I've done 3 cross races officially, 2nd this year was today. 1st that I did was 2 yrs ago and I went out too hard and blew up. 2 weeks ago I vowed not to do that again and went out too easily. Had plenty left on the last lap, made up lots of time, and caught the guy in front of me. Today was a longer race (40 min for c) and I upped it a bit, got a good start, but still had plenty left for the last lap. Made up time caught 1 rider, almost caught 2 (I was in "no man's land"-in between the 1st big pack and the stragglers at the end.) Could have gone harder I'm sure. How do you do it? I don't want to go "balls to the walls" from the start and then blow up. Suggestions from more experienced riders? Thanks.

It's a lot like a cross country running race--you need to get clipped in very fast and tach up your atp-pc energy system with a fast 10 second sprint for placement, then you need to settle yourself down and ride fast and tactical, but not so hard that you keep running into the anaerobic system too much. Sometimes you can spike your energy level on something like an uphill and recover, but you are working with an energy system that delivers max power for only 40 seconds then requires recovery, so you need to not burn too many matches with an overfast pace or wasteful efforts. If you can move up to a group and sit on, then great, otherwise just put your head down, watch the lap cards and try to leave it all on the course. I like flogging a pretty big gear, others like to spin.

Throw on a heart monitor and see what it tells you, a declining heartrate during the race generally indicates an overfast start. Too low might indicate a bunch of things.

Thanks. That's what I've pretty much been doing, or trying to do.I climb OK for someone my size and age and can crank it pretty well on hard surfaces. I try to make up time on those areas and then recover on the more technical sections. Bell rings and I let it go as hard as I can.

In general, picture yourself racing against a prototypical rider of your ability with great technique--now you enter the barriers with this rider, you take an extra step, fumble your bike a little and take an extra few swats to get in your pedals, now you are back riding the same speed as mr. prototype, but have lost 8 feet. Repeat this for every technical section and you are losing 20 seconds per lap on someone with equal fitness, or over a minute by the end of the day.

Gettting your technique down very well in cross is as important as fitness, but takes much less time and effort. Don't neglect technique practice at race speeds, it's the fastest way for a new rider to place much better in a period of just a few weeks.

Generally I have OK technique in mounting and dismounting as well as crossing barriers. I seem to lose time in tight corners, partly due to the fact (I think) that I'm riding an old road bike converted to cross. Biggest tires I can get on it are 30's, plus it isn't real quick-not a very tight turning radius. I'm currently shopping for a cross bike. Hey, it's a legit excuse to buy a new bike, right? :) BTW-thanks for the advice.

Mr. Roden has provided some great advice already. Since you've only done a few races, you might not yet be familiar with the "usual suspects." Once you get to know them, you can use them to guage your effort. I race with a lot of the same guys each week and I have a pretty good idea where I'll be in the race. I can usually see when someone is having a good day or a bad one. I've also been lucky enough to be able to race with people most of the time -- great for motivation and pacing.

Another thing you'll just have to learn is what you can realistically expect from a race. This season I figured I'd just try to get comfortable with racing -- staying aggressive and passing, pacing, and technical aspects. It turned out that I was setting my sights too low. Of course you can just as easilly do the opposite and burn yourself out on the first laps if you try to hang with the leaders when you don't have the chops yet.

HR data hasn't helped me much as an analysis tool for race post-mortem. Usually it just confirms what I already knew. The best way to know what you need to do is to get some race experience. This year is my third season of racing (25 total races) and I am just now feeling like I'm somewhat competent at managing my races. Last weekend, I felt like I had it really together and had a strong plan for managing a race. It was working great until I forgot one of the elements which was to go a little easier in the very slick corners. I went down early in the second to last lap and the result was going from a top 5 finish (and and outside chance to win) down to 17th.

Experience is what it takes to know how to manage your race. And competancy at the skills isn't enough to really do well. Drill those skills and like jroden says, make sure you practice them at race pace. When I do skills workouts, I like to practice barriers when I'm pretty fresh and then when I'm fatigued.

Ultimately, it depends on what you want to get out of your racing. If you want to do a couple races a year, I'd say go out hard and then try to hang on. Race the guys you can and practice sills enough not to get embarassed.

Thanks. I'm 46 y/o and realistically don't expect to be a factor on the podium. That said, I'm doing it for the need to compete and to be a part of a community. I really enjoy the atmosphere at cross races as well as the races themselves. I feel that with some practice I can at least be competitive. I finished 40th in a field of 50 on Sunday which apparently had quite a large # of sandbaggers-the winning times (lap times) for the top C racers were FASTER than the B times, if I calculated correctly. Jerks.

. I finished 40th in a field of 50 on Sunday which apparently had quite a large # of sandbaggers-the winning times (lap times) for the top C racers were FASTER than the B times, if I calculated correctly. Jerks.[/QUOTE]


we have the same thing here in SoCal. guys who finish top 5 in the B's racing the C's and winning, including last years series winner. move up folks you reached the top of your class.

we have the same thing here in SoCal. guys who finish top 5 in the B's racing the C's and winning, including last years series winner. move up folks you reached the top of your class.

This year the big series around here started doing chip timing. I've noticed a more consistent forced upgrading process as well as an encouraging self selected upgrading process going on. I think it's harder to sandbag when the lap times come out and it's glaringly obvious that you would have been competitive in the next cat up.

Cross is a lot more complicated than "going hard as you can maintain". An easy rule of thumb is start, middle, finish.

The typical pattern for most cross races can be broken up into 3 parts -- the start, the middle, and the finish. Good starts are increasingly important in larger fields (30+ riders not 10) and narrower / harder courses. These races tend to string out very quickly and if you don't get a good start, you could be down 10-30 seconds on the first lap if it bottle necks or you get caught behind slow / bobbling / crashing riders. Get a good starting position and always preride the course to see if there are any hidden places to pass or lines to avoid in the chaos of the start. If you are on the front row, a common trick is to watch the starter and anticipate the whistle / gun / start. It's not legal, but people do it anyways. Sprint like mad to avoid the mayhem and I generally push hard for a couple of laps before filtering into a group that is at my level. Many good riders also practice starts and quickly clipping in. They experiment with different gears and different crank/pedal positions.

In the middle section it's good to settle into a hard pace without digging too deep. At this point you have to make an honest assesment -- if you are going too hard to stay in contact with the group it's probably better to back off. On the other hand, you might find a comfortable zone and realize that it's feasible to bridge up to the next group. The middle portion of a race is also a great place to observe what other riders are doing -- is someone taking a better line on a corner that allows them to gap the group? What are you doing that is superior to the other riders? Don't just pedal. Use your head. It's also important to be energy efficient in the middle section: there's often no point in sprinting to a corner and slamming on the brakes -- something you might do at the start to gain a positional advantage or at the finish when anything goes.

In the final section section, you go hard as you can without holding back. It's not a sprint, which can be only be done only for about 20 seconds, but a superhard effort that you can maintain to the finish. The length and intensity of this portion is dictated more by the way the race is unfolding than by some optimal physiological strategy, so it can vary from 5 to 20 minutes. In the final section of the race, the objective is to beat the riders in your group and to pass any riders in front who may have blown up or suffered some mishap. It's very unlikely to catch riders who are going good in front of you, but you may catch people who are falling apart and you should definitely think about doing everything you can to beat the people in your group. This means maximizing your strengths and minimizing your weaknesses. If you are a good climber, attack on a hill. Or a good runner should put a good dig in on the run up. Maybe you have an equipment advantage -- better tires that hook up in a corner -- that only shows up at high speeds. In addition, do every thing you can to neutralize the advantage of others -- spend extra energy to get in front before the barriers if someone's flying through them so you can slow them down to your own less skilled speed, etc. Finally, think about the finish and don't go into it blind. If the finish is 100m after the last corner, then the first one into the corner will most likely win so the real finish line is the last corner. On the other hand, if the finish is a long drag into a head wind don't get too excited and jump to early just because you see the finish line.

Have fun!

Don't fret about being 46, I'm 45 and still stick with the young guys on the road in the sr 1-2 and win an occasional cross race, or at least do decent.

Don't fret about being 46, I'm 45 and still stick with the young guys on the road in the sr 1-2 and win an occasional cross race, or at least do decent.Honestly I think my endurance is at least as good as younger riders. Just have to figure this thing out. Thanks for all your advice (and others too, especially tobu's). Now if I can find a nice cross rig at a decent price, I'll be a happy camper.

pre ride the course. warm up hard on a trainer and get the system primed. get a good starting position. sprint like hell to avoid the chaos. settle into a near melt down pace forcing myself to stand and sprint out of every corner. try to find every little spot where I can get my heart rate down even a beat or 2. hope I have something left for the end.
so far, so good.

Thanks. I'm 46 y/o and realistically don't expect to be a factor on the podium. That said, I'm doing it for the need to compete and to be a part of a community. I really enjoy the atmosphere at cross races as well as the races themselves. I feel that with some practice I can at least be competitive. I finished 40th in a field of 50 on Sunday which apparently had quite a large # of sandbaggers-the winning times (lap times) for the top C racers were FASTER than the B times, if I calculated correctly. Jerks.

You must have been at Reston on Sunday. I noticed the same thing (I'm also 46, this was my third race ever) - the average lap times for Masters, B, and C groups were nearly identical. Only the elite men were significantly faster. What's the point of having all these classes if everyone's afraid to move up? Hard to learn how to race when the top 15 or 20 riders should be in the next higher group. I managed 28th out of 50 (after starting dead last), had a blast, felt like I was actually learning to race as opposed to my first two races, which were mainly death marches the last laps.

So here's my challenge folks: if you're consistently finishing in the top 25%, MOVE UP! What's better: beating up on old men and beginners, or duking it out with real racers? COME ON!

Then you passed me :) I was the guy on the old red Gitane w/ a blue/white/yellow LS GT jersey and shorts. I was like you-I actually felt like I learned something.

You must have been at Reston on Sunday. I noticed the same thing (I'm also 46, this was my third race ever) - the average lap times for Masters, B, and C groups were nearly identical. Only the elite men were significantly faster. What's the point of having all these classes if everyone's afraid to move up? Hard to learn how to race when the top 15 or 20 riders should be in the next higher group. I managed 28th out of 50 (after starting dead last), had a blast, felt like I was actually learning to race as opposed to my first two races, which were mainly death marches the last laps.

So here's my challenge folks: if you're consistently finishing in the top 25%, MOVE UP! What's better: beating up on old men and beginners, or duking it out with real racers? COME ON!

I have raced pretty much every Mens C MAC event as well as some MABRA events this year and have fairly consistently placed in the top 10-12 with a 6th thrown in for good measure (although I was 17th on Sunday, that was a tough course). While I agree that some individuals need to move up I disagree with your top 25% notion because I don't think you can paint everyone with such a broad stroke. As for me, I am new to racing. Last year, I was in the bottom 10% of nearly every race that I did (all 4 or 5 of them) I worked hard over the summer and it paid off, but that doesn't mean I should be racing B. I'm set to move up next year but I needed more experience before making the jump.

My advice to anyone is that if you want to do well in any category then you need to do the work. Just because the race says Beginner doesn't mean that you can just show up and expect to do well. It means you haven't raced much before (i.e. a Cat 5/4 roadie or a Beginner MTB type) or your cross skills are lacking. The guys that beat me week in and week out only make me want to get better. Someone told me earlier this year that you can only ride the course as fast as you can ride the course which I thought was really great advice. Don't worry about what everyone else is doing and go out and ride the best race that you can.

Lastly, comparing lap times from different classes really doesn't mean that much. The course conditions change as does the number of laps as does the tactics that are at play. It's comparing apples to oranges. For instance, the top 2 Master’s riders (Gunnar and Mike Yozell) would absolutely destroy the entire C field without breaking a sweat.

Top 10 to 12 every time? You need to move up. Don't belittle our efforts. We're busting our humps, too.

I understand (and to some extent sympathize) with the counter-arguments, but again, what's the point of having all these categories if the top riders in each group are so close in ability? IMHO, there should be roughly a 10 percent jump (time-wise) from one group to the next. Isn't the whole point to separate racers into high-medium-low ability levels? I'm 46 and busting my ass every day training in the cold and mud, but I've never raced until a few weeks ago. That makes me a beginner, and I should have a reasonable expectation of racing against other beginners and near-beginners. It doesn't bother me being mid-pack fodder, but when the top 10 or 15 C riders all have mid-level B times and have been racing for several years, I'm wondering what's the point? I don't feel like I have any "right" to drift down to whatever lowest category I can immediately dominate. The C group should mainly be a developmental group, not a refuge for B level riders who don't want to finish in the middle of the B group. Again, MHO.

If the intent is to grow and improve the sport, then you need to encourage lots of grass roots racing, meaning the barriers to entry should be low, with distinct developmental groups. The process of moving up thru the groups will sort out the top-level talent. What I'm seeing instead is a drift toward elitism and leveling of the various groups, which is not good for the sport and discourages kids and beginners. Maybe the new rules next year will have an impact.

I've done loads of running races, but they only do age groups, not ability-based classes. If you're under 40, you have to race against all the hot shots whether you like it or not. It's not too surprising that America's performance in international distance running has been pretty dismal the last 20 years or so, despite the large number of part-time road racers. Unless you're already an elite athlete at a young age (and highly motivated), it's extremely dificult to develop and move up. Ok, a complex subject, but look across the board at countries that do well in a certain sport (eg, Belgium in CX) and you will always find widespread, highly supportive grass-roots organizations that figure out ways to bring in and develop lots of new talent. Just sayin...

(Sorry for the rant)

It's an interesting issue in parts of the country with large fields, which we are not amongst. I think you need some sort of premise to get the total group down to less that 100, or the race is a big mess to score and not so much fun to ride. Personally, i don't see any need for the existence of any masters categories, as we already have an assigned ability level category. Hopefully, the move to a numeric category system next year will help.

In my limited experience trying to understand why people would choose to do a lower category, the answer they usually give me is "I'd never be able to beat you guys". This is frustrating when these strong, middle aged men drive up the pace in events like training criteriums so they can have a big ego fest, while making the race too fast for the real rookies trying to enter the sport.

This sport serves up enough sorrw, defeat and general ego bashing for anyone. There is no sense in trying to avoid it by dominating a smaller pond. Just my 2 cents from a part of the country where this is not an issue in cyclocross.

The essence of the problem is that going from the B field to the A field is a huge jump. If you're fighting for a top 10 finish in the B race, you'll get lapped in the A race. Now if you're a good bit better than the rest of the field (or there are few riders a good bit better) like there is in the MAC this year it's another story. Those guys will be pack fill in the A race which is OK. The guy who dominated the B field last year in the MAC is pack fill or fighting to not get lapped in the MAC A field this year. OTOH if you're doing pretty good in the C race, you'll do fine in the B race. You'll probably be pack fill, but again that is OK. I think the criteria are 1) are you dominating your current field and 2) can you move up and not get lapped.

Masters on the other hand has the opposite problem, there are any number of riders who would be better off in the C race than getting lapped half way thru the Masters race.

Top 10 to 12 every time? You need to move up. Don't belittle our efforts. We're busting our humps, too.

Sorry, I did not intend to belittle your efforts or infer that you aren't working hard. My point is that regardless of category there are some really fast riders out there. I don't care if you are racing A, B, C, or Masters. IMHO, If you have less than 5 races under your belt than you should be more worried about how you can get faster and less worried about what everyone else is doing.

As for me, yes, I was in the top 10-12 but usually at least 2+ minutes off the winning pace. As someone stated earlier, it is hard to learn to race better if you are always riding at the back of the pack. I felt I needed some experience racing at the front. I have that now and I'm ready to move up. In fact, I'm racing B's this weekend and will happily take my place as pack fodder as I did in C last year.

It's all a mute point anyway. With the new 'Cross Cat system from USAC it really doesn't matter. According to them, I'm a Cat 4 cross racer for 2006 which effectively puts me right back in C races again. If you look at the proposed points system, I do not currently have enough points to upgrade to 3. Go figure.