The Racing Thread..

Author
Discussion

SystemParanoia

14,343 posts

197 months

Wednesday 29th July 2015
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bakerstreet said:
SystemParanoia said:
going to be doing my first sportive 20th sept in stafford.

93 miles in total, and im flipping terrified as ive never ridden that distance in one sitting before!

go big or go home eh?! smile
Sportives aren't races. When I entered my first one, I was expecting it to get a bit competitive towards the end and there would be a group sprint or similar. If there was, it wasn't near me frown

Edit: I will keep an eye on this thread though. I'd like to race one day smile
well, ill be racing my workmates if nothing else!

Birdthom

788 posts

224 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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9th in a local 3/4 cat league road race this evening. Downpour during the briefing, then heavy rain carried on throughout. Fast race (26.5mph ave) on narrow flat twisty country roads (much of it single track) with plenty of mud, massive puddles and potholes. Not too much cow pat on the roads this week though, fortunately. Big split in the field on the first lap, and plenty of attacks after that. It's one circuit I always enjoy when it's wet. A good race.

madzo14

159 posts

121 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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4th cat racer here over in N.I. Haven't raced in a few months. Not had much luck in my races this year with either getting boxed in in the sprint finish, caught up in a crash or people just slowing down in front of you in a sprint finish causing chaos. Managed two point finishes.

Been costing me a fortune with entry fees and petrol driving round the country to get to races. One crit is charging £15 at the Titanic Centre in August and the 4th cat crit is 15/20mins of racing plus a couple of laps which is a tad steep I reckon.

JEA1K

2,485 posts

222 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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outnumbered said:
Thanks, enjoyed looking at that.

After spending many years publishing the press reports on our club's website, I can provide the following template that will work for almost any circuit race for most riders:

"I attacked a few times but no-one was willing to work with me, sat comfortably in the bunch for most of the race, was in a great position/leading position/first 5 riders with 250M to go and then <insert something bad here> and finished about 25th."

smile
hehe

Rolls

Original Poster:

1,502 posts

176 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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madzo14 said:
4th cat racer here over in N.I. Haven't raced in a few months. Not had much luck in my races this year with either getting boxed in in the sprint finish, caught up in a crash or people just slowing down in front of you in a sprint finish causing chaos. Managed two point finishes.

Been costing me a fortune with entry fees and petrol driving round the country to get to races. One crit is charging £15 at the Titanic Centre in August and the 4th cat crit is 15/20mins of racing plus a couple of laps which is a tad steep I reckon.
20 mins for a crit race? hardly worth it is it? - all of the ones i've done have been a min 45mins + 3 laps :-)

okgo

37,858 posts

197 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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JEA1K said:
hehe
Its why you should aspire to race at a better level, not many races I do end in bunch sprints (well the minor placings might be).

whatleytom

1,272 posts

182 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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JEA1K said:
Thanks, enjoyed looking at that.

After spending many years publishing the press reports on our club's website, I can provide the following template that will work for almost any circuit race for most riders:

"I attacked a few times but no-one was willing to work with me, sat comfortably in the bunch for most of the race, was in a great position/leading position/first 5 riders with 250M to go and then <insert something bad here> and finished about 25th."

smile
Guilty redface

JEA1K

2,485 posts

222 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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okgo said:
Its why you should aspire to race at a better level, not many races I do end in bunch sprints (well the minor placings might be).
Nature of the beast really. No coincidence that crits & track have more 'incidents' and I guess most are due to 45 blokes thinking they're Cav.

okgo

37,858 posts

197 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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JEA1K said:
Nature of the beast really. No coincidence that crits & track have more 'incidents' and I guess most are due to 45 blokes thinking they're Cav.
Again, this is still mostly a result of lower category racing, Crystal Palace is a really technical circuit and while there are issues here and there, generally the standard of racing in the e12 is really good and I've not been in a crash there ever despite racing it maybe ten times and it being far more complex than any other circuit I have done.

Road racing is slightly different, but still at the higher level its generally safer and more interesting as its rarely just a bunch sprint.

JuniorD

8,616 posts

222 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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okgo said:
JEA1K said:
Nature of the beast really. No coincidence that crits & track have more 'incidents' and I guess most are due to 45 blokes thinking they're Cav.
Again, this is still mostly a result of lower category racing, Crystal Palace is a really technical circuit and while there are issues here and there, generally the standard of racing in the e12 is really good and I've not been in a crash there ever despite racing it maybe ten times and it being far more complex than any other circuit I have done.

Road racing is slightly different, but still at the higher level its generally safer and more interesting as its rarely just a bunch sprint.
You want to see an Irish A4 race in teh first two months of the season...cruise round in a bunch for 40 miles then with 500-200m to go - BANG! broken bodies and bikes everywhere, adults and middle aged tts bursting their barely capable lungs in fighting for that magnificent 20th place lying in pieces on the road.

Ponk

1,380 posts

191 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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outnumbered said:
Ponk said:
I'm most envious of these tales of 3rd cat in a few races. I must be dragging down PH's average results with my first season. biggrin

You can read all about my flailing around at http://off-the-back.com
Thanks, enjoyed looking at that.

After spending many years publishing the press reports on our club's website, I can provide the following template that will work for almost any circuit race for most riders:

"I attacked a few times but no-one was willing to work with me, sat comfortably in the bunch for most of the race, was in a great position/leading position/first 5 riders with 250M to go and then <insert something bad here> and finished about 25th."

smile
Haha! That's pretty much exactly the story of my last race. smile There really is so much more to racing than just spinning the pedals.

lynus2004

119 posts

206 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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Birdthom said:
9th in a local 3/4 cat league road race this evening. Downpour during the briefing, then heavy rain carried on throughout. Fast race (26.5mph ave) on narrow flat twisty country roads (much of it single track) with plenty of mud, massive puddles and potholes. Not too much cow pat on the roads this week though, fortunately. Big split in the field on the first lap, and plenty of attacks after that. It's one circuit I always enjoy when it's wet. A good race.
Good work, Lime Kiln?

Birdthom

788 posts

224 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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lynus2004 said:
Good work, Lime Kiln?
Yep, thought you might figure that out!

How are you getting on this year? I'll be out in the EMRRL 2/3/4 on Sunday if you're doing that one.

lynus2004

119 posts

206 months

Thursday 30th July 2015
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Birdthom said:
Yep, thought you might figure that out!

How are you getting on this year? I'll be out in the EMRRL 2/3/4 on Sunday if you're doing that one.
Not really been doing many local races, due to one thing or another I don't get an entry into the EMRRL races at the minute so tend to look at E/1/2 races elsewhere but I've not been troubling the points, back to 3rd next year so will be racing the Lime Kiln again.

Birdthom

788 posts

224 months

Friday 31st July 2015
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EMDL has been really good this year, worth being a 3rd!

Ponk

1,380 posts

191 months

Saturday 1st August 2015
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Mixed week for me. Finished 11th or 12th in a 3/4 at Cyclopark. The group got thinned right out but not quite enough for me to bag another point. Still, that's the first 3/4 I've got round so that's a step forward. Heart rate was right up throughout, NP wasn't fair off FTP. That hurt, a lot.

https://www.strava.com/activities/357613352

Got 20th at a 4th only at Lee Valley. Wow, that's a hairy track for racing! No crashes this time but the last 5 laps were seriously sketchy. Found it really hard to move up without taking risks. I lost about 10 places after I got chopped in one of the hairpins. Power and heart rate unremarkable.

https://www.strava.com/activities/358721795

dontdobends

485 posts

213 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
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lynus2004 said:
I've had an interesting season but results wise it’s been terrible. Just haven't been able to get into a good patch of form for various reasons

A couple of years ago I went to watch the Lincoln GP and thought that I’d like to race it at some point, moved up to 2nd Cat this season and decided that being old there wasn’t likely to be another chance to do big races so entered a few.

Milk Race was a great, raced against the UK Pro teams in front of a massive crowd, crits aren’t really my thing and as I was coming back from a broken collarbone I didn’t have the bottle required to corner like the fast guys and ended up in a bunch of 2nd cats near the back.

National TT championship – I’m by no means a TT rider but got an entry, finished 36th and last after having a bad day even by my standards. Got the club jersey on the TV as 2nd rider off which was nice.

I also got a reserve entry into the National Road Road on a similar course but I was blown out of the back along with a lot of riders early on when Sky hit the front was still an experience to be in the same race as Cav etc.

Done a few other bits and held my own for longer but no decent results so looking like I’ll be back down to 3rd Cat next season but at least I’ll have some photos for the scrap book.
Great experience going from 3cat to riding with the worlds best! Just no rest riding at that level,well done!

okgo

37,858 posts

197 months

Wednesday 5th August 2015
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Must be about 2 years since I won a race on the roadbike, was a great feeling as I managed to win at the famously difficult (as crits go) Crystal Palace E12 last night! Willy B from this forum also managed to win the 3/4 cat race, a good night!


Ponk

1,380 posts

191 months

Wednesday 5th August 2015
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okgo said:
Must be about 2 years since I won a race on the roadbike, was a great feeling as I managed to win at the famously difficult (as crits go) Crystal Palace E12 last night! Willy B from this forum also managed to win the 3/4 cat race, a good night!
Great result chap! Hope you had time to plan your celebration. biggrin

okgo

37,858 posts

197 months

Wednesday 5th August 2015
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Haha I was thinking about what I should do - no photo has emerged just yet ....