So where's all the Newbies/4th cats?

[Marky Mark]

Do you know what? You lot are FANTASTIC. I can feel the love
Many many thanks to you all. I'll make time to check and read the links you've given me and set my printer to Defcon1.
I can't wait to do my first time trail now, I don't have a clue what time I can do but by christ I'm going to give it a bloody good go and print it on a certificate when I get home. That's if I don't get lost on the course!!!!!

[Antloony]

Great attitude there Marky boy. Your in exactly the same position as me, wanting to try a couple of time trials, so I to am going to throw myself at the ACC 10 and see how I get on. Im 41 today (happy b'day to me etc) so will luckily be able to enter the old codgers races should I deceide to go into it a bit more seriously.

Not sure what times I'll do either Mark but if I can get a sub 30 mins for my 1st ever 10 I'll be more than happy with that. I did a 57 mile round trip on my own today and averaged 19 mph, got held up quite a bit though by traffic at some points so didn't think I did to bad really. (Also took in the climb from Reigate up to the 217 where it meets the M25.....its a barsteward of a hill)

If I dont do well Im sure I can borrow someones 'I didn't do very well today because.....' book of lame excuses.

[Marky Mark]

[quote="Antloony"] Im 41 today (happy b'day to me etc) so will luckily be able to enter the old codgers races should I deceide to go into it a bit more seriously.

Not sure what times I'll do either Mark but if I can get a sub 30 mins for my 1st ever 10 I'll be more than happy with that.

.

[Snoop Doug]

[quote="Antloony"]Great attitude there Marky boy. Your in exactly the same position as me, wanting to try a couple of time trials, so I to am going to throw myself at the ACC 10 and see how I get on. Im 41 today (happy b'day to me etc) so will luckily be able to enter the old codgers races should I decide to go into it a bit more seriously.

Not sure what times I'll do either Mark but if I can get a sub 30 mins for my 1st ever 10 I'll be more than happy with that. I did a 57 mile round trip on my own today and averaged 19 mph, got held up quite a bit though by traffic at some points so didn't think I did to bad really. (Also took in the climb from Reigate up to the 217 where it meets the M25.....its a barsteward of a hill)

[-Adam-]

So Toks, are you not going to mention the quality of the field in the vets races?

Some real big boys are over 40 remember, Dodd, Roshier, Seaton, the list goes on...

[Marky Mark]

The over 40's have real dog determination and staying power. What I lack in strength I gain in effort and will power

[Andrew G]

Evens (20mph so 30mins for a 10) is the normal first target for a newbie. Remember the TT is on flat(ish) dual carriageways, ain't no hills, and you'll be going near as dammit all out all the way so be a much higher average than you'd do on a normal bike ride.

The difficult bit I find is pushing yourself hard enough as you (I) don't normally push your(my)self that hard. The old wisdom I was given is that if you could carry on to 11 miles then you weren't pushing hard enough .

[quote="Antloony"]Also took in the climb from Reigate up to the 217 where it meets the M25.....its a barsteward of a hill

[Marky Mark]

So how good is a cat4 rider? 18's 19''s 20's sort of pace?, am I assured last place or is there hope in me? I am so up for a race now. win or lose you'll soon see the banners for Marky Mark

[quote="Snoop Doug"][quote="Antloony"]Great attitude there Marky boy. Your in exactly the same position as me, wanting to try a couple of time trials, so I to am going to throw myself at the ACC 10 and see how I get on. Im 41 today (happy b'day to me etc) so will luckily be able to enter the old codgers races should I decide to go into it a bit more seriously.

Not sure what times I'll do either Mark but if I can get a sub 30 mins for my 1st ever 10 I'll be more than happy with that. I did a 57 mile round trip on my own today and averaged 19 mph, got held up quite a bit though by traffic at some points so didn't think I did to bad really. (Also took in the climb from Reigate up to the 217 where it meets the M25.....its a barsteward of a hill)

[kieran]

[quote="Marky Mark"]So how good is a cat4 rider? 18's 19''s 20's sort of pace?, am I assured last place or is there hope in me? I am so up for a race now. win or lose you'll soon see the banners for Marky Mark

[quote="Marky Mark"]Now we move swiftly onto the race thingey. I keep hearing about cats, I won't go with the obvious joke there. I assume Cat1 is superman or woman, Cat4 or 5 sounds like the worse one, that will be me then and how do they work it out?

[Andrew G]

Mark, to add to Toks "piece of string" it depends on the circuit too. I've not raced at Hillingdon but it's flattiah and easier to stay in the bunch. Palace is a more technical (although not really technical unless you count having bends as technical) and a narrower track so less easy to stay in the bunch. Also a 3/4 cat race there so a higher standard of rider in the race. Chertsey is probably the easiest as it's flattish and very wide. Unlimited fields mean they are big and I've ridden round in a 4ths race there averaging 25mph without breathing heavily due to the bunch effect. I don't like Chertsey though as despite being quite a nice circuit I think the 4ths only races there are a bit dangerous as it tends to attract the nutter element more.

I've yet to manage a bunch finish at Palace (ride in 20s in Summer if fit and not TT-ing on Sunday) but I enjoy it there. Very convenient for me, safe racing, plenty of Agreeables . So long as I enjoy it and improve each race during the season then I'm happy. As Kieran has said the field gets very strung out at Palace with lots of riders dropped during the race, so I'm far from the only dropee .

[Marky Mark]

I think my cycle life plan is as follows :-

I started riding early this year. DONE
Join a good club. ADDISCOMBE WILL HAVE TO DO FOR NOW
Enjoy it. I AM, ALOT
Lose some lard off my gut. WORKING ON THAT ONE.
Legs need to be stronger. THEY ARE GETTING STRONGER.
General fitness. I AM FITTER THAN LAST YEAR
TT. START DOING THEM THIS YEAR
Race. SEND OFF FOR LICIENCE IN DECEMBER I think this year is too soon.
Get new bike. THINKING ABOUT THAT ONE (so tempted)

1 Do I need any form of liceince or insurance for time trials, or just send that CTT form off?
2 This one sounds simple but it's not. If I do get a new bike, How do I know the one I have now is the right size and comfortable for me? It might be the best fit in the world but I don't know. I might be more comfortable on a bigger bike, but I dont or wont know. My bike, the one and only Bianchi, is a 59cm but measures 56cm. CB told me that it measures to an imaginary point are they lying to me?
I'm 6ft 2inch tall. Height x 0.67 = frame size 58cm OR Inside leg - 9inch = 63cm

Mark Mark

[Ivor]

FYI (just as a very rough guide) I'm also 6'2", my Pinarello's a 57.

Your best bet is to get a proper bike fitting when you want to buy and have a play with different frames/sizes/positions.