How can I race cat 3/4?

Racing
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The Barrier into a bike race is too big.

In my very humble (yet experienced) opinion, the barrier is the mind. You have to switch on and off at the same time. Focus on the things you can control and just let everything else be what it’ll be. You also have to be comfortable knowing that you might come last.

For context, do you honestly believe that any member of the L39ION team rolled up to their first race and won? Justin said in his TR interview that he raced multiple times a week to get to where he is now. I promise you that he got his ass handed to him weekly.

At some point(s) during your event, you are really going to be tested. Factors outside of your control will be dictating. This is where experience comes into play. Unfortunately you can’t have race experience without actually racing. As Amber has said numerous times, look for the positives. Yes, coming last seems like a waste of time and money but there are positives. It takes courage to pin a number on. I don’t care if it’s your first or your last race. By being there, you’re part of something. If people were too scared to get beaten, we wouldn’t have races. I tip my hat to every single rider who rolls up to the line.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Every single person on that start line has paid money to punch you in the face. Some of them will punch you more than once. Whilst I’ve never been in a race where people actually want a competitor to suffer injury, no one is there to be your friend. Unless of course, they are team mates and they are skilled and drilled. So you have to ask yourself, how many times can I get punched and keep moving forward?

Have confidence in your own ability and the work you’ve done. Yes, others will have done more hours, have higher FTPs and fancier bikes, you can’t control that. Instead, roll up with a clear picture of the hardest TR workout you’ve ever done in your mind. Fix it there. Tell yourself at if that f***er couldn’t beat you, at least half of this field can’t either! BELIEVE in yourself.

For the record, if you come last in any race I’m in, I’ll still shake your hand at the end. Without you, there are no races.

Sorry if this got a bit pep talk. I just remember my first race so vividly and how nervous I was. Once you’re past that it doesn’t get easier, it just gets to be a whole lot more fun and you can make great friends.

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Think the difference is that in triathlon the races ARE the sport. Can you call yourself a triathlete if you swim, bike and run but don’t actually do triathlons? Probably not! For that reason triathlons are mostly participation events where people who are just trying to finish are made to feel extremely welcome. E.g. at Ironman events it’s known for pros and race winners to hang around to cheer the 17 hour finishers over the line.

Whereas bike racing is really the pointy end of cycling. I would guess the majority and possibly the vast majority of people who consider themselves “cyclists” have never raced. I know people who have top end bikes, power meters and smart trainers, follow training plans, log thousands of miles a year on Strava, their birthday wish list is made up entirely of cycling products, and they have no interest whatsoever in racing. Maybe doing the occasional sportive with friends, or a Zwift race in winter, but they mainly train for the sheer enjoyment of it, to stay fit, and to be able to keep up with or beat their mates on the club run.

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You guys don’t see a problem with that? The poster above says he respects every person on the line but they are gone the moment they cross the line. OTOH, you have world champions who raced their butts off for 8hours who hang out at the finish line for another 8 and actually do shake hands with the slower folks. I’ve hung out at the finish line many times just to see the happiness and enthusiasm of the people in the back.

There is courage in the back, sometimes more than the front people who have won the genetic lottery. There are people who are on chemo, a dude whose daughter was shot and killed, people who made bad life decisions and finally said it’s enough. They spend thousands of dollars to finish.

But the guy who has thousands of dollars in gear and hours in training won’t spend 50$ to toe the line in a bike race. There is a problem there and it smells of elitism. “This is our way! Do it or GET OUT!”

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No, I don’t see a problem with it because as I said cycling is far bigger than racing. I don’t think racing is as elitist as you’re making out - as pointed out above there are events that are specifically targeted at beginners, most clubs offer skills sessions, race training, etc. But at the end of the day racing isn’t for everybody and that’s absolutely fine. If you want to do more inclusive cycling events then there is everything from the local no drop coffee ride up to mass participation gran fondo/sportive events which are more akin to a triathlon or a marathon where some people are just looking to finish and most others are just looking to set a good time.

A much better running comparison would be joining an athletics club and doing track meets. That’s the elite end of the sport, it’s much more serious, and most runners don’t feel the need to do it.

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So the entire culture of the sport needs to change so you can get “the feels” you want after you finish your race?

Sure, OK.

Again, there are plenty of bike events out there that will give you what you are looking for. Sign up and have at it.

I’ve been around this sport for a LONG time…you aren’t the first person to complain about this and you won’t be the last. The sport is what the sport is…don’t expect it to change just because you had a bad experience (largely through your own mistakes, mind you).

Do Gran Fondos, gravel races, charity rides or any other number of bike related events that will cater to your wants…they are out there.

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320

I think there is definitely something to the point that there are unnecessary barriers in signing up for a lot of bike races, based on how organizers set up registrations and all of the different groups.

The biggest and best run race I’ve done is the Shenandoah Mountain 100. Simple categories pick your race distance then it is Open, SS, 50+ for M/W and a Tandem class for fun. On a good year they will have 400+ riders in the race and way more out supporting and spectating so each category is stacked. To contrast a race happening this weekend, also one of my favorites, is going to have 8 male classes on the full XC course (Expert Open, Expert 35+, Sport Open, Master Sport 35-45, Master 45-55, Master 55+, Varsity High School 11th & 12th and SS). Then there are 3 categories on the short XC course, and 4 categories for the XXC. Of the 80ish currently registered men no category has more than 10 people signed up. If I was new to racing, I could look at which category my training group is racing and get 5 different responses.

Right now the barrier is my road bike which has deteriorated to trainer only status, but if I wanted to jump into road racing I wouldn’t feel confident in picking a good starting race and the right category. I think at the local level organizers are trying to be “inclusive” by creating a category for every individual rather than keeping it simple and creating a good reason to race.

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There are plenty of races where racers hang out all day but those are almost always be crits where there are actually races going on all day to watch. Actually, if you race a lot, more often then not there will be people hanging out. Road races are extremely spectator unfriendly.

Another factor in play is many serious racers race almost every weekend, f they have families or other commitments, its hard to turn every Saturday or Sunday into an all day party.

Also, with COVID, race organizers are actively not encouraging gatherings.

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Also worth noting that stage races are rare in the US, so when they occur, you usually attract a much higher quality field.

So people who can hang in local crits or training rides can get dropped quickly in stage races.

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@Alen Gran Fondos sound like exactly what you are looking for. In non-covid restricted times these events are generally huge and fun. People line up with numbers on and roll out in waves with the clock running. It will be a race up at the pointy end, a race to finish at the back, and a party going one somewhere in between. There will likely be someone at the finish line with a cowbell and beer/braughts waiting after the finish.

A lot of downtown crits, CX, and MTB short track races have a nice ambience, with beer gardens/food trucks and are a fun spot to bring the fam.

Road races are usually out in the sticks with quiet roads and not particularly spectator friendly. I like my family and friends too much to ask them to stand on the side of a road in the middle of nowhere to watch me ride by 3 times over the course of 2.5 hours :grin:

Road races are a lot more bare bones organizationally than destination cycling events or a professionally produced marathon. Racers are usually racing every weekend and generally seem to prefer a less expensive reg to a more luxe experience.

You signed up for a stage race that is part of a highly competitive series. Race starved cyclists are traveling from all over the country to do these races right now and every category looks competitive with people chasing upgrade points. I get that this wasn’t a good experience for you but I know a handful of people who had a blast. Was this event successful bringing you into the sport as a new racer? No. Was it a successful race? Absolutely.

Whether the race organizer should have made this event for accessible to you is a bigger question. Cycling clubs usually fill that role more than race promoters, helping new racers navigate the the scene and process. My club does clinics for new racers a few times a year before bigger local races, to pre ride the course and help set people up for a good race day. We also set up a team tent and have a space for people before and after the race, cheer on our buddies. None of this is currently allowed at races but i think/hope it will come back soon. Have you thought about looking for a road racing club near you? Looking for a club with an inclusive charter and a racing focus could be a great resource.

I think your assumption that cycling is a struggling sport and should fundamentally change in order to accommodate you/new participants is off base. Could the sport be better? Sure, absolutely. But the expectation that somebody with no road racing experience should be able jump into a cat 3/4 stage race and have a good time seems like a stretch.

Cat5/Novice is not new cyclists, it is new racers. Masters categories aren’t slow old guys. Cat3 is a highly competitive field, often with experienced racers who just don’t log the silly amount of training hours weekly to make the jump to cat1/2. Jumping into the cat3 race and not being able to hang and then getting salty at the entire sport is like picking up a book that is written in German and being mad at the book because you don’t read German.

Getting blown out the back is a painful experience but it can be a valuable experience if you are willing to take on the beginner mindset and learn.

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324

I’m don’t agree that cycling is elitist. I have a cheap £700 bike that gets used for everything not a 10k bike like you seem to be suggesting, I cycled all through the ice, rain and winter and don’t have a expensive trainer/smart bike and wake up at 0500 in the morning to make sure I don’t interrupt my family time or full time job to train. Nothing elitist about that, just hard work and the want to win.

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Your expectations are valid, but they’re misplaced. Crits and road races only contain a pointy end, no one shows up to racing for a leisurely ride through an industrial park. The purpose of racing is to compete not complete.

Riders aren’t showing up to the Tour De France just to get dropped by the pros, that’s why they do events that are being suggested to you, like Gran Fondos, where sometimes pros do show up and ride at the front and hang out and cheer for the others.

You point about courage in the back can be appreciated, but again, that isn’t the storyline for 99% of amateur bike racers. There are certainly those that have overcome difficult situations or physical limitations that do race, but it’s not the same as when you see those stories in triathlon.

You have to look at the financial/availability aspect too, it costs ~$45 or so to do a single crit, sometimes a lot less, but I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a single race cost more than $60 (this doesn’t account for things like full stage race entry or a full series like Intelligentsia or ToAD). Races happen almost every weekend as well; during a normal (non-COVID) year, I’m racing every weekend from April - October. Compare that to a tri, namely Iornman. The cost of those events is significantly higher, in the hundreds of dollars. And there are only so many that happen in a year. This cost/availability adds to the attitude of it being a big undertaking that should be celebrated. If I’m dropping $40 on a weekend crit, I can shrug off the outcome if it’s not what I wanted because there’s another one in 5 days; that’s a lot harder to do if I spent a year training for the one event that I’m going to show up to. Of course I’d want some sort of fanfare for something like that.

There’s also a significant culture difference in tris vs. crits/rr. That could be it’s own entire post though.

Cycling (the sport in general, it’s not unique to racing) is still fairly inaccessible and could be classified as elitist. £700 is still a significant amount of money for way more people than you’d think.

What if the kid who’s parents both work 2 jobs just to pay rent wants to get into cycling? How do they afford equipment, event entries, “proper” clothing, etc… Let’s say they do manage to purchase a bike, while there are good people in the sport who would welcome them with open arms, there is still much of the community that would turn away from them (perhaps not actively [although some actively], but definitely through choosing not to associate with them).

I think your point (and I could be wrong so I don’t mean to put words in your mouth) is that you can compete without the hyper expensive or insanely priced equipment that many inexperienced riders think is necessary.

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You seem to have a bad idea what a race is, if you go to a crit pre-covid you’ll see a lot of people hanging out, heck you can even see that in some SoCal crits right now. Look around, road races are so spectator unfriendly.

I like to tell people not to compare themselves to others but when you sign up for a race, you’re competing against everyone. You’re looking at the wrong events, if you want the ride to finish, like everyone has said, go do some Gran Fondo or Gravel events

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Road races (at the amateur level) are not generally spectator events. Even if you’re doing several laps on the course, you see the bunch go by for 30 seconds and they’re not back for another hour or so. It doesn’t really lend itself to viewing pleasure and/or hanging out. Look up the next crit on your local calendar and go check it out, even if you’re not racing. At least pre-COVID, you’d see tons of people being friendly, hanging out, and watching the races throughout the day. And at the bigger crits in downtown areas, you’d have restaurants with outdoor seating/dining so you could eat and watch the race, beer gardens, etc. Crits are a much more friendly environment for the spectator, and maybe that’s what you’re looking for. Hell, my inlaws even came to watch me in an office park crit, with no prior experience or general interest in cycling, and had a ton of fun, set up a picnic and loved what they saw.

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Back in my days of playing rugby, which is considered a cheap sport and accessible to all, I would spend this sort of money too but on things people don’t really think about. Yearly membership, weekly fee for kit wash, boots, and lots of beer money after every game cost more than what I spend on cycling and it wouldn’t surprise me if many other “accessible” team sports spend this kind of money without realising it.

I agree with this point.

Kind of. I’m just comparing this to amounts of money I have spent on other sports that are assumed as cheaper financially.

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Can we just stop with this thread. It’s one guy against seemingly the entire forum population. It’s not really a fair fight. I realize he won’t really stop saying stuff that everyone can disagree with, but might be time to just lay down all the swords and go do something else.

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But it’s sooooo entertaining watch! =D =D

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I think the thread has taken a reasonable turn towards ‘things that make road racing inaccessible’ out side of Alen’s specific experience.

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Elitist, not meaning from an equipments standpoint. Elitist as in “(macho voice) we are here to race! If you can’t push 400w for 10 min, go join a fondo!” What you do your cycling on, nobody cares.

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Eh, I’m an accomplished triathlete and more than capable in a bike race now, and I’d agree that triathlon is a wholly more welcoming sport than cycling is. The largest portion of the cost in both sports is the bike and its associated gear. You can rent a wetsuit (if you even need one) and run for under a hundred bucks otherwise.

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Apparently I failed in making my point, because your comments are not at all what I was aiming towards. I seem to be looking at it from a different perspective than others here. “Welcoming & togetherness” was not at all in my mind with my comment.

As I already covered, the gravel scene (and fondo road via others) is likely a better fit based on the OP’s comments.

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