Rambling and undecided...

[RABikes2]

My Legend was in extreme need of a good cleaning and because I'm not sure what I'm doing this weekend (below), it was time to take everything off of it. When it's been fully loaded, Profile bars, bike bag, Night Rider, battery, extra battery pack, Bento box, Cateye 500 light, (minus the weight of two water bottles), my bike has weighed in at 29 lb. When it's only been the Profile bars, bike bag, and Bento box, she weighs in at approximately 24.5 lb.. Well, minus Profile and Bento, it was 20.8 lb. and then the bike bag came off, and the final count is 20.0 lb.! I can pick her up and she's like a feather! I rode a short one yesterday to just get a feel for what it was like to ride with such a light machine. Wow, that was sweet. The down fall was I tried numerous times to go out on my Profiles (that weren't there) :confused: . I wanted to stretch out, my stem is too short without the Profiles (and I'm thinking it's too short with the Profiles now). The stem is a 90 with 40 degree rise. I've been experiencing my hands getting tingling and forearms fatigued while riding. When I'm in a pace line, of course, I don't go out on the Profiles, but stay up on the brake hoods. Again, my hands and forearms get so fatigued. Time for a new stem? Can I get a 100 w/ a 40 rise? I do have a more 'sitting up' style of riding than a 'laid out' style. I will be putting my Profiles back on the bike, no question, but stem advice?

The reason for this thread:

The Florida State Championship Road Races are in my backyard tomorrow. The road race is on my training roads and hills; I know where the cracks, bumps, and grooves are in the roads. I raced the 12 Hrs. at Sebring in February and that was so much fun :p , (209 miles in 12 hours w/ 4 minutes to spare), but it was long and you actually felt like you were racing against yourself because of the type of course it was; I love that kind of 'racing'. I haven't done a bike "road race" since the summer of 1987 when I was training for my first Ironman and wanted some speed work. Tomorrow I'd be racing in the Women 35+ Women 45+ group. They've combined them and the race doesn't start until 4:00 p.m. (my low part in a day). And holy geez, there's no Masters 50+ group. Two 16 mile loops with some great hills on 'em. The problem...anxiety. My biggest obstacle is, and TT, you'll relate to this. I train for distance, yeah, I throw in some speed drills occasionally, but for the most part, I ride to be out riding. If somebody comes along or wants to ride with me, I'll ride whatever pace that person wants to ride. I enjoy riding overall averages of 16, 17, or 18 mph for 30+ hours or more. But to race at 22, 23, 24 mph for less than two hours...OUCH! My cardio, heart rate, and asthma, if I'm not careful and keep controlled, zap me. And then mentally, I don't care for riding in a group that I don't know because there are the usual squirrels and dingy's that can't ride a straight line. Accidents happen and I accept that as a rider, but I'm too old to have a squirrely rider do something 'duh-huh' and take a line out. Race strategy, and mentality, hasn't played a big part in my focus since my tri days. Racers, riders,...what do you have to say? Keep the $35 entry fee in my pocket, stay home, and drink coffee? Go and volunteer? Start focusing and ride the stupid race and have some fun?

I'm going out for an easy loop of the course. I need to clear my head and breathe. My Legend went over 20,000 miles this month (in 2 yrs. 5 mos.). I need to replace the bottom bracket and headset; worn out. She had some adjustments done on the derailleurs yesterday and I want to be sure she is working okay.

Undecided and rambling RA

[Bruce K]

Go for it girl!!

Give it your best effort and have some fun.

If you win, great. If you bonk, who cares?

Just keep it upright and between the navigational beacons and you'll be good.

Signed,

Your number 2 cheerleader (I know you son is #1),

:banana: :banana: :banana:

BK

[weisan]

RABikes-pal, I don't race myself so please take my advice with a grain of salt. If I have read your post correctly, I think time and again we were told not to make any changes to our usual setup, especially not that close to a race. The reason being body adaption takes time and small changes we may not think much about may actually have a huge impact on our comfort/performance on the road. I am sure you already know this.

About whether to take part in the race...I say do it with the "freedom" attitude. What's the "freedom" attitude you ask? It's basically the no-frills-low-expectation pre-race strategy. In other words, do it because you want to, and do it for fun.

20 pounds for your Legend? Wow, that is the one time in recent memory as far as I can remember when I hear someone reporting back with a "real-life" weight of the Legend, instead of some silly numbers reported in wennie-weight contest website, or in a printed brochure. That's how much my Legend weighs too, and yes, it feels L-I-G-H-T.

Have fun, whatever you decided.

weisan

[Too Tall]

RA-WUNDER-bike, RR is the best venue for folks like yourself and me esp. last yr. before the Ultra-miles wore off ;) Smile alot and only say nice things to others around you no matter what. Everone will ignore you...hehe.

A very very very important part of your race tommorrow will be your warm up (see below).
1. Arrive 2 hr.s early no more
2. Register, ask how to pin your number properly (left or right)
3. Confirm race "time" and set your watch.
4. Pin your number on, get suited up.
5. Put two small race bottles in your bike with carbs / electrolytes.
6. Keep one bottle near the car / bike / trainer
7. Put your race ready fanny on the bike and do the following warm up and trust me on this, it will feel terrible during some of it. DO IT please !!!

Warm Up
1. 20 mins. at med intensity. eg basic training rate (eat something now. 200 cals +)
2. 5 mins. at functional threshold eg TT pace. Nail it!
3. 20 mins. easy (drink a bottle)
4. 5 mins. at tempo (a notch below TT pace. This will feel hard)
5. 10 mins. at med intensity eg basic training rate.
6. 1 min. very hard. Force yourself to go for 1 min.
7. 3 mins. very easy
8. repeat #6,7 twice more.
9. 20 mins. rest or easy easy easy (drink some liquid calories and race should be within 10-15 mins. )

The very hard efforts are important because there will be points in the RR where the effort is intense. If you don't do this in warm up it may cause you to quit, backoff or blow.

Add up everything you need to do timewise and make a plan to arrive at the starting line no more than 10-15 after you take the bike off the trainer.

Good luck and show em what a REAL rider can do ;)

[William]

Hi Cuz,

Follow TT's advice, get warmed up, then go have some fun. Try not to get to ancy about it, just do the best that you can do. You know the course well , stay towards the front, watch what unfolds and follow your gut.

Wishing you the best! :banana:

Cuz William :)

[tch]

The way I'm feeling these days, Too Tall's warm-up could be a whole ride for me!

[Too Tall]

You stop that negative talk :no: Gotta trust me babe. You've got the base just lacking the high end stuff...no worries. Survive to the end and they will be puking and you'll wonder what the big deal was.

[RABikes2]

7. Put your race ready fanny on the bike and do the following warm up and trust me on this, it will feel terrible during some of it. DO IT please !!!

Warm Up

The very hard efforts are important because there will be points in the RR where the effort is intense. If you don't do this in warm up it may cause you to quit, backoff or blow.

Add up everything you need to do timewise and make a plan to arrive at the starting line no more than 10-15 after you take the bike off the trainer.

;)

I'm on my way to work, but wanted to respond since I won't be home until after 10:00 tonight. TT, you are wonderful and very generous with your advice for warm-up. Unfortunately, you are talking to an "old road dog" who is a 'cycling coached virgin'. I do fartlick drills occasionally, TT a century or two a year, will ride hard when I ride with other riders, and I love my hills and will do sit down loops (on the hills) and out of the saddle drills (on the hills).
But darlin', your warm up was over my head. I don't own a heart rate monitor, a trainer, nor do I even know what the levels in your warm up are for me. I live 6 miles from the start (there are two nice hills between here and there). I was going to bike out to the start, work a little on the way, do the hills, repeat them, and go register. After the race, bike home. Guess that's not exactly what I should be doing, eh?! :rolleyes: My training partner has agreed to go and carry two extra food (Accelerade) bottles for me.

If it's not asking too much and now knowing this, would you have advice to fit into the short notice of doing a race, my lack of knowledge in your warm up, and those miles from my home to the start? I'm a pain in the arse, aren't I? :D
Weisan, thank you ;) . I know not to change things (that's why I didn't change my stem), but I wouldn't be allowed on the course with the Profiles. They had to come off.
Bruce and Cuz...you guys are great. ;) :D

Coach Challenged Virgin RA

[RABikes2]

You stop that negative talk :no: Gotta trust me babe. You've got the base just lacking the high end stuff...no worries. Survive to the end and they will be puking and you'll wonder what the big deal was.
No negative talk here, but if I do it, it'll be to play and have fun ;) . Funny you should talk about puking TT :p ...I was thinking at the end of the 32 miles (two loops), if I'd have any takers if I asked who'd like to do another 10 laps with me before we call it a day? :D

RA :banana:

[RABikes2]

Change in work schedule (self-employed) and I'm home earlier than expected. Except now I have to work on Sunday and possibly Monday. :rolleyes:

From what I've been told, to race in the Women 35+ Women 45+, you have to get a USCF license and you can't buy a one day license. However, if I race in Women Cat 4, I can buy a one day license. The Cat 4 race is at 8:10 a.m., a much better time than the 4:00 p.m. race :banana:

TT, I'm going follow your warm up as close as possible. I'll smile and do what I can...ride. :D

Riding RA

[scrooge]

How'd it go?

[Kevin]

We can hope that the delay in a report is because of a celebratory hangover :beer:

Kevin

[RABikes2]

When I got home from dinner late Friday night, I had two phone messages and one e-mail regarding Saturday's race. All said the same thing, I couldn't race on a one day license since it was the State Championships. I was over the mental preparation, I wasn't doing the race. After 5 hours of sleep, Saturday I didn't rush around, but got out the door with my normal "no preparation" for a ride except I carried two bottles of Accelerade and two Gu's. I rode 6.5 miles to the race site to watch a few race starts. It was great to see cyclists all over. Too cool. I'll skip over the next part of the story, but the long of it was I raced, but wasn't eligible for any places, awards, etc. Me placing, who are they kidding. :confused:
Eleven women at the start, I try to smile and be friendly. Some girls did try to smile, but a few "racers" looked at me like I was an alien. We take off, I'm having flashbacks of 18 years ago, remembering the 'jockeying' part of racing, the egos, the stress involved. I'm having a blast, nervous, but I'm okay. The first turn is onto the road where I was riding two years ago and got bitten on my left calf by a 110 lb. German Shepherd. Yes, I did manage to tell the women around me. :p TT, I was smiling and being friendly. At 9 miles into the first loop, our average speed was 21.1 mph. I was on the edge of dry-heaving the glass of red wine from Friday night. Oh crud, this was going to get ugly. :no: There was a breakaway by some riders and I managed a "Go ahead, I'm gonna puke" look. There are five nice size climbs on the 16 mile loop. Yeah, this is Florida, but north Florida baby, we aren't exactly flat up here. So now 5 riders have gone off the front and I'm riding with two girls (one a local racer), we are in 6, 7, and 8th. We finish the first loop, hell, I was telling them where the roads were rough, when to expect the next climbs. Dang, brevets have made me laid back, haven't they? The three of us start the second loop and we are working together, taking turns pulling. I'm having fun cruising along, ate a Gu, we actually chatted some. The local has been in the shop, she's 30 years old. The other rider from Ocala is 37 yrs. old. They both had the same "HUH?" response when I said I was 50. :p We make the last turn where the two biggest climbs are. We scream down the hill (I glanced down at my computer and got a glimpse of 41 mph, I stopped looking) and we start the climb. I'm staying on the local girl's wheel and not letting go for anything. I'm out of Accelerade and yep, I'm gonna puke, my heart is pounding so hard. As we crest and start on a .75 mile stretch of flat, she pulls slightly to the side. I laughed and said, "Oh honey, I'm sorry, but I don't think so, you girl's are spanking me." She said she was happy to pull. We regroup (Ocala came back up and got back on my wheel), speed is picking up more. We begin the slight downhill before the final climb and the girl from Ocala is giving the "you girl's just go on, I know you can beat me up this hill, I don't care" speech. Yeah, right. The poor Ocala girl worked her arse off to be sure to beat me, which she did by a bike length. Local girl 6th, Ocala 7th, me 8th. My computer registered an overall average of 19.3 mph w/ a time of 1:43. Yahoo, I'll take it!

So, all in all, when I went that a.m., I wasn't racing, fifteen minutes before the start, I registered, raced, finished, and had a good time. Would I do it again? Nah, I'm not into the cut throat attitudes of short races; it was a reminder of bike racing many years ago. Too many egos, unfriendly behavior, way too serious attitudes, and way, way too much aggressive estrogen in one place. I prefer and will stick to the 12/24 hour distance races, brevets, and distance rides. I love the commaderie, adventures, stories, and attitudes. As the day went on temperatures for the day went up into the 90's. It was a hot one out there. My training partner and I went out and did another 52 miles and came back to watch a few friends start their race in mid afternoon. Not too bad of a day actually...7 mile warm up, 32 mile race, and a 52 mile warm down...a 91 mile training day.

One of the best parts of the day was when I was told I had raced against women that were in their mid 20's and 30's. If I was told correctly, third, fourth, and fifth place finished approximately 4 minutes ahead of our group. And the third place was won by a 17 year old that was graduating from high school that day. Gotta love it! :D

I was fried from the heat the rest of Saturday, nasty heat headache, but ate well for dinner and got some sleep. Went for a nice 29 mile ride yesterday and had to work later in the day. Today I'm going for a short 25 mile spin and either mowing or working later. Andrew will be home tonight and we'll have a protein filled dinner. Amazing, but I didn't lose a pound this weekend. What's a girl gotta do?!

Thanks for your support and encouragement! You all are the best!

Rip Riding Racing RA

This was on the race team's website regarding the climbs. "The finish climb is 7% average with a 0.2 mile section at 9%. The backside climb is 0.5 miles at 4% average with 9% steeper section for first 0.1 miles. Total climbing is 900 feet"

[William]

I'm proud of you cuz! :cool:

Now, it's time to start planning for the Big One. ;)


William (20% crew) ;) :)

[Birddog]

RA, were you grouped with the 4/5's? Had you been in a Masters class, you probably would have kicked some serious bottom. I almost posted the following on Friday, but held back. I'm pretty sure you can get a USCF license instantly now, online, but you probably wouldn't want to spend the $40 for a one day deal. Congrats anyway, I know there is a great deal of satisfaction knowing that you were able to put away some yunguns.

Birddog

[RABikes2]

Birddog, it was the Cat 4 women race. Finding out how young the women were that I was racing with did make it sweet. Didn't need to win anything, it was just satisfying to stay with them and then go ride another 50+ miles. :D
Thanks,
RA