# Popping my big, fat, 4th-Cat Cherry!



## TheSandwichMonster (12 Mar 2012)

Well, I did it... And I fear that it's going to be more addictive than crack!

We had a good side out from the club - probably a dozen riders in all, with maybe six or eight of us in the 4ths race, including a couple of other first-timers. Race was supposed to be 1hr +1 lap, but they changed that at the start to 45 minutes +1. Big field - I heard some people saying that there were maybe 60 or 70 of us, though Ilton is wide enough to deal with that in any case. Weather was good too - the sun came out and other than a slight breeze to work against down the back section of the course, everything was good.

It was all about the learning experience for me - I guessed (rightly) that I wouldn't be contesting for points, so my sole aim was to stay with the bunch and not make too bit a fool of myself. We set off at a fair old clip - about 25 mph, but I was pleased with how easy I was finding it - that was the nice thing about the size of the bunch - lots of shelter! I was concentrating hard on my positioning, but also found it difficult to make decent progress due to being boxed in most of the time - I can see that positioning and tactics is going to be the steepest learning curve. Lap 2 I made the mistake of coming through on the outside and was unable to find a way back in. I found myself 2nd wheel and then quickly found myself on the front as the guy in front of me sat up. That was HARD! I managed a very short while into the wind before having to sit right up myself, my heartrate threatening meltdown... The difference between competing and being actually competitive is clear - to be in with a decent chance you need to be in the first 10 or so places. To maintain your position up the front it's clear that you need to have a decent fitness advantage over the guys who just sit in the back having a free ride!

I settled myself back into the bunch and tried to focus on the movement of the other people around me. I was concentrating hard on riding sensibly, but there were a couple of moments where people got a bit silly - trying to cut in, or riding for spaces that just weren't big enough. Fortunately, there weren't any crashes, but some people had words on a couple of occasions. I appreciate that there will be times when it's necessary to be more aggressive in my positioning, but race one of my career is not that time!

I realised on lap three that I'd not started my Garmin, bit of a pain, but not a massive deal - I just wanted the data for analysis later. I started to get a bit complacent and found myself drifting backwards, lulled by the purr of all the carbon wheelsets around me! I moved up the outside again, but similarly had trouble in getting myself back in out of the wind. A couple of individual breaks went, but the headwind down the back straight meant that nobody could stay out by themselves - it would take a decent break by a handful of riders all working together to be able to make it stick, and nobody seemed that organised.

The bell seemed to come earlier than expected, and as I expected, the pace then picked up to try and thin out the field. We were doing upwards of 30 most of the way round on the last lap, with one of my clubmates recording 39 as his maximum! I was fine in the bunch, but I knew about two bends back from the finish that I just wasn't going to have anything left in my legs for the finish. I pushed as hard as I could, but found myself going backwards towards the end, finishing in the bunch, but probably two-thirds of the way back, if not further.

All in all, it was awesome. I'm back again next weekend for more. I've learned a lot already, but still have loads more to learn, but I'm hoping to get to the point where I'm actually competing, as opposed to just joining in!


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## YahudaMoon (12 Mar 2012)

Sounds like you did very well being 3/4 the way back for your first. Its all about taking part not winning (Thats what I say anyway)  Admittedly I have been lazy bit lazy of late though I'm doing some short sprint races on the Cheshire / Cheadle circuit tomorrow evening. 

Well done 

John


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## VamP (12 Mar 2012)

Great write up! Sounds like you did just fine, I managed to get dropped on my first Cat4 race

It was a bit of a unusual race, in that there was a bunch of good cat 3s pushing the pace, and halfway through the race, the elastic snapped and our field split into two. I was just at the front of the split, and jumped across to the tail end of the break, but every time I caught a wheel, the rider I was behind dropped off the back of the break. After this happened about 4 times, I was out of puff, and couldn't bridge across anymore.

Good way to learn the lesson of always riding towards the front of the field, though that's easier said than done. In my second race I made a solo break with one lap left, but got slaughtered by the headwind, and the field caught me with a couple of hundred yards to spare. Actually had a worse placing from that race than the first one, but I know which was the more fun.

Unless you have a killer sprint, your best chances of taking points away from these early races will be if you can get a few of your clubmates to work with you at making a break stick.

Alternatively keep plugging away and the fitness will come. That's what I keep telling myself


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## TheSandwichMonster (12 Mar 2012)

I went for this race for a few reasons, one of them being that it was a 4's only, rather than a 3/4 race. They have both at Ilton actually, but wanted to dip my toes in gently! It's certainly given me the confidence to get involved more, along with the motivation to try and race a bit smarter. I've been toying with the idea of some proper coaching for a while, so I might give that a go too.

There's a few of us now starting an "unofficial" Thursday night chaingang (as opposed to the official Tuesday night one's) that are aimed at the lower-level racers - it should hopefully provide a bridge to the faster groups further on down the line. Tactics/positioning is definitely going to be a massive part of things. I want to know how to get near the front and not lose shelter. Part of it is just down to being brave enough to make a gap I suppose, but there's bound to be some general skills that I need to pick up on too.

Agree on the whole idea of getting people to work together. We discussed it, but didn't really have the time to bring it all together. There was one team all in black who worked very well as a unit, I think they had a few finish in the top ten.


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## Jdratcliffe (18 May 2012)

can you explain the different and rules of 1hr +1 lap and 45mins +1 lap?? new to the road racing looking to start as looks like loads fun plus reading up on these things sounds great ! i only commute at the moment but would love to put this fitness to use. (22miles each way to work average 16/17 mph) is this good enough?


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## black'n'yellow (18 May 2012)

most circuit/criterium races will be run on the basis of a time (eg 1hr) plus a specific number of laps (usually one or two) at which point the race is over. So after one hour, you will get the notification that you then have two laps to go and you will usually get a bell on the final lap anyway. The different durations affect the race's qualifying status - and therefore the number of ranking points on offer to competitors.


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## Jdratcliffe (18 May 2012)

cool thank for covering that sorry to OP from the OT question


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## TheSandwichMonster (20 May 2012)

Jdratcliffe said:


> cool thank for covering that sorry to OP from the OT question


No worries. And to follow up, you should be fine if you're managing your commute at 16/17mph - it's roughly the same as I do on the days that I actually commute... Best thing is to actually dive in and see how you get on. I'm still not really competing for points when I race, but I'm getting better both in terms of fitness and tactically. It's a whole load of fun, and well worth having a go!


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