What is good (for a woman)?

Quoted message said:

The local bike club has women, but not very many, and even less who are
into doing the whole riding really fast thing.

On an average evening at the beach there will only be me and one other
woman who do the whole round trip to/from the train station. There is
a long distance runner who likes cycling in the mornings, a woman who
works for the bike shop, and a teenager.

Only the five of us. Six if you count the one who only does mountain
bikes.

In the event of a race there may be other women signed up; wives,
girlfriends, even the occasional other woman who found us by herself
without being dragged into it by a male friend but we don't just beat
them by seconds we beat them by minutes. Which makes me now understand
why the bike shop owner pushed me so hard to sign up for my first race
in April.

At the 4km time trial on Saturday's province-wide race I not only
passed the woman who started before me, I passed the woman who started
before her.

Double third place moving me up to overall 4th for Hainan.

But, I don't really know how good I am, cause the only scale I really
have to compare myself against are the racer boys... and the men who
are really into racing include the guy with the 50,000rmb race bike and
the guy who once scheduled a business trip to Australia based on the
dates of an Ironman triathlon.

What's good for a woman?

-M

It depends on age, and time devoted to the sport. Around here (Norway)
the strong women who train a lot are as strong as the pretty strong
men. They finish hilly centuries (165km) in 4:30, maybe 30 minutes
down on the best men, but still way ahead of most of the men (and
women). Similar gaps on time trials. I'd guess that if you are in the
overall top 1/3 of any club race regardless of sex, your are very
strong. That is to say that if you are faster than 2/3 of all the men
who participate, unless all the men are super serious, there are
probably a bunch of more hobby level men involved too.

Have fun!

Joseph

I think that if you gave your average speed, perhaps for your 4K TT and
also what kind of terrain you were on, it would be easier to evaluate
your performance than trying to evaluate it by how many people you
passed during the race.

Hope this helps.

Lewis.

*****

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What's good for a woman? <<

I like to start with some compliments, some small talk, maybe a
romantic dinner. Then if all goes well There will be something good
(or even toe curling great) for a woman

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What's good for a woman? <<

I like to start with some compliments, some small talk, maybe a
romantic dinner. Then if all goes well There will be something good
(or even toe curling great) for a woman

I was going to suggest cooking and having babies, but was afraid that
someone might take me seriously, so I didn't... ;-)

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

Quoted post said:

What's good for a woman?

Here's a link to a semi-formal Arizona TT series - you can get a
fairly good idea of typical times for riders on a flat course by
perusing the results...

http://www.sonorancycling.com/downloads/aztt1_results.pdf

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

Mark Hickey said:

Quoted post said:

What's good for a woman?

Here's a link to a semi-formal Arizona TT series - you can get a
fairly good idea of typical times for riders on a flat course by
perusing the results...

http://www.sonorancycling.com/downloads/aztt1_results.pdf

That's typical for 20km flat TT? I gotta move ;-)

Joseph

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

But, I don't really know how good I am, cause the only scale I really
have to compare myself against are the racer boys... and the men who
are really into racing include the guy with the 50,000rmb race bike and
the guy who once scheduled a business trip to Australia based on the
dates of an Ironman triathlon.

What's good for a woman?

-M

It depends on age, and time devoted to the sport. Around here (Norway)
the strong women who train a lot are as strong as the pretty strong
men. They finish hilly centuries (165km) in 4:30, maybe 30 minutes
down on the best men, but still way ahead of most of the men (and
women). Similar gaps on time trials. I'd guess that if you are in the
overall top 1/3 of any club race regardless of sex, your are very
strong. That is to say that if you are faster than 2/3 of all the men
who participate, unless all the men are super serious, there are
probably a bunch of more hobby level men involved too.

Have fun!

The overall time results for Saturday's races haven't been posted yet,
however...

These days I normally do the 21km loop on the beach road in 42-45
minutes (half tailwind, half headwind and fairly gentle rolling hills)
but I've never done more than an hour at those kinds of speeds. The
guy who I am closest to in speed (the day I did 41 minutes, he did 39)
came in 8th in a field of 35 in the men's 27km.

With Ah-Ling and Chunlei coming in ahead of me and maybe the three
fastest guys in the senior's 13.5 being faster than me as well that
would get me pretty close to being ahead of 2/3rds of the men in the
27km.

I know I'm faster than the guy who came in third in a field of maybe 50
or 60 in the men's 13.5. Not gone riding much with the ones who came
in first and second.

-M

Quoted message said:

I think that if you gave your average speed, perhaps for your 4K TT and
also what kind of terrain you were on, it would be easier to evaluate
your performance than trying to evaluate it by how many people you
passed during the race.

4km in 7 minutes 47 seconds

The start was a bit of flat followed by a gradual downhill, a sharp
uphill, and another gradual down and a flat. The turnaround came at
the flat right before the long stretch at holiday beach, so then it was
flat, gradual up, sharp down, and gradual up. Tailwind on the way out,
headwind on the way in.

I very briefly topped 40kph with the tailwind and only went under 25kph
at the turnaround and at the crest of the first hill on the way back
in. The wind wasn't especially strong Saturday morning. When the wind
is strong I've been able to coast to a complete stop on the sharp
downhill,

-M

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I think that if you gave your average speed, perhaps for your 4K TT and
also what kind of terrain you were on, it would be easier to evaluate
your performance than trying to evaluate it by how many people you
passed during the race.

4km in 7 minutes 47 seconds

The start was a bit of flat followed by a gradual downhill, a sharp
uphill, and another gradual down and a flat. The turnaround came at
the flat right before the long stretch at holiday beach, so then it was
flat, gradual up, sharp down, and gradual up. Tailwind on the way out,
headwind on the way in.

I very briefly topped 40kph with the tailwind and only went under 25kph
at the turnaround and at the crest of the first hill on the way back
in. The wind wasn't especially strong Saturday morning. When the wind
is strong I've been able to coast to a complete stop on the sharp
downhill,

4 km (unless it's a hill climb) is very short, and dosen't give a good
picture. However, from the description of the course, it sounds like
you are fast. Try to find a 20km flat TT and see how that goes.

Joseph

Mark Hickey said:

Quoted post said:

What's good for a woman?

Here's a link to a semi-formal Arizona TT series - you can get a
fairly good idea of typical times for riders on a flat course by
perusing the results...

http://www.sonorancycling.com/downloads/aztt1_results.pdf

It's interesting to note the relative unimportance of age. The masters
45+ group has the same time range as the Cat3's.

Joseph

Well, you could start by refraining from turning everything into a
discussion of gender. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Men have
trouble finding riding partners, too. Just ride the bike.

Quoted message said:

It's interesting to note the relative unimportance of age. The masters
45+ group has the same time range as the Cat3's.

Likely this is "apple and oranges" comparison.

In NorCal the top 45's are all current or ex- Cat 1's, so that's the
comparison that should be made. Likely this holds true in Arizona, also.

Chris Neary
[email hidden]

"Science, freedom, beauty, adventure: what more could
you ask of life? Bicycling combined all the elements I
loved" - Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh

Nice save, Mike!

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

Quoted message said:

Quoted post said:

What's good for a woman?

Here's a link to a semi-formal Arizona TT series - you can get a
fairly good idea of typical times for riders on a flat course by
perusing the results...

http://www.sonorancycling.com/downloads/aztt1_results.pdf

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

Hi, Marian, I tried to convert your 'Kilometrics' into English (since
I'm in the good old USA) and what I came up with is an average speed of
19.1mph and a top speed of 24.8mph.

While this wouldn't win you an Olympic gold medal, it does sound like
you are well above average and, if I were you, I would be quite proud
and encouraged by my performance.

Kind regards.

Lewis.

*****

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I think that if you gave your average speed, perhaps for your 4K TT and
also what kind of terrain you were on, it would be easier to evaluate
your performance than trying to evaluate it by how many people you
passed during the race.

4km in 7 minutes 47 seconds

The start was a bit of flat followed by a gradual downhill, a sharp
uphill, and another gradual down and a flat. The turnaround came at
the flat right before the long stretch at holiday beach, so then it was
flat, gradual up, sharp down, and gradual up. Tailwind on the way out,
headwind on the way in.

I very briefly topped 40kph with the tailwind and only went under 25kph
at the turnaround and at the crest of the first hill on the way back
in. The wind wasn't especially strong Saturday morning. When the wind
is strong I've been able to coast to a complete stop on the sharp
downhill,

4 km (unless it's a hill climb) is very short, and dosen't give a good
picture. However, from the description of the course, it sounds like
you are fast. Try to find a 20km flat TT and see how that goes.

Xixiu Beach to the train station turnoff back to Xixiu Beach. About
20.5km

Not flat but except for the hill near the start the hills are short and
gentle.

The one near the start is only a [censored] when it's the hill near the
end and you're going down because you can see how it's this great big
hill and you ought to be flying down it without having to pedal at all
and instead there is this wind which has been there for the last half
of the ride but which is now obviously there beacuse this beautiful
downhill is something you have to work at moving on.

Tailwind on the way out, headwind on the way in, and no one to draft

42 minutes 10 seconds
average heartrate 147bpm

-M

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] wrote:
> I think that if you gave your average speed, perhaps for your 4K TT and
> also what kind of terrain you were on, it would be easier to evaluate
> your performance than trying to evaluate it by how many people you
> passed during the race.

4km in 7 minutes 47 seconds

The start was a bit of flat followed by a gradual downhill, a sharp
uphill, and another gradual down and a flat. The turnaround came at
the flat right before the long stretch at holiday beach, so then it was
flat, gradual up, sharp down, and gradual up. Tailwind on the way out,
headwind on the way in.

I very briefly topped 40kph with the tailwind and only went under 25kph
at the turnaround and at the crest of the first hill on the way back
in. The wind wasn't especially strong Saturday morning. When the wind
is strong I've been able to coast to a complete stop on the sharp
downhill,

4 km (unless it's a hill climb) is very short, and dosen't give a good
picture. However, from the description of the course, it sounds like
you are fast. Try to find a 20km flat TT and see how that goes.

Xixiu Beach to the train station turnoff back to Xixiu Beach. About
20.5km

Not flat but except for the hill near the start the hills are short and
gentle.

The one near the start is only a [censored] when it's the hill near the
end and you're going down because you can see how it's this great big
hill and you ought to be flying down it without having to pedal at all
and instead there is this wind which has been there for the last half
of the ride but which is now obviously there beacuse this beautiful
downhill is something you have to work at moving on.

Tailwind on the way out, headwind on the way in, and no one to draft

42 minutes 10 seconds
average heartrate 147bpm

Tailwinds and headwinds make it hard to assess. How old are you? Based
on your 4km time, I am guessing your 147bpm average is low, indicating
slower performance that you may be capable of.

Joseph

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Tailwind on the way out, headwind on the way in, and no one to draft

42 minutes 10 seconds
average heartrate 147bpm

Tailwinds and headwinds make it hard to assess. How old are you?

25.

At 92kg my max heartrate is supposed to be 187 but I know that isn't
true cause I hit 190 climbing Jianfengling Ridge. (Though I decided at
the time that going over my theoretical max was a good time to get off
the bike and push for a while.)

Is it helped at all by the fact that exactly 1/2 of the time is
tailwind, and exactly 1/2 is headwind? I hate crosswinds and rarely do
the extra 6km from the turnoff to the train station back to the
turnoff.

Quoted message said:

Based on your 4km time, I am guessing your 147bpm average is low,
indicating slower performance that you may be capable of.

Pretty low for evenings at the beach, but I was feeling rather lazy
during the tailwind and wasn't helped by the ipod deciding to throw
slow music at me.

I've only had the hrm for a bit under a month but I try to spend as
much time as possible over 160bpm. Cut more than ten minutes off my
average time since getting it.

Today I rode with the paceline past Mayflower Golf (2km), Holiday Beach
(3km), the yacht club, the Sheraton (4km), the fishing villages (6km),
and ocean world (7km) and the next set of fishing villages (9km)... it
was amazing, I was part of this organic speeding thing that moved and
flexed and whizzed and passed motorcycles (which is easy) and the
occasional damn blue truck (still not hard) and the occasional car (not
easy) ... ... ... and was reveling in how wonderful it was and how
amazing it was and how oh my god had we almost hit the turnoff at _15_
minutes ... at which point I got a flat.

The last time I rode with them (right before the hrm) they dropped me
just past the Sheraton. The first time I rode with them (just shy of a
year ago) they dropped me shortly before Mayflower.

-M

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Tailwind on the way out, headwind on the way in, and no one to draft

42 minutes 10 seconds
average heartrate 147bpm

Tailwinds and headwinds make it hard to assess. How old are you?

25.

At 92kg my max heartrate is supposed to be 187 but I know that isn't
true cause I hit 190 climbing Jianfengling Ridge. (Though I decided at
the time that going over my theoretical max was a good time to get off
the bike and push for a while.)

Is it helped at all by the fact that exactly 1/2 of the time is
tailwind, and exactly 1/2 is headwind? I hate crosswinds and rarely do
the extra 6km from the turnoff to the train station back to the
turnoff.

Quoted message said:

Based on your 4km time, I am guessing your 147bpm average is low,
indicating slower performance that you may be capable of.

Pretty low for evenings at the beach, but I was feeling rather lazy
during the tailwind and wasn't helped by the ipod deciding to throw
slow music at me.

I've only had the hrm for a bit under a month but I try to spend as
much time as possible over 160bpm. Cut more than ten minutes off my
average time since getting it.

Today I rode with the paceline past Mayflower Golf (2km), Holiday Beach
(3km), the yacht club, the Sheraton (4km), the fishing villages (6km),
and ocean world (7km) and the next set of fishing villages (9km)... it
was amazing, I was part of this organic speeding thing that moved and
flexed and whizzed and passed motorcycles (which is easy) and the
occasional damn blue truck (still not hard) and the occasional car (not
easy) ... ... ... and was reveling in how wonderful it was and how
amazing it was and how oh my god had we almost hit the turnoff at _15_
minutes ... at which point I got a flat.

The last time I rode with them (right before the hrm) they dropped me
just past the Sheraton. The first time I rode with them (just shy of a
year ago) they dropped me shortly before Mayflower.

-M

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What's good for a woman?

It depends on age, and time devoted to the sport. Around here (Norway)
the strong women who train a lot are as strong as the pretty strong
men. They finish hilly centuries (165km) in 4:30, maybe 30 minutes
down on the best men, but still way ahead of most of the men (and
women). Similar gaps on time trials. I'd guess that if you are in the
overall top 1/3 of any club race regardless of sex, your are very
strong. That is to say that if you are faster than 2/3 of all the men
who participate, unless all the men are super serious, there are
probably a bunch of more hobby level men involved too.

4km mixed (men's beginner, men's advanced, men's senior, women's)

28th in a field of 49

13.6 km mixed (men's beginner, men's senior, women's)
18th in a field of 71

men's advanced (27.2 km) had another 39 racers, two of whom finished in
significantly more than twice my 13.6 km time.

One could guesstimate 55 in a field of 110 ...

The guy who volunteered to let me draft him the whole way (before
finding out that they weren't going to let me participate in the 27.2
on the grounds of not being male) came in 8th.

Assuming, and this could be a big assumption, my consistent 2 minutes
slower than him on 20km is 3 minutes slower on 27km I'd've come in 22nd
in the advanced.

-M