Bicycle racing for almost anyone
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Tuesday, May 22, 2007
A recap on how - and why - to get racing!
Enhance your cycling - set some achievable goals and go racing!
Think of this blog as my attempt to inspire you to race. I am targeting the non-racer, the recreational rider who is quite fit and interested in the sport of cycling but for whom racing is 'something I can do later' or 'something that's just a bit out of my league'.
Firstly, never put off to tomorrow what you can do today. I first 'enquired' about bike racing when I was 16 and riding perhaps 100km a week, including 60-80km 'fun rides' on the weekend. Having not been involved in competitive sport in any organised way before - I was a total bookworm -I lacked the confidence to give it a go, so I put it off - for about 8 years, in fact! What a waste.
Secondly, you never know until you give it a go. In my case I only gave it a go after much encouragement by other riders. Luckily I lived fairly close (10km away) from the premier cycling resource in Sydney, Australia - Centennial Park. So for about 8 years I frequently rode to and around the Park. Just by riding around with other riders I got fitter and faster. I found that I could chase and catch other riders and that I had an undiscovered urge to improve - and even to race. I still didn't think I could do it, but the thought entered my head that I had a chance. Eventually I found another rider at the same level and we (at the urging of another rider - as it turned out the president of one of Sydney's bike clubs, Randwick-Botany) made a commitment to try a race together at Heffron Park. We were placed in D grade. He won and I came 2nd. Now for him that 'proved' enough and he didn't race again. But for me I was hooked. I came back and won D grade the following week and went from there.
That was more than 20 years ago and I'm still racing. You'll never know unless you give it a go - and there's a grade for everyone. Just get some miles in your legs firstly - say 80-100km a week for a few months - and find somewhere where you can ride with a few others. It will improve your fitness and your bunch riding skills. You'll need a bit of both, even in the lowest grade.
So that's my motivation out of the way - what about yours?
My personal recommendation is to just go riding, enjoy it and find some buddies to encourage you. Then leverage that fitness and skill to start racing. Of course there's lots more to it than that.
For instance, what are your goals? Ask yourself 'why am I doing this?'. Is it that you want to stay fit and healthy in the long term, and to get out there riding regularly you need extra motivation? Or is it to simply try out racing, just because you'd like to? Try to understand why you want to do it and feed off that motivation. Remind yourself why on those hard days when you question the whole idea. And review your goals regularly. You may want to find out how good you could be, given whatever constraints you may have. (I always had to work (or thought I did), for example, so doing more miles on the bike was always a balancing act.)
Goal setting helps you achieve something definite. Just ambling along seeing what happens may lead you somewhere interesting but it probably won't be exactly what you wanted to do, or be the best that you want to be. It may be great and exactly what you wanted. Or it may be so disappointing that you drift off and do something else.
By aiming at achievable goals you do a few things. You are taking aim, and aiming at something improves your chances of hitting it. You are also building a set of stairs, small steps that will make it easier to climb to a higher place. If you aim at the top rung straightaway you may actually get there - we all have our 'top rung' dreams - but by setting out intermediate goals you will get there more reliably.
Let's make a list.
1. Your first goal may be to start your first race.
2. The next to finish the race.
3. The next to finish with the lead pack.
4. The next to place.
5. The next to win.
You may find that you achieve several of these quite quickly, and that's very important. It's reinforcing to actually achieve your goals, it helps you to stay motivated and to want to do it again. Feed off that feeling by keeping achievable goals!
The beauty of bike racing is that these steps fit perfectly with the system. Whether you call them grades or categories, there are always rungs of the ladder. Plenty of people find their niche on one rung and just enjoy their racing in that grade forever more. They may go higher and then settle back. They may just find a balance that suits them. Some people enjoy the tactics, some like to win. Some like to help others win. It's diversity that makes the whole cycle racing scenario work. We all do what we enjoy and that keeps us all riding - and racing.
And the racing is varied, too
Road races can be 50km, 100km or 260km, or 2,000km in a 3 week tour for that matter. Criteriums can be 30km or 100km. Track races may be short 200m sprints or 4km endurance pursuits. It doesn't really matter what your personal strengths are because there's a niche for everyone. A big strong male or female rider may power along in a time trial and then get dropped on a climb. A wiry, thin rider may struggle on the flats and in the sprints but cream the big guys on the climbs. And in between there's an infinite range of possibilities. Now that's variety - and that's bike racing.
Think of this blog as my attempt to inspire you to race. I am targeting the non-racer, the recreational rider who is quite fit and interested in the sport of cycling but for whom racing is 'something I can do later' or 'something that's just a bit out of my league'.
Firstly, never put off to tomorrow what you can do today. I first 'enquired' about bike racing when I was 16 and riding perhaps 100km a week, including 60-80km 'fun rides' on the weekend. Having not been involved in competitive sport in any organised way before - I was a total bookworm -I lacked the confidence to give it a go, so I put it off - for about 8 years, in fact! What a waste.
Secondly, you never know until you give it a go. In my case I only gave it a go after much encouragement by other riders. Luckily I lived fairly close (10km away) from the premier cycling resource in Sydney, Australia - Centennial Park. So for about 8 years I frequently rode to and around the Park. Just by riding around with other riders I got fitter and faster. I found that I could chase and catch other riders and that I had an undiscovered urge to improve - and even to race. I still didn't think I could do it, but the thought entered my head that I had a chance. Eventually I found another rider at the same level and we (at the urging of another rider - as it turned out the president of one of Sydney's bike clubs, Randwick-Botany) made a commitment to try a race together at Heffron Park. We were placed in D grade. He won and I came 2nd. Now for him that 'proved' enough and he didn't race again. But for me I was hooked. I came back and won D grade the following week and went from there.
That was more than 20 years ago and I'm still racing. You'll never know unless you give it a go - and there's a grade for everyone. Just get some miles in your legs firstly - say 80-100km a week for a few months - and find somewhere where you can ride with a few others. It will improve your fitness and your bunch riding skills. You'll need a bit of both, even in the lowest grade.
So that's my motivation out of the way - what about yours?
My personal recommendation is to just go riding, enjoy it and find some buddies to encourage you. Then leverage that fitness and skill to start racing. Of course there's lots more to it than that.
For instance, what are your goals? Ask yourself 'why am I doing this?'. Is it that you want to stay fit and healthy in the long term, and to get out there riding regularly you need extra motivation? Or is it to simply try out racing, just because you'd like to? Try to understand why you want to do it and feed off that motivation. Remind yourself why on those hard days when you question the whole idea. And review your goals regularly. You may want to find out how good you could be, given whatever constraints you may have. (I always had to work (or thought I did), for example, so doing more miles on the bike was always a balancing act.)
Goal setting helps you achieve something definite. Just ambling along seeing what happens may lead you somewhere interesting but it probably won't be exactly what you wanted to do, or be the best that you want to be. It may be great and exactly what you wanted. Or it may be so disappointing that you drift off and do something else.
By aiming at achievable goals you do a few things. You are taking aim, and aiming at something improves your chances of hitting it. You are also building a set of stairs, small steps that will make it easier to climb to a higher place. If you aim at the top rung straightaway you may actually get there - we all have our 'top rung' dreams - but by setting out intermediate goals you will get there more reliably.
Let's make a list.
1. Your first goal may be to start your first race.
2. The next to finish the race.
3. The next to finish with the lead pack.
4. The next to place.
5. The next to win.
You may find that you achieve several of these quite quickly, and that's very important. It's reinforcing to actually achieve your goals, it helps you to stay motivated and to want to do it again. Feed off that feeling by keeping achievable goals!
The beauty of bike racing is that these steps fit perfectly with the system. Whether you call them grades or categories, there are always rungs of the ladder. Plenty of people find their niche on one rung and just enjoy their racing in that grade forever more. They may go higher and then settle back. They may just find a balance that suits them. Some people enjoy the tactics, some like to win. Some like to help others win. It's diversity that makes the whole cycle racing scenario work. We all do what we enjoy and that keeps us all riding - and racing.
And the racing is varied, too
Road races can be 50km, 100km or 260km, or 2,000km in a 3 week tour for that matter. Criteriums can be 30km or 100km. Track races may be short 200m sprints or 4km endurance pursuits. It doesn't really matter what your personal strengths are because there's a niche for everyone. A big strong male or female rider may power along in a time trial and then get dropped on a climb. A wiry, thin rider may struggle on the flats and in the sprints but cream the big guys on the climbs. And in between there's an infinite range of possibilities. Now that's variety - and that's bike racing.
Labels: bike racing, bikeracing 101
Monday, January 22, 2007
Sizing things up, or getting framed
You will get the hang of what you need, bike-wise, by looking around and comparing. Feel some bikes, pick them up, sit on as many as you can, do some test rides, and, if you are lucky, buy one that fits you. Then ride it and get that immediate urge to change a few things. For which my advice is, don’t be rash. If you haven’t had a lot of experience on a lightweight high performance bike before it will feel odd. Flighty. Maybe uncomfortable. Too quick in the steering. Too…uncompromising? Just strange. You may not think so after a few hundred kilometres in the saddle, however.
I won’t attempt to give you bike set-up advice beyond my own experience, so here are some measurements that have worked for me - and probably won't work so well for you.
I’m about 169cm tall, and for riders around that height I’d suggest frame sizes between 53 and 55cm (ie pretty small but not the smallest!). Remember, smaller frames are lighter and stiffer, but if too small will compromise balance and comfort. And you will risk damage to components as well as yourself!
Handlebars, for frames between 51 and 55cm should be about 38 or 39cm wide, but shouldn’t cramp you or spread your arms too widely. Shoulders vary in width, but generally speaking arms should comfortably fall onto the drops without any serious effort. You shouldn’t feel ‘splayed’ when you tuck down into the drops of the handlebars.
Your own dimensions are vital, but I lean towards stem extensions of about 9 or 10cm. You used to be able to buy goosenecks that allowed variation, and some modern examples exist, but are less common. Stem length alters your weight distribution more than you'd imagine - a long stem puts you further forward and you'll get a decided feeling of flopping around when out of the saddle. Be warned, it can feel off-putting!
Cranks are usually about 170cm, however you may prefer the leverage of a longer crank, especially for road racing or timetrialling. Riders taller than myself tend towards longer cranks, and lengths from 172.5 up to 180cm are options; but you will find that you lose the suppleness of your spin and may tend towards grovelling in a big gear. Nothing worse, really.
Shorter cranks are suited to track bikes and criteriums, where touching a pedal on the banking or in a corner is not a good idea. I was once racing on a street circuit where we were sharing the road with the local Sunday morning traffic. I broke away from the bunch up a short, short rise and put a bit of distance into them. So when I arrived at the next left-turn I was alone, without the benefit of a big, highly visible bunch. Ahead of me was a car about to turn right across my path.
Many times have I been in this situation – will that car give way, or won’t it? Well, it did, but not before I was distracted enough to turn into the corner a bit late, sharpening the bend. I was riding my road bike, a Colnago, rather than my regular criterium bike and I completely forgot about the longer cranks and lower bottom bracket.
In an instant, at bottom dead centre of the left-hand crank rotation, my pedal struck the road and levered my rear wheel into the air. The bike went up and sideways in one motion, before settling. I didn’t come off but I lost time getting my balance back and found myself heading for the median strip. Rather than turn harder to the left and try to miss it, I went over it, or tried to, anyway.
When I landed I was flat on my back, the bike was up the road and I had (luckily) somersaulted a post and a small bush, to end up facing from whence I had come. The bike was in one piece, just a few scratches and nothing broken. No damage to the rider, just stunned embarrassment
I won’t attempt to give you bike set-up advice beyond my own experience, so here are some measurements that have worked for me - and probably won't work so well for you.
I’m about 169cm tall, and for riders around that height I’d suggest frame sizes between 53 and 55cm (ie pretty small but not the smallest!). Remember, smaller frames are lighter and stiffer, but if too small will compromise balance and comfort. And you will risk damage to components as well as yourself!
Handlebars, for frames between 51 and 55cm should be about 38 or 39cm wide, but shouldn’t cramp you or spread your arms too widely. Shoulders vary in width, but generally speaking arms should comfortably fall onto the drops without any serious effort. You shouldn’t feel ‘splayed’ when you tuck down into the drops of the handlebars.
Your own dimensions are vital, but I lean towards stem extensions of about 9 or 10cm. You used to be able to buy goosenecks that allowed variation, and some modern examples exist, but are less common. Stem length alters your weight distribution more than you'd imagine - a long stem puts you further forward and you'll get a decided feeling of flopping around when out of the saddle. Be warned, it can feel off-putting!
Cranks are usually about 170cm, however you may prefer the leverage of a longer crank, especially for road racing or timetrialling. Riders taller than myself tend towards longer cranks, and lengths from 172.5 up to 180cm are options; but you will find that you lose the suppleness of your spin and may tend towards grovelling in a big gear. Nothing worse, really.
Shorter cranks are suited to track bikes and criteriums, where touching a pedal on the banking or in a corner is not a good idea. I was once racing on a street circuit where we were sharing the road with the local Sunday morning traffic. I broke away from the bunch up a short, short rise and put a bit of distance into them. So when I arrived at the next left-turn I was alone, without the benefit of a big, highly visible bunch. Ahead of me was a car about to turn right across my path.
Many times have I been in this situation – will that car give way, or won’t it? Well, it did, but not before I was distracted enough to turn into the corner a bit late, sharpening the bend. I was riding my road bike, a Colnago, rather than my regular criterium bike and I completely forgot about the longer cranks and lower bottom bracket.
In an instant, at bottom dead centre of the left-hand crank rotation, my pedal struck the road and levered my rear wheel into the air. The bike went up and sideways in one motion, before settling. I didn’t come off but I lost time getting my balance back and found myself heading for the median strip. Rather than turn harder to the left and try to miss it, I went over it, or tried to, anyway.
When I landed I was flat on my back, the bike was up the road and I had (luckily) somersaulted a post and a small bush, to end up facing from whence I had come. The bike was in one piece, just a few scratches and nothing broken. No damage to the rider, just stunned embarrassment
Labels: angles, bike racing, bikeracing 101, bikes, frames
A Loungechair on wheels…or something sporty?
If you want to push the point, in a nutshell you will be looking for a comfortable, easy-handling bike for road racing and a quick-handling, higher-clearance machine for criteriums. A blend of the two is a nice compromise, and how you arrive at that compromise will be trial and error – unless you instinctively know that you want an unstable, flighty, jumpy road rocket and will settle for nothing less. (I personally have never had more than 3 road bikes, all different in character, at any one time.)
Bikes, character? In some respects bikes are bikes – 2 wheels, cranks, chain, pedals, saddle et al. However there are the wanky-looking carbon single piece frames, the conventional triangled tube effect and many variations in between. But that’s not really character, as I see it. It may be style, it may be substance… but not character!
Character is the way the bike handles, how it jumps, how it leans into a corner… Some bikes are built short and high in the bottom bracket, with steep frame angles to give you ‘jump’ out of corners, lifting the front wheel like a 500cc racing motorcycle; which is nice, if a little nervous. You don’t want that all of the time. You find yourself leaning forward, pushing that front wheel down (and thereby encouraging that back wheel to lift!). Sounds like a good criterium (‘crit’) bike to me!
Other, less steep frame angles give a more relaxed approach, where things happen slower and you can take your hands off the bars, get that energy bar out of your back pocket, change out of that rainjacket and write a note home to mum without finding yourself falling road-wards. Now that’s a road bike – it won’t embarrass you at a feeding station or when stopping at the cafe.
Even when you have the frame angles the way you want them, you can still tweak the bike by changing seat height, stem length and height, crank length, gearing… you name it. It will all have an effect of some sort, it’s just a matter of what effect you want.
Get some help, and do be careful, won’t you? You won’t get your bike set up right without proper assistance. Even after seeking such help, you may prefer to do your own thing. It’s a free country.(Depending upon which country you are in when you read this, of course.)
Firstly, whatever you do, get plenty of opinions, and be prepared to try different ideas. I know one 70 year old who is still adjusting his position after over 50 years of racing!
Secondly, when making changes, make only small adjustments, and each one in isolation, to give your body some time to adjust to that new position. By making big changes and then doing a long training ride I managed to injure my knees and put myself off the road for a few weeks. It's a painful lesson. Don't be tempted.
Bikes, character? In some respects bikes are bikes – 2 wheels, cranks, chain, pedals, saddle et al. However there are the wanky-looking carbon single piece frames, the conventional triangled tube effect and many variations in between. But that’s not really character, as I see it. It may be style, it may be substance… but not character!
Character is the way the bike handles, how it jumps, how it leans into a corner… Some bikes are built short and high in the bottom bracket, with steep frame angles to give you ‘jump’ out of corners, lifting the front wheel like a 500cc racing motorcycle; which is nice, if a little nervous. You don’t want that all of the time. You find yourself leaning forward, pushing that front wheel down (and thereby encouraging that back wheel to lift!). Sounds like a good criterium (‘crit’) bike to me!
Other, less steep frame angles give a more relaxed approach, where things happen slower and you can take your hands off the bars, get that energy bar out of your back pocket, change out of that rainjacket and write a note home to mum without finding yourself falling road-wards. Now that’s a road bike – it won’t embarrass you at a feeding station or when stopping at the cafe.
Even when you have the frame angles the way you want them, you can still tweak the bike by changing seat height, stem length and height, crank length, gearing… you name it. It will all have an effect of some sort, it’s just a matter of what effect you want.
Get some help, and do be careful, won’t you? You won’t get your bike set up right without proper assistance. Even after seeking such help, you may prefer to do your own thing. It’s a free country.(Depending upon which country you are in when you read this, of course.)
Firstly, whatever you do, get plenty of opinions, and be prepared to try different ideas. I know one 70 year old who is still adjusting his position after over 50 years of racing!
Secondly, when making changes, make only small adjustments, and each one in isolation, to give your body some time to adjust to that new position. By making big changes and then doing a long training ride I managed to injure my knees and put myself off the road for a few weeks. It's a painful lesson. Don't be tempted.
Labels: bike racing, bikeracing 101, bikes
Oops, nearly forgot the bike. Or bikes.
It's self evident that you need a bicycle. The question is, which one? The red ones are quicker, by the way.
There are 5 main forms of bike racing in Australia, if not most of the world, namely BMX, Mountain Bike, Road, Criterium and Track racing. There’s a sixth that I know of: you can also play football (read soccer) on a specially designed fixed wheel bike, but getting a team together may be difficult in this country! And believe it or not there is also artistic gymnastic cycling, but let's not go there right now!
As you can tell by the title of this essay, we are dealing with road, criterium and track here.
Road racing usually means, ahem, riding on a road, as against riding on a track. These races are out and back or point to point. So you are either going somewhere or nowhere or back to where you started. If you string several consecutive races together and add up overall times you get a stage race.
Distances vary according to grade, but road races are usually longer than a criterium, and sharp corners are the exception. So comfort matters more than outright handling, unless you have some technical high-speed mountain descents to consider. Hills are to be expected, so you need to be trained for some climbing and have the gearing to suit the course. Usually you will have 53 and 39 teeth chainrings, although variations like 50/34 and 52/42 are common as well. At the rear you may have an 11 or 12 tooth sprocket as your "big" gear (ie hard to push but goes furthest with every pedal stroke), and a ‘granny gear’ of 21-23 teeth (ie easy to push but you don't go far with every stroke) to get you home after being dropped on a climb. Plus all the other sizes in between. Expect to race 30 to 60km for most club-level races, 40 to 100km for open competitions. However you may race up to 230km in a big classic one-day race like the Grafton to Inverell.
Road handicaps and timetrial events are also held, with specialized timetrial bikes an option.
Criteriums can be held on roads or closed tracks (not velodromes) and are typically shorter and faster than road races. Hills are unlikely but possible, corners are to be expected and excellent bike handling is needed. The bike will not be as comfortable but will handle with aplomb; the bottom bracket may be higher than for a true road bike and the cranks shorter, so that pedaling through a corner is possible. Gearing will be like a standard road bike, except that you won’t need a granny gear. 18 or 19 teeth are all you need at the back.
Track or Velodrome racing involves a specialized bike: just one fixed gear (ie no freewheeling) and no brakes. Gearing from 46 to 53 teeth on the chainring, 14 to 16 teeth on the rear sprockets. A variety of events take place, from scratch races to handicaps, timetrials to pursuits. The racing is usually in the evening under lights and the tracks are short and banked, with the steepest banking reserved for the shortest tracks. These races are very fast and exceptional bike skills are needed.
Three bikes, then? Although not ideal, you can usually get away with the same bike for both road and criterium racing, but track racing requires a suitable, fixed wheel, ‘look mum, no-brakes’ bike. If you haven't got a clue, stop now and start looking in bike shops, reading magazines and asking around. Join a club, start learning. Get carried away…
There are 5 main forms of bike racing in Australia, if not most of the world, namely BMX, Mountain Bike, Road, Criterium and Track racing. There’s a sixth that I know of: you can also play football (read soccer) on a specially designed fixed wheel bike, but getting a team together may be difficult in this country! And believe it or not there is also artistic gymnastic cycling, but let's not go there right now!
As you can tell by the title of this essay, we are dealing with road, criterium and track here.
Road racing usually means, ahem, riding on a road, as against riding on a track. These races are out and back or point to point. So you are either going somewhere or nowhere or back to where you started. If you string several consecutive races together and add up overall times you get a stage race.
Distances vary according to grade, but road races are usually longer than a criterium, and sharp corners are the exception. So comfort matters more than outright handling, unless you have some technical high-speed mountain descents to consider. Hills are to be expected, so you need to be trained for some climbing and have the gearing to suit the course. Usually you will have 53 and 39 teeth chainrings, although variations like 50/34 and 52/42 are common as well. At the rear you may have an 11 or 12 tooth sprocket as your "big" gear (ie hard to push but goes furthest with every pedal stroke), and a ‘granny gear’ of 21-23 teeth (ie easy to push but you don't go far with every stroke) to get you home after being dropped on a climb. Plus all the other sizes in between. Expect to race 30 to 60km for most club-level races, 40 to 100km for open competitions. However you may race up to 230km in a big classic one-day race like the Grafton to Inverell.
Road handicaps and timetrial events are also held, with specialized timetrial bikes an option.
Criteriums can be held on roads or closed tracks (not velodromes) and are typically shorter and faster than road races. Hills are unlikely but possible, corners are to be expected and excellent bike handling is needed. The bike will not be as comfortable but will handle with aplomb; the bottom bracket may be higher than for a true road bike and the cranks shorter, so that pedaling through a corner is possible. Gearing will be like a standard road bike, except that you won’t need a granny gear. 18 or 19 teeth are all you need at the back.
Track or Velodrome racing involves a specialized bike: just one fixed gear (ie no freewheeling) and no brakes. Gearing from 46 to 53 teeth on the chainring, 14 to 16 teeth on the rear sprockets. A variety of events take place, from scratch races to handicaps, timetrials to pursuits. The racing is usually in the evening under lights and the tracks are short and banked, with the steepest banking reserved for the shortest tracks. These races are very fast and exceptional bike skills are needed.
Three bikes, then? Although not ideal, you can usually get away with the same bike for both road and criterium racing, but track racing requires a suitable, fixed wheel, ‘look mum, no-brakes’ bike. If you haven't got a clue, stop now and start looking in bike shops, reading magazines and asking around. Join a club, start learning. Get carried away…
Labels: bike racing, bikeracing 101, bikes
No guarantees
Of course you can be philosophical about all of this pain and heartache and just focus on the positives: you'll get fitter, build self-esteem and meet like-minded souls. Furthermore, bike racing justifies the purchase of a really good, lightweight road bike replete with all the bells and whistles, plus maybe a track bike, lots of spare wheels and endless copies of great cycling magazines. And it's better for you than watching television.
So why not, as they say, just do it.
In fact, why read about it. Get out there now and start riding!
Anyone still with me? Thought so. Part of the fun of any sport is having a good read, and bike racing is no exception. In fact there are countless books on the great riders, the great races, coaching manuals, magazines, touring guides, novels...you name it. There are videos and Internet Websites galore as well. And if you get two or more cyclists together at any one time then conversation - on cycling - will spontaneously occur. Guaranteed.
So why yet another string of sentences on the subject? Well, I have an angle here that hasn't yet been fully explored. This is a 'Realistic' Guide to Bicycle Racing in Australia, not a coaching manual or even a beginner's book. It doesn't glorify, nor does it diminish the experience or the effort. It's a collection of experiences, tips, anecdotes and suggestions that you may find helpful as you begin to race your bike. It may provide an insight that gets you up a grade, or it may help you plan and manipulate a race to suit your strengths. Maybe it will ring some bells for you, or maybe not.
Reading this will not provide any sort of guaranteed pathway to competitive success at the next Olympics. It's also not suggesting that you will reach B Grade in your local club competition, or even that you will progress any further than E Grade. I can't guarantee that you will finish even one race. However I am hoping that you will enjoy the read, and I'm attempting to share some hard earned knowledge that worked in a basic sense for me. So let's get started.
So why not, as they say, just do it.
In fact, why read about it. Get out there now and start riding!
Anyone still with me? Thought so. Part of the fun of any sport is having a good read, and bike racing is no exception. In fact there are countless books on the great riders, the great races, coaching manuals, magazines, touring guides, novels...you name it. There are videos and Internet Websites galore as well. And if you get two or more cyclists together at any one time then conversation - on cycling - will spontaneously occur. Guaranteed.
So why yet another string of sentences on the subject? Well, I have an angle here that hasn't yet been fully explored. This is a 'Realistic' Guide to Bicycle Racing in Australia, not a coaching manual or even a beginner's book. It doesn't glorify, nor does it diminish the experience or the effort. It's a collection of experiences, tips, anecdotes and suggestions that you may find helpful as you begin to race your bike. It may provide an insight that gets you up a grade, or it may help you plan and manipulate a race to suit your strengths. Maybe it will ring some bells for you, or maybe not.
Reading this will not provide any sort of guaranteed pathway to competitive success at the next Olympics. It's also not suggesting that you will reach B Grade in your local club competition, or even that you will progress any further than E Grade. I can't guarantee that you will finish even one race. However I am hoping that you will enjoy the read, and I'm attempting to share some hard earned knowledge that worked in a basic sense for me. So let's get started.
Labels: bike racing, bikeracing 101
On the starting line.
This is not intended to be a coaching manual for cyclists. However it may be thought of as a guide, a prompt, a pointer in the right direction. It may save you some time, it may send you straight to the nearest accredited coach. It may just be an interesting read. You will be the judge of that, and of what you do next…
Let's get tough right at the starting line. You should set yourself some achievable goals, first-up. To do that you need to know enough about the sport of cycling that you can make a reasonable call on what type and level of racing interests you.
Let’s face a few facts: the higher the grade or level of racing, the more commitment you need to give. The training is time-consuming, punctures happen all the time and falls hurt. More likely than not you will be 'dropped' in your first race, and many times thereafter; in fact you won't even get close to winning a race for months, if at all, and as soon as you do start winning you'll get put up to the next grade. So you can then get dropped all over again.
Let's get tough right at the starting line. You should set yourself some achievable goals, first-up. To do that you need to know enough about the sport of cycling that you can make a reasonable call on what type and level of racing interests you.
Let’s face a few facts: the higher the grade or level of racing, the more commitment you need to give. The training is time-consuming, punctures happen all the time and falls hurt. More likely than not you will be 'dropped' in your first race, and many times thereafter; in fact you won't even get close to winning a race for months, if at all, and as soon as you do start winning you'll get put up to the next grade. So you can then get dropped all over again.
Labels: bike racing, bikeracing 101
Bike racing is hard
OK, maybe some sports are easier on the body, are less risky, or consume less time. But we’ve settled here on something that does involve injuries (guaranteed), risk (a given) and a commitment of some sort. Hey, you can choose not to train and be happy racing in a lower grade, but don’t come to me after you’ve died from a mid-race heart attack and then ask my advice. You get out what you put in.
Bike racing is hard. It's a demanding sport that will suck hours out of your day and draw the sweat from your skin, whilst demanding top aerobic fitness, great lower body strength, quick wits and excellent hand-eye coordination. You need tactical nous, swift reflexes and a will to win. It ain’t easy. And that’s just C-grade.
Don't let it put you off - there's a niche for almost everyone in this sport. You do need a bike, but you don't need to be super-tall, or built like a brick with no eyes to succeed. Bikes can be made to fit you and then you need to find the event that suits. Road racing? Can you climb, or sprint? Track? Are you good at distances or power? or are you an all-rounder?
Bike racing is hard. It's a demanding sport that will suck hours out of your day and draw the sweat from your skin, whilst demanding top aerobic fitness, great lower body strength, quick wits and excellent hand-eye coordination. You need tactical nous, swift reflexes and a will to win. It ain’t easy. And that’s just C-grade.
Don't let it put you off - there's a niche for almost everyone in this sport. You do need a bike, but you don't need to be super-tall, or built like a brick with no eyes to succeed. Bikes can be made to fit you and then you need to find the event that suits. Road racing? Can you climb, or sprint? Track? Are you good at distances or power? or are you an all-rounder?
Labels: bike racing, bikeracing 101
Bike racing - where to start?
Bike racing - the type of wheeled sport where your body represents the engine - is just like running, swimming, golfing, sleeping, fishing or any other activity. In fact it’s just like anything in life. Put the time and effort in and you’ll get better at it. It’s a simple equation, really, limited as much - or perhaps more - by your own motivation or commitment than by any theoretical potential you may or may not possess. If you are looking for easy fitness and a sport that won’t take up a lot of your time, stop now - it doesn’t exist. But don't let that put you off, either. The degree to which you invest your time and effort will pay dividends, no matter how small that investment. It's finding your personal balance that's important.
Multiple Australian and World Point Score medalist Gary Sutton was once reported to have replied to the question, "What’s the secret to success in bike racing?", with the statement: "Ride lots." Of course the greatest cyclist of all time, Eddy Merckx, reputedly said exactly the same. Perhaps Eddy was quoting Gary.
In any case it's a simplistic statement, sure, but not a bad thought either!
In the modern lingo of sports science "ride lots" equates with training specificity. But we won't get too scientific about it here. Instead let's keep it simple. By riding "lots" we adapt our bodies and our minds to what we want to do: ride. And the more highly adapted to "riding" the better at it we get. Of course someone may adapt even better than you (Lance Armstrong or Eddy Merckx spring to mind, amongst many others) but you can only do your best, so let's not get down about it.
And don’t put it off, thinking that you won’t do well, or that you don’t have the time. This is a multi-level, multi-discipline sport with a niche for everyone. You won’t know if you don’t try. Maybe you are a Lance Armstrong waiting to happen.
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Multiple Australian and World Point Score medalist Gary Sutton was once reported to have replied to the question, "What’s the secret to success in bike racing?", with the statement: "Ride lots." Of course the greatest cyclist of all time, Eddy Merckx, reputedly said exactly the same. Perhaps Eddy was quoting Gary.
In any case it's a simplistic statement, sure, but not a bad thought either!
In the modern lingo of sports science "ride lots" equates with training specificity. But we won't get too scientific about it here. Instead let's keep it simple. By riding "lots" we adapt our bodies and our minds to what we want to do: ride. And the more highly adapted to "riding" the better at it we get. Of course someone may adapt even better than you (Lance Armstrong or Eddy Merckx spring to mind, amongst many others) but you can only do your best, so let's not get down about it.
And don’t put it off, thinking that you won’t do well, or that you don’t have the time. This is a multi-level, multi-discipline sport with a niche for everyone. You won’t know if you don’t try. Maybe you are a Lance Armstrong waiting to happen.
Labels: bike racing, bikeracing 101, bikes, training
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