registered this morning for my first road race:
http://www.floridacycling.com/flyers/webster%2007.pdf
I will be racing Cat 5 of course since its my first race. I am 28swm, do they divide it up into age groups aswell? I like the "races are quite long to mimic a real "euro classic" idea and the 3km stretch of hard-packed dirt road winding thru towering oak trees along quiet pastures. I'm sure i'll get killed but i'm excited to get a race under my belt! Doing my first time trial in orlando tuesday. 7.3 mile out and back. been riding 150 miles a week w/ a local group and by myself so I'm feeling good, but its time to sit down and organize my training! WIsh me luck!

registered this morning for my first road race:
http://www.floridacycling.com/flyers/webster%2007.pdf
I will be racing Cat 5 of course since its my first race. I am 28swm, do they divide it up into age groups aswell? I like the "races are quite long to mimic a real "euro classic" idea and the 3km stretch of hard-packed dirt road winding thru towering oak trees along quiet pastures. I'm sure i'll get killed but i'm excited to get a race under my belt! Doing my first time trial in orlando tuesday. 7.3 mile out and back. been riding 150 miles a week w/ a local group and by myself so I'm feeling good, but its time to sit down and organize my training! WIsh me luck!


This race will definitely test your handling skills, and if it rains.....

I am in your same cat and will probably be there. They don't go by age groups and your not old enought to be in masters....

Are you racing the Squiggy tomorrow and Sunday?

The Flash

Thanks for the response! I wouldv'e raced the squiggy if i had known about it sooner. Webster-Roubaix will be my first besides the time trial tues. did you race the squiggy? if so how'd you do? have u raced the webster course? i'm real excited about it, hopefully my mtn biking background will help w/ handling the dirt sections!

Did the Squiggy and improved my TT time by 42 seconds and got blasted on the Road Race....something about those hills and me being a sprinter....;-)

I may do the Webster one if I am free that weekend.....

The Flash

Hey, Flash, I did the Squiggy Road Race cat 5 -- did you do that one? What a wicked tempo on that first lap! I think half the field of 70 got dropped right after that first lap. I was toward the front for a lap and a half and then the heat and hills did their work on me. I still finished but it was really hard. On the third lap I was motioning the handful of supporters on the side of the road for water because I was out.

That was the one! How about that "neutral" start!?!?! 24mph up the start hill!!!! That got me pretty good, but in the first corner, I was in the back third of the pack and I got boxed in. I chased as hard as I could up the first hill, but by the time I crested the pack was off....

I worked with some other guys and the funny part was that the race leader, a buddy of mine, took a wrong turn at the end of the curvy section on under the trees. He went right and everyone went left. He caught up to me and I pulled him to the next group. That effort did me in and I did another lap of chasing, but I was done! Lot's of people got dropped, but a good friend won the race, so it wasn't that bad of a day....

That race makes me want to train like crazy now! Are you doing any other races in the area?

Flash

Barry Allen/Flash:

On the second lap I got dropped on the hill that was immediately preceding the police officer motioning riders to turn hard right with I-4 in the background -- yeah, that one! Very deceptive little hill that bites at the legs. Me and another guy dropped there and the two of us worked tandem the remaining three laps -- about 25 riders were in the lead group that dropped us and they just slowly but surely disappeared ahead of us. I could tell they were getting tired because the group was finally going fat/piano, but the two of us just couldn't close the gap.

I plan on doing the Spin City Classic circuit race not this Sunday but next Sunday. I hope that's all flat. I live/ride/train in Miami, and it's very hard to train in the flats for races with hills. I don't know if you did the Habitat Road Race three weeks ago, but that was a really hard course, very, very hilly. Although the tempo on that race was nothing like the Squiggy 5 that we did.

What do you have next on your racing schedule?

That climb to 1-4 is a killer....that course is part of our normal Saturday Greco ride, and that's exactly where it heats up at. The hard part was coming back on the road to the start with that headwind. I could see the people, but I just couldn't catch them. We may have been close to each other at that time. I ride for American Classic, with the blue/white kits.

The Habitat course is our Sunday ride. I get dropped like a bad habit there as I am am a time trialist by choice and those hills just aren't good for me. I was at that race, wearing my Flash shirt, watching my teammates have a go at it. They lasted longer than me, but they were shelled in both of them.

I don't know about Spin City yet. Still kicking that one around. I know for sure that I will be at Tallahassee, but I may race Masters 35+ so I can get some FPS points.....

Flash

have either of you raced Sugarloaf mountain RR? I've ridden it and there are lotsa hills in ferndale, big ones for FL. Thinking of doing it this year

I can't say I remember seeing you/your team; there were 70 riders at the Squiggy cat 5 which was a huge group for a relatively narrow course. That sucks about your buddy who turned right after the wooded area instead of left -- the cop with the flag must have been asleep at the switch.

I was wearing the all-red Barloworld long-sleeve jersey at the Habitat cat 5 and the short-sleeve blue "Barclays Capital" jersey at the Squiggy cat 5, in both cases with black shorts.

On the Habitat I was in the lead group of 20 or so going up that deceptively steep hill toward the end of the lap where the field of cows is to the left hand side -- that's where I got dropped on the first lap, then got "rescued" by the following group of maybe 15 guys but no catch was made with the lead group.

I must say you train in great cycling country with all those hills and technical turns. That's just an awesome area to train. Lot of strong riders in Central Florida.

I'm 38 but won't do the 35+ at Spin City because of the earlier start time, but expect to do the cat 5 as I'll be with the wife and kids in Disney that weekend and that we'll stop there on the way home.

Keep training hard and good luck; if you are in Miami area and want to go on our morning club ride/hammerfest which has a lot of pro 1,2,3 riders, just private message me.

Hi Guys!

I didn't know there were hills in Floriday;-) ???? Just kidding, but really I haven't seen one yet from Orlando/Tampa east to Cocoa Beach where my sister-in-law lives and south to Miami. Maybe in the northern part of the state???

Do you guys know of any good weeknight team rides in the Orlando area. I'll be there in May and might bring my bike for a ride. I'll be staying at Rosen Plaza
Address: 9700 International Drive
Orlando, FL 32819

Thanks



That climb to 1-4 is a killer....that course is part of our normal Saturday Greco ride, and that's exactly where it heats up at. The hard part was coming back on the road to the start with that headwind. I could see the people, but I just couldn't catch them. We may have been close to each other at that time. I ride for American Classic, with the blue/white kits.

The Habitat course is our Sunday ride. I get dropped like a bad habit there as I am am a time trialist by choice and those hills just aren't good for me. I was at that race, wearing my Flash shirt, watching my teammates have a go at it. They lasted longer than me, but they were shelled in both of them.

I don't know about Spin City yet. Still kicking that one around. I know for sure that I will be at Tallahassee, but I may race Masters 35+ so I can get some FPS points.....

Flash

have either of you raced Sugarloaf mountain RR? I've ridden it and there are lotsa hills in ferndale, big ones for FL. Thinking of doing it this year

It is a nasty one....biggest hill in Florida, but probably small compared to the rest of the states....I'll probably do it just to support my team, with no intentions of doing well.

The Flash

Check into riding SugarLoaf....rides every weekend there.....

The Flash


Hi Guys!

I didn't know there were hills in Floriday;-) ???? Just kidding, but really I haven't seen one yet from Orlando/Tampa east to Cocoa Beach where my sister-in-law lives and south to Miami. Maybe in the northern part of the state???

Do you guys know of any good weeknight team rides in the Orlando area. I'll be there in May and might bring my bike for a ride. I'll be staying at Rosen Plaza
Address: 9700 International Drive
Orlando, FL 32819

Thanks