First road race

TimC said:

OK, I know of Bleve's "racing your first crit for dummies" 🙂 guide,
but what about your first road race?

Assuming good weather Saturday (hmm, dodgy afternoon), I am going to
try to attend my first (and last, for a while) road race. C grade,
6x8km with a 1km @ 5% hill, apparently near the tail end. Apparently
scratch, which I think means we all start as a massed start, but stick
to grades. I have read ess and gpl's etc race reports, and it appears
you can actually ride with bunches from a higher grade, am I correct?

There are no allowances for mechanicals, are there? Hence, it is not
worth taking a tube, pump and multitool? How little work is it
acceptable to do on the front 🙂 ?

How far are you willing to walk (or ride on the rims), if you get a
flat? Presumably you have to get back to the start somehow...

You can do as little work as your conscience will let you get away with!

Quoted message said:

What differences can I expect tactically? I'm not even quite sure of
the difference between a crit and a road race of this variety -- this
just appears to be a crit on a public road with a circuit 7 times
longer, and a total length 2-3 times longer. Is that enough
difference to make it a different beast?

Food and drinkwise? 2 bidons will be enough for anyone? Snakes?

A thing to keep in mind is that if you're desperately hanging on to a
bunch, then you're not going to want to take a hand off for anything,
you're not going to want to lose focus for an instant. Go into it very
well hydrated, and fuelled up. In a 40km training ride with Steven I'll
drink 2 bidons (one water, one sports drink) but in a race I'll have
well under that, because I'm working hard (an exception is at Murarrie
crits where no one wants to do the work so you can jump on the front and
drink a whole bidon before someone will pass you). I had a gel with me
in the TTT but never got a chance to take it because I was hanging on
for dear life - I wish I had taken it before we started.

T

TimC said:

OK, I know of Bleve's "racing your first crit for dummies" 🙂 guide,
but what about your first road race?

Assuming good weather Saturday (hmm, dodgy afternoon), I am going to
try to attend my first (and last, for a while) road race. C grade,
6x8km with a 1km @ 5% hill, apparently near the tail end. Apparently
scratch, which I think means we all start as a massed start, but stick
to grades. I have read ess and gpl's etc race reports, and it appears
you can actually ride with bunches from a higher grade, am I correct?

No. this is a short road race, it'll be just like a crit, the general
rules are the same,
the confusion comes from handicaps, where there are no grades as such,
but if it's a scratch race, it's just a long crit.

Quoted message said:

There are no allowances for mechanicals, are there?

No. You puncture, and chances are, you're gone. You cannot drop a lap
in a roadrace.

Quoted message said:

Hence, it is not
worth taking a tube, pump and multitool? How little work is it
acceptable to do on the front 🙂 ?

As much as you want, there's a prize for the biggest pull, remember? 🙂

Quoted message said:

What differences can I expect tactically? I'm not even quite sure of
the difference between a crit and a road race of this variety -- this
just appears to be a crit on a public road with a circuit 7 times
longer, and a total length 2-3 times longer. Is that enough
difference to make it a different beast?

Not a lot of difference. You've only done very short crits (25min at
Kew) so the intensity will be lower, but basically the same sort of
thing.

Quoted message said:

Food and drinkwise? 2 bidons will be enough for anyone? Snakes?

Should be heaps. I usually carry snakes for road races & eat them when
there's a lull.

TimC said:

OK, I know of Bleve's "racing your first crit for dummies" 🙂 guide,
but what about your first road race?

Assuming good weather Saturday (hmm, dodgy afternoon), I am going to
try to attend my first (and last, for a while) road race. C grade,
6x8km with a 1km @ 5% hill, apparently near the tail end. Apparently
scratch, which I think means we all start as a massed start, but stick
to grades. I have read ess and gpl's etc race reports, and it appears
you can actually ride with bunches from a higher grade, am I correct?

There are no allowances for mechanicals, are there? Hence, it is not
worth taking a tube, pump and multitool? How little work is it
acceptable to do on the front 🙂 ?

What differences can I expect tactically? I'm not even quite sure of
the difference between a crit and a road race of this variety -- this
just appears to be a crit on a public road with a circuit 7 times
longer, and a total length 2-3 times longer. Is that enough
difference to make it a different beast?

Food and drinkwise? 2 bidons will be enough for anyone? Snakes?

--
TimC
"Application encountered an error while failing. Error recovered
successfully, proceeding to fail"

1 bidon would be more than ample. If I see you on the side of the road I'll chuck you my pump.

Don't go with any breaks until 2 laps to go. I guarantee there will be a breakaway on the hill with 2 to go,and you must go with them. I'll take you for a preview lap on the day.

Yes it's a scratch race,so you'll be riding with C-graders, I'll point out the ones to watch out for, of course it's B for me so I won't be able to help you out.

Can't remember what the average speed was for that course, Ritcho might have some stats from his victory.

Of course if the radars looking dodgy, I'll be absent, can't have the new girl getting all wet.

essendon93 said:

can't have the new girl getting all wet.

arrrrr, Ess? Are you aware of what you just said?:eek: *snicker* snicker*

On 2006-08-31, essendon93 (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

1 bidon would be more than ample. If I see you on the side of the road
I'll chuck you my pump.

Don't go with any breaks until 2 laps to go. I guarantee there will be
a breakaway on the hill with 2 to go,and you must go with them. I'll
take you for a preview lap on the day.

Yes it's a scratch race,so you'll be riding with C-graders, I'll point
out the ones to watch out for, of course it's B for me so I won't be
able to help you out.

Can't remember what the average speed was for that course, Ritcho might
have some stats from his victory.

Ta, useful info -- I was wondering about breakaways as well.

Quoted message said:

Of course if the radars looking dodgy, I'll be absent, can't have the
new girl getting all wet.

Could always take the old girl, or is she not as exciting a ride
anymore? ;P

--
TimC
All theoretical chemistry is really physics; and all theoretical
chemists know it. -- Richard P. Feynman

TimC said:

OK, I know of Bleve's "racing your first crit for dummies" 🙂 guide,
but what about your first road race?

Assuming good weather Saturday (hmm, dodgy afternoon), I am going to
try to attend my first (and last, for a while) road race. C grade,
6x8km with a 1km @ 5% hill, apparently near the tail end. Apparently
scratch, which I think means we all start as a massed start, but stick
to grades. I have read ess and gpl's etc race reports, and it appears
you can actually ride with bunches from a higher grade, am I correct?

There are no allowances for mechanicals, are there? Hence, it is not
worth taking a tube, pump and multitool? How little work is it
acceptable to do on the front 🙂 ?

What differences can I expect tactically? I'm not even quite sure of
the difference between a crit and a road race of this variety -- this
just appears to be a crit on a public road with a circuit 7 times
longer, and a total length 2-3 times longer. Is that enough
difference to make it a different beast?

Food and drinkwise? 2 bidons will be enough for anyone? Snakes?

--
TimC
"Application encountered an error while failing. Error recovered
successfully, proceeding to fail"

Hmmm. I went for two bidons... you'll be riding for a little over an hour and a half.

At Gisborne, there's usually some guy taking off solo on about the third lap. If he's from HCC, you can sit at the back of the bunch and do zero work, except that you have to be watchful that a split doesn't happen. At about three or just two to go, a split might happen and you need to be in it, so you might consider riding closer to the front, but not on the front.

According to my gps data, the course is about 8.4km/lap =14-15min the only time I've been there (av 34.2). The climb goes up about 70m in 1.4km... this climb is in the middle of the lap and is about 8% at its steepest point (for not very long). There is a little rise near the end of the lap, but the run to the finish is a fast downhill that runs out flat near the finish line... don't go too early...

Good luck - I can't get a leave pass this weekend 'cos I've got relatives to look after...

Ritch

PS. If you want to be hopelessly outclassed, do what I did and race the midlands tour. It was fun to ride with genuine elite riders... until the road pointed upwards...

Think our BR ride *cough* race *cough* into Hurstbridge.. that is rock solid B grade level stuff.. with maybe a few A grade efforts thrown in on a good day 😉

Jump on a wheel like you do in this section and you'll be fine.

oh, and if the bunch gets lazy or start mucking around, ATTACK! It might not win you the race, but it'll at least make them work/hurt, and sometimes it can pay off.

TimC said:

OK, I know of Bleve's "racing your first crit for dummies" 🙂 guide,
but what about your first road race?

Assuming good weather Saturday (hmm, dodgy afternoon), I am going to
try to attend my first (and last, for a while) road race. C grade,
6x8km with a 1km @ 5% hill, apparently near the tail end. Apparently
scratch, which I think means we all start as a massed start, but stick
to grades. I have read ess and gpl's etc race reports, and it appears
you can actually ride with bunches from a higher grade, am I correct?

There are no allowances for mechanicals, are there? Hence, it is not
worth taking a tube, pump and multitool? How little work is it
acceptable to do on the front 🙂 ?

What differences can I expect tactically? I'm not even quite sure of
the difference between a crit and a road race of this variety -- this
just appears to be a crit on a public road with a circuit 7 times
longer, and a total length 2-3 times longer. Is that enough
difference to make it a different beast?

Food and drinkwise? 2 bidons will be enough for anyone? Snakes?

--
TimC
"Application encountered an error while failing. Error recovered
successfully, proceeding to fail"

Hey good luck Tim! You probably won't need anything to eat in such a short race. I'd go with 2 small bidons, one with electrolytes and one plain water, but you might only end up using less than a litre. What ess said about a break going towards the end is probably right, and the hill is most likely where it will happen. Till then just sit back and keep an eye on what is happening up front so you don't miss anything.

If you are going to do something, you only have one go at it, so time it right!

Oh and the most important thing is the race report afterwards, where you can [censored] on about you great you were, and how everyone was else was lazy and sucked, and how you were robbed for the win. The book of excuses has many pages 🙂

Adam

gplama said:

Think our BR ride *cough* race *cough* into Hurstbridge.. that is rock solid B grade level stuff.. with maybe a few A grade efforts thrown in on a good day 😉

Jump on a wheel like you do in this section and you'll be fine.

oh, and if the bunch gets lazy or start mucking around, ATTACK! It might not win you the race, but it'll at least make them work/hurt, and sometimes it can pay off.

I was thinking of trying that race as my first road race as well.. Hopefully see you there Tim..

On 2006-09-01, dgarry (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

gplama said:

Think our BR ride *cough* race *cough* into Hurstbridge.. that is rock
solid B grade level stuff.. with maybe a few A grade efforts thrown in
on a good day 😉

Jump on a wheel like you do in this section and you'll be fine.

oh, and if the bunch gets lazy or start mucking around, ATTACK! It
might not win you the race, but it'll at least make them work/hurt, and
sometimes it can pay off.

I was thinking of trying that race as my first road race as well..
Hopefully see you there Tim..

Which grade?

I'll be the one in shiny new mascot kit 🙂

Sooo much more comfy than team Uno.

--
TimC
[advice on riding in traffic:] make eye contact with drivers at every
possible opportunity. If they make eye contact, they'll feel worse
about running over you. -- Davidm in aus.bicycle

TimC said:

I'll be the one in shiny new mascot kit 🙂

Sooo much more comfy than team Uno.

I hope they didnt tell you the Masshit kit was required. It isn't.

gplama said:

I hope they didnt tell you the Masshit kit was required. It isn't.

I had my first season of crits last year in D and C grades .. I'll probably try D grade tomorrow as it will be first road race and see how I go..

On 2006-09-01, gplama (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

TimC said:

I'll be the one in shiny new mascot kit 🙂

Sooo much more comfy than team Uno.

I hope they didnt tell you the Masshit kit was required. It isn't.

I was finally getting too embarrassed riding around in Amy's jersey 🙂

--
TimC
Quantum Mechanics is a lovely introduction to Hilbert Spaces! --unknown