provided FSA money to pay for a chiropractor instead of buying another $1500 worth of glasses. I went for 8 months or so, twice a week.

I've also flown to FL (Jan) and CA (Feb) for a few years (2004-) to get in some early season training. But I think I worked so hard that I rarely trained/raced, and my Jan and Feb vacations (3-4 weeks total) essentially made up my whole year of training. After that I rarely rode more than 2-3-4 hours a week, and I took many weeks off (in 2007 I rode about 150 hours).

I also buy gels and drinks and stuff and use them even on trainer rides.

But, and this is a big but, all that stuff doesn't teach you how to race a bike - they usually make you stronger but they rarely help your racing brain. In fact, some of the "good" coaches out there won't even teach you how to ride a bike. I was following a relatively big local coach around, a couple of his riders/clients with him, and they tried to pick up a rock in the road. They didn't know the trick on how to do this, and when the coach tried, I realized he didn't either (but he was so limber he almost got the rock anyway). The trick is to get your hips below the seat, and no one did that until I showed them. Then it was like a light popped on. "Oh, yeah". Yep.

No, I didn't pick up the rock, but I grazed the pavement too long with my fingers and took all the skin off the tips so I stopped explaining while dragging my fingers on the ground at 15 mph.

You don't want to be a strong, powerful, and dumb racer. You want to be a strong, powerful, and smart racer. The difference between the two, right now anyway, either comes from a smart mentor (doesn't have to be strong or powerful, and in fact a weak racer that gets results is probably a better person to talk to) or from learning it on your own.

cdr

ElJamoquio

I have two power meters, four bikes, all of different genres (TT, Road, CX, Mountain). The power meters were both used, the TT bike was used.

Last year I had a coach, he provided his services for free. I saw lots of improvement.

Earlier this year I had an altitude tent, too, also free.

Cat 4.

NomadVW 

Corrected.

2 Powertaps
3 Bikes
Massage monthly
Train 18+ hrs per week
Have been known to weigh my food and cycling equipment to the gram
Analyze rides a lot less nowadays, but a lot more than most

I was a Pro Cat Nothing in Japan, but I've been downgraded to a US Continental Pro Cat 4 - I don't have race wheels or tubulars, only 2 component groupsets for 3 bikes and looking for a sponsor that will buy them for me, but since I've had suckage at the racing part this year, I'll probably have to take CERA to get a contract.

substructure

Cat 3.
I have two bikes and no power tap - yet. I get no outside help with coaching, chiropractors, massages, etc. I train mostly alone using a HR monitor and listening to my body (sometimes not listening enough though). Anytime I can I train with guys a whole helleva lot faster and stronger than me. My main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Be consistent; train hard and recover harder. I hope by mid-season next year I will be a Pro Cat2

gsteinb

Upgraded to cat 2 this past season. I have several bikes but only two functioning geared road bikes. I ride a fixed gear outside most of the winter, though I train more indoors than out, so I'd be more than likely to spend money on the latest great trainer. I have two road bikes, a bike welded to my computrainer, a fixed gear, a track bike, a single speed MTN bike, a tandem....hmmm maybe something else as well. No power meters, no coach, no supplements, no drinks. I eat food, drink water. My yearly average is 18 hours a week. I could probably get more stuff paid for if I switched teams, but I get to race with my friends, and in the end that's what is important.

Lithuania

i have a bunch of bikes but nothing is really all that fancy. I dont have race wheels or anything like that.

I do have a powertap and coach.

When I used to just "ride lots" I never really got anywhere. Now I ride a lot less and still dont get anywhere but I get there faster

I need to go get a massage or see a chiropracter because I am all messed up from crashing a bunch. maybe one day.

honestly, other than my coach I really dont pay all that much for this sport if you subtract race fees. Its been well over a year since ive bought anything for my road racing bike.

patentcad

We're still going to get you that pony. I swear.

EventServices

So which is it? A bit much, or an aspiration?

It's not easy to dabble in bike racing because there will always be riders who take it more seriously than you.

Are you suggesting that we start a new categorization model:
Cat A: guys with kids who don't have time to train as much as everyone else
Cat B: guys who train and take it seriously and want to climb the ladder
Cat C: guys who don't train much but still kick butt on weekends

gsteinb

Come on folks, it's a sport. This isn't the knitting club. Truth is if some guy I race against
is training 20 hours I'm training 22. My goal isn't to beat him, it's to make him quit the
sport.

heads up!

I hadn't heard the (always pejorative?) term "Pro Cat x" but that's exactly what I'm turning into.

This was my first road racing season, got half my Cat 3 upgrade points. Now I want to get a real "W" in the Cat 4's and play a role in Cat 3 races, hopefully having about half my Cat 2 points at end of next season.

So, I bought a used PTap and have interviewed a few coaches. They're really expensive, but I need structure this winter and I want to take all the guesswork out of beginning to train with power. I'm a fairly smart, if undaring, racer - now I just need some structured interval work over the winter and I'll be good to go.

cat4ever

Well, I don't know what you would call me. I have an Orbea Orca with powertap and a Specialized Transition with a powertap. I also have a Trek 5200 that's a touring bike.

Our team has a masseuse as a sponsor.

All my "expendable" cash goes to cycling products. This year it was the Transition, my team kit and race fees. Next year it's a front wheel, wind tunnel and race fees. And shoes. And maybe a new road frame. And the team kit.

And I still suck at everything other than time trials. But so what? It's my money and my hobby. The people I see who have "internet coaches" are 30 somethings+ with the money to do so. People like that (like me, though I don't have an internet coach) feel they need every advantage against the throngs of 18-23 year old kids who don't get fat in the winter, who has more testosterone than us and who doesn't have a day job.

Plus, I simply enjoy buying bike gear.