How do I get started

"realdean" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm 45, very athletic, currently race motocross but would like to get involved with competitive
road cycling . I have my race bike, a trainer bike and all the other gear but I have no clue about
getting started. I do have several questions. Do I need a license or district card saying that I'm
elligible to race in a certain region? If so, how do I obtain one? What classes are available to
me? How do I determine my appropraite class? What is the typical format for a day race (distance,
time, etc)? Any and all responses will be greatly appreciated. Thanks..............dean

This ain't motocross. You should join a local racing club and get advice from them for your
specific areas of interest. Much has to be learned though I assume you're already cardio-vascularly
fit since motocross is one butt-kicking sport. But spinning has to be ingrained and the only way to
do that is practice.

There are lots of things that you'll have to learn but some people take to the sport rapidly and
successfully while others have to work at if for some time to understand it. Don't give up when you
see a group pull away from you like you're parked and they are in freefall.

search out your local race teams-clubs, im sure someone at this site is near or in your state/region

americancycling.orgamericancycling.orgOpen ↗ boulderracing.comboulderracing.comOpen ↗
bcn.boulder.co.usbike.org.htmlOpen ↗ florida-cycling.comflorida-cycling.comOpen ↗

these sites are typical for regions.

good luck,

Go to the bike shop nearest you and ask about group rides. Go on some of these rides and meet
people. Local clubs may have clinics.

You'll start off as a Category 5. Road races will usually be around 1 hour long, criteriums (many
short laps) will be 45 minutes or so. Distance depends on terrain. 24 miles for a Cat 5 road race is
common. There are exceptions, of course -- usually toward longer races than shorter.

Here's where you get your license: usacycling.orgroadOpen ↗

unless you're in Colorado or some nearby states: americancycling.orgDefault.htmOpen ↗

-Mike

[email hidden] (realdean) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I'm 45, very athletic, currently race motocross but would like to get involved with competitive
road cycling . I have my race bike, a trainer bike and all the other gear but I have no clue about
getting started. I do have several questions. Do I need a license or district card saying that I'm
elligible to race in a certain region? If so, how do I obtain one? What classes are available to
me? How do I determine my appropraite class? What is the typical format for a day race (distance,
time, etc)? Any and all responses will be greatly appreciated. Thanks..............dean

(realdean) said:

I'm 45, very athletic, currently race motocross but would like to get involved with competitive
road cycling . I have my race bike, a trainer bike and all the other gear but I have no clue about
getting started. I do have several questions. Do I need a license or district card saying that I'm
elligible to race in a certain region? If so, how do I obtain one? What classes are available to
me? How do I determine my appropraite class? What is the typical format for a day race (distance,
time, etc)? Any and all responses will be greatly appreciated. Thanks..............dean

Dean, "google" bicycle racing, and you will get all of the information that you want.

This is not a very good newsgroup to get answers to serious questions.

Sparhawk

realdean <[email hidden]> wrote:
: I'm 45, very athletic, currently race motocross but would like to get involved with competitive
: road cycling . I have my race bike, a trainer bike and all the other gear but I have no clue about
: getting started. I do have several questions. Do I need a license or district

A book on bike training like Smart Cycling would answer quite a few of your questions. I'd guess you
need to establish a training schedule and learn the methods too?

I'm looking forward to starting racing myself as well, but there are not too many events to go into
if you ride a recumbent. I wonder how conventional bike racing clubs would view me, at least I'd
have plenty of things to learn from upright racing folks.

--
Risto Varanka | helsinki.fi~rvarankaOpen ↗ varis at no spam please iki fi

back in 1987-88 the Kawasaki pro team would use cat 123 races as cross training for a few of their
riders. they didn't train much and stayed right there with the group in crits in the southeast. the
pros are all national caliber athletes. if you have ever raced skating method of cross country
skiing you would know the same feeling as racing a supercross event.

"Tom Kunich" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"ronde champ" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

"Tom Kunich" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

This ain't motocross. You should join a local racing club and get

advice

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

from them for your specific areas of interest. Much has to be learned

though

Quoted message said:

I assume you're already cardio-vascularly fit since motocross is one butt-kicking sport.

How is sitting on a motorized bike and going over some whoopdee-doos a "butt-kicking sport"?

Back when they were NASA was trying to find out about cardiovascular fitness they outfitted any
different kinds of athletes with instrumentation during races. They discovered that motocross was
one of the most stressful of all sports. You can take that for whatever it's worth.

It's not worth much. It's only "stressful" cardiovascularly because the dudes are afraid of crushing
their nuts when they land. Motocross is no sport.

Thanks, Ronde Champ

"JTN" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

back in 1987-88 the Kawasaki pro team would use cat 123 races as cross training for a few of their
riders. they didn't train much and stayed right there with the group in crits in the southeast.
the pros are all national caliber athletes. if you have ever raced skating method of cross country
skiing you would know the same feeling as racing a supercross event.

Funny story: I used to race desert and road on motorcycles and I trained for motocross just as it
was coming into vogue in the US. Although I never raced it I used to ride with guys that were
winning and I could pass them at any point. That was because when I was in the Air Force I worked
graveyards and when I got off every day I would go out and do 2-3 hours on the bike in the desert.

Anyway, being thrown all over the place on a bike you learn to hang on tightly.

About 10 years ago I was working at Cetus (now Chiron) in Emeryville,
CA. Engineering had a prototyping machine shop with a half dozen machinists in it. I was walking
through there at lunch to see the manager and there was no one in the place. As I was walking
out I spied an 8 lb sledge hammer next to one of the machines. I picked it up and holding the
bottom of the handle I held it straight out at arms length and dropped the hammer head down and
touched myself on the chin then lifted it back up vertical. Anyway, I went back to my office
which was about 100 feet away from the machine shop. About 30 minutes later I heard a lot of
yelling and laughing out in the machine shop (SOP) which I ignored. The manager came into my
office and reported that one of the machinists had been sitting behind a machine eating his
lunch and spotted me doing that and everyone was trying to do it and no one had succeeded and
several guys had whacked themselves pretty hard.

That forearm strength is all leftover from racing motorcycles in the 60's. You can imagine what it
must have been like then.

"Tom Kunich" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"JTN" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

back in 1987-88 the Kawasaki pro team would use cat 123 races as cross training for a few of
their riders. they didn't train much and stayed

right

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

there with the group in crits in the southeast. the pros are all

national

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

caliber athletes. if you have ever raced skating method of cross country skiing you would know
the same feeling as racing a supercross event.

Funny story: I used to race desert and road on motorcycles and I trained for motocross just as it
was coming into vogue in the US. Although I never raced it I used to ride with guys that were
winning and I could pass them at any point. That was because when I was in the Air Force I worked
graveyards and when I got off every day I would go out and do 2-3 hours on the bike in the desert.

Anyway, being thrown all over the place on a bike you learn to hang on tightly.

About 10 years ago I was working at Cetus (now Chiron) in Emeryville,
CA. Engineering had a prototyping machine shop with a half dozen machinists in it. I was walking
through there at lunch to see the manager and there was no one in the place. As I was walking
out I spied an 8 lb sledge hammer next to one of the machines. I picked it up and holding the
bottom of the handle I held it straight out at arms length and dropped the hammer head down
and touched myself on the chin then lifted it back up vertical. Anyway, I went back to my
office which was about 100 feet away from the machine shop. About 30 minutes later I heard a
lot of yelling and laughing out in the machine shop (SOP) which I ignored. The manager came
into my office and reported that one of the machinists had been sitting behind a machine
eating his lunch and spotted me doing that and everyone was trying to do it and no one had
succeeded and several guys had whacked themselves pretty hard.

That forearm strength is all leftover from racing motorcycles in the 60's. You can imagine what it
must have been like then.

This is the funniest goddam thing I have ever read.

Thanks, Ronde Champ

Ryan Cousineau <[email hidden]> wrote:
: In article <[email hidden]>,
: [email hidden] wrote:
:> I'm looking forward to starting racing myself as well, but there are not too many events to go
:> into if you ride a recumbent. I wonder how conventional bike racing clubs would view me, at least
:> I'd have plenty of things to learn from upright racing folks.

: Alas, you're out of luck in Finland. I'm sure most bike racing clubs would view you as an unwanted
: freak, though you might convince them to let you in on some training rides if you could
: demonstrate you weren't a danger to the group.

One purpose of training is to eliminate all dangers :-) In real world, some endurance events - such
as Vätternrundan or Paris-Brest-Paris - allow bents too, so upright racers might encounter bents on
the road. (They might amount to the odd 1 in a 1000 participants... maybe more in the decades to
come.) Therefore upright riders could gain a marginal safety benefit from mixed riding. Bents move
at a different speed than uprights, depending on the terrain, which might be useful to learn to
understand.

Guess it doesn't hurt to try and ask, we'll see :-,

: In the US, things are somewhat different. Recumbents less than 2 m long and with no fairing are
: legal for USCF Time Trial events. It takes a little tweaking to make a 'bent that short, but there
: are a couple of low-racer designs available for just this thing.

I've heard of bent people participating in group rides and pacelines in the Big World. It makes
little sense for lowracers to join pacelines, but the typical American bents can get a draft from
upright bikes and vice versa, as I understand.

Could be nice to make a list of all issues bents might have with upright pacelines. Maybe the bent
folks have done some thinking on that...

Of course, not all club activities involve paceline riding. One could organize events,
participate in time trials or ride on velodromes. I understand some velodromes require fixed
gear, though. Why is that?

--
Risto Varanka | helsinki.fi~rvarankaOpen ↗ varis at no spam please iki fi

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Tom

Kunich) said:

About 10 years ago I was working at Cetus (now Chiron) in Emeryville,
CA. Engineering had a prototyping machine shop with a half dozen machinists in it. I was walking
through there at lunch to see the manager and there was no one in the place. As I was walking
out I spied an 8 lb sledge hammer next to one of the machines. I picked it up and holding the
bottom of the handle I held it straight out at arms length and dropped the hammer head down
and touched myself on the chin then lifted it back up vertical. Anyway, I went back to my
office which was about 100 feet away from the machine shop. About 30 minutes later I heard a
lot of yelling and laughing out in the machine shop (SOP) which I ignored. The manager came
into my office and reported that one of the machinists had been sitting behind a machine
eating his lunch and spotted me doing that and everyone was trying to do it and no one had
succeeded and several guys had whacked themselves pretty hard.

That forearm strength is all leftover from racing motorcycles in the 60's. You can imagine what it
must have been like then.

So did this stunt involve mirrors??? And why was the guy hiding behind his machine? You weren't,
like, nekkid, were ya? Anyway, I do think that any top level motorcycle racer (on or off road) is
going to be pretty athletic. I don't know or care about their heart rates, but flinging a 200 to
400 lb bike around is going to be a workout. Not like curling, but still... (yes, I made fun of
curling and its status as an olympic, um, sport). We don't need to use sledgehammers at my
machine shop. And for that, I'm glad. After reading the post above, I'm wracked with indecision.
Should I be hearing the Rocky theme, "Eye of the Tiger", or the theme from Popeye? Or that old
fave, the Village People's "Macho Man"?

--
tanx, Howard

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, k?

For some people, quantity IS quality...

Howard Kveck said:

After reading the post above, I'm wracked with indecision. Should I be

hearing the Rocky theme,

Quoted message said:

"Eye of the Tiger", or the theme from Popeye? Or that old fave, the

Village People's "Macho Man"?

Clearly, the Village People's "Macho Man" is appropriate for Colonel Fitts.

--
Bill

"ronde champ" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"Tom Kunich" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"JTN" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

back in 1987-88 the Kawasaki pro team would use cat 123 races as cross training for a few of
their riders. they didn't train much and stayed

right

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

there with the group in crits in the southeast. the pros are all

national

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

caliber athletes. if you have ever raced skating method of cross country skiing you would know
the same feeling as racing a supercross event.

Funny story: I used to race desert and road on motorcycles and I trained for motocross just as
it was coming into vogue in the US. Although I never raced it I used to ride with guys that were
winning and I could pass them at any point. That was because when I was in the Air Force I
worked graveyards and when I got off every day I would go out and do 2-3 hours on the bike in
the desert.

Anyway, being thrown all over the place on a bike you learn to hang on tightly.

About 10 years ago I was working at Cetus (now Chiron) in Emeryville,
CA. Engineering had a prototyping machine shop with a half dozen machinists in it. I was walking
through there at lunch to see the manager and there was no one in the place. As I was
walking out I spied an 8 lb sledge hammer next to one of the machines. I picked it up and
holding the bottom of the handle I held it straight out at arms length and dropped the
hammer head down and touched myself on the chin then lifted it back up vertical. Anyway, I
went back to my office which was about 100 feet away from the machine shop. About 30 minutes
later I heard a lot of yelling and laughing out in the machine shop (SOP) which I ignored.
The manager came into my office and reported that one of the machinists had been sitting
behind a machine eating his lunch and spotted me doing that and everyone was trying to do it
and no one had succeeded and several guys had whacked themselves pretty hard.

That forearm strength is all leftover from racing motorcycles in the 60's. You can imagine what
it must have been like then.

This is the funniest goddam thing I have ever read.

Thanks, Ronde Champ

Champ,

Thanks for directing RBR's attention to a real [censored] gem inside of an otherwise [censored] thread.
Kunich is the only reason I read this [censored] NG any more.

Dizzle my Nizzle