upgradecyclecoaching.com

On the benefits of not racing

I sometimes think I’m addicted to racing.  Let’s face it, cycling is an addictive sport.  Going a few days without a ride has me stalking the house, snappish and grumpy.  I suspect I’m not the only rider to experience this feeling.  And I often extend that logic to racing — if I could make it to a race, or even better, do multiple races in one day, I was there.  In many ways, this approach makes sense if the rider either needs the experience or the fitness, especially if the races are relatively short. But at some point, racing that much can be counterproductive.  For instance, if a rider can race both an age-graded category and a senior category and he is targeting a season-long series in one or the other, the order of the races on the day becomes important: you should only do 2 races if the targeted race is first in the day.   Or, as is the case with me, when the rider is chasing upgrade points, it makes sense to only do one race a day to give yourself the best chance at success.
(more…)

Race Report for Fort Lee Crit 5/3/09

Despite some serious misgivings about the weather, I headed down to race the Ft. Lee Crit yesterday.  It poured nearly all the way there, and apparently, had poured at the race earlier in the day, but for our Cat 4 race, the last of the slate, it was dry.  This was a double blessing — I’m not a big fan of racing in the rain in general, but this particular course is in bad shape, with many holes and ruts. What it would have been like with 28 Cat 4s in the rain makes me shudder. The organizers helpfully marked the obstacles with orange paint, which transformed some parts of course, especially turn one, into a field of polka dots.

(more…)