[Closed] Being an average racer - worth it?

Potential. We've all got it and we've all got a maximum of it. Maybe you've reached yours and this is as good as it gets? Maybe you have more? Maybe you're going to improve massively? Maybe you won't improve at all? The best coach, diet plan, training schedule created won't turn a mid to low pack'er into a podium placer if they haven't got the potential to that level.
Does it [b]really[/b] matter in the great scale of things? Are you going to lose sponsorship? Reduced or no income if you're dropped by a race team?
Didn't think so.
Focus on taking part. Be in the moment of the race rather than the expectation of winning or getting close. Do your best and you'll be as good as you can be. Enjoy that!

I have a different take on this. My wife always moans about me going out for a ride with mates, there is always something domestic that should take precedence over 'just a ride with mates'.
However if I enter an event she is totally understanding and encourages me to get some practise! Weird. I am still a very crap racer but at least I get out.

Krypton - do you have a coach and/or power meter?

Morning.

Power meter yes, coach no. I use trainer road.

By coincidence I reached the tapering part of Michael Katowskis book last night. Hmm whoops. Also my legs are still hurting from Thursday's turbo and my left quad has a dead leg feeling. So today's TT will be nothing more than a try out / experience event. I'm definately fatigued and will be resting up with just a few short outdoor z2s next week, and a 30 minute Session of intervals of 30 secs race start / 1 min FTP X 4 Friday just to stop me being flat on Sunday.

Oh an back OT. Yes it's worth it. Having slept on it, having a few days maialiase due to my own lack of confidence to take a rest is not the reason to believe racing isn't worth the effort. As implied in the above posts, although I like to do better it's not the end of the world.

For me like Adam above it gives me a reason to stay fit and healthy and do some exercise in a sport / hobby I enjoy rather than than probable net effect of my otherwise sedatery desk job. Whoop!

What's your training peaks numbers? (ATL, CTL and TSB)

No idea. I only use it as basic/free. Don't even know what's those mean or why you ask...

Edit just googled it. I can tell you strava so 42/40 therefore +2

For me, CTL and ATL give a good guide but don't always correlate to how tired I actually feel.

Think they work well if all you do it train, eat and sleep. You need to factor in some sort of life TSS or something like that. Up with vomiting child all night, reckon that's worth at least 100 TSS of fatigue!

From your previous posts I would thoroughly recommend getting a coach, if only for a few months. It could really help both with intensity and psychological side. I am well aware that they are expensive but a good coach is worth their weight in gold!

A good coach can also tell you exactly why they are planning certain sessions and what they hope to achieve. Joe Friel always said to do the least amount of the most effective training to get the adaptions you want - and in my experience a coach gives an objective view on exactly this!

or why you ask...

just wondered if you were massively fatigued or something

if I'm honest 40/42 on strava is barely anything is it?

I'm on 20/24 and I've only ridden 4 times this year, having taken a slight winter hiatus, 3 of those rides being in the last 10 days

10th May 2014-10th May 2015 i was never below 76, peaking at 130 with 178 fatigue,

so could it simply be a case of not enough time on the bike?

Must admit I got slightly irritated hence the somewhat aggressive post. I'm sorry.

You put yourself up against others in a regional event with less than perfect kit and a far from perfect training regime (no taper etc) that hasn't been targeted at your chosen discipline for very long.

You obviously have talent to get where you did but there would appear to be some fairly simple things you could do to improve. If ever there was anyone who would benefit from a coach it would be you.

So how did the 2 up go?

Kryton, sorry to keep on but I invested an hour re-reading the Cat 4 thread the other day so your journey is fresh in my mind. I think you use cycle racing as an identity. Every post (^) is littered with references to this hard workout, that race, this interval session etc etc etc.
I'll say again. I think your the classic overtraining stereotype.
Just chill out! Find an event a few weeks away and give it the respect it deserves. Identify your weaknesses for that event and spent the intervening time focussing on those. Do the work but more importantly do the rest too! Taper into it and ignore any other tempting events in the meantime.
You clearly love pinning on a number so an enforced ban in the meantime should see you gagging for it!!!

On topic-
I had a season as mid pack XC and CX fodder myself but I was able to write, follow and implement a plan fairly successfully. I hit my target event like I was a riding God and beat my target position by five places.
.....then couldn't be arsed to ride my bike for a year 😀

So how did the 2 up go?

****ing awesome. 52.34 on a hilly, not bad for a non climbing novice on a road bike. Loved the atmosphere as well, so much better than to non-talking, cold shoulder crits. More in your TT thread.

I think you use cycle racing as an identity.

Yes. I was going to write a post about this, but I didn't really want this thread to be about me. I have "life" issue, whereby I've never had anyone around me thats said "well done" - for anything. Therefore for me success has to be obvious and proved. Riding mid pack regional A vet isn't a thing for me, standing on the podium on the Torque24 was, because it was a tangible, visible accomplishment. I have a family, I do work which is all day to day grunge - cycling is my sport and want to be good at it.

That may not make sense to some people.

In '89 I went for a bike ride the day after an Acid House party. I was like superman. You could try dropping some acid the night before racing if you really want to win...

52.34 on a hilly,

For a 25? Very good effort there. Sounds like you enjoyed it though which is even better!

TT's are usually pretty friendly affairs. Our club ones usually have cake at the end. Most opens there'll be tea and cake on offer too 🙂

@thebees...whilst you thought you were superman in a bike race...everyone else was wondering who the guy circling around the pub carpark on a kids trike was... 😀

MrBlobby no the course is just under 20 miles.

Ah hilly course, first timer, road bike, 2 up, etc. Still a very good effort 🙂

[quote="scotroutes"]Pros - they get paid. So, "is it worth it" has a different dimension.
Average pros get paid very very little. Especially if you consider there were about 5-6000 people in Europe with a "pro" licence last time I looked. And maybe the top few hundred or so will earn a "living" where things like a mortgage, kids, car etc will be possible, a "normal" life. Get far out of the top echelon and it pays better stacking shelves. Which some pros do to make ends meet.

I know it's better than it used to be thanks to some useful rules, but I'd not be surprised if some of the guys riding the minor classics are on salaries in the low/mid teens (€).

I used to race cross country in the late '90s/early '00s, along with endurance events.
I took my training seriously and tried as hard as I could. I never really broke the top end of things tbh unless I stayed carpetbagging in Fun cat.
I gave up training and racing, just rode for fun for a few years. Entered a few races and didn't do much worse than I did back in the day.
I guess I'm not really quite good enough physicallyor didn't quite have the drive to get to the point where I troubled the top and once I realised that and just relaxed I found I had and indeed still have as much fun competing for 43rd place as I did for 4th. Some of us are cut out to be winners, the of us just aren't good enough or don't try hard enough but at least we are there for the fast guys to beat.
It's just about challenging myself nowadays plus riding the trails flat out (for me) without worrying about dog walkers or picnicking families.

Done my first two XC races this year. I used to race DH and was firmly mid-pack and unlikely to ever challenge the higher places.

I'm firmly bottom of the pack in sport XC but figure I can only get better. I've got plenty of pace on the DH sections, getter fitter and lighter and I should be able to move up the pack.

Not getting lapped is my first target..

Time to find out if the trainings been worth it for me 🙂

Fingers crossed for mid pack and no mechanicals

Mid-pack, that'd be awesome

Good luck Ferrals!

if I'm honest 40/42 on strava is barely anything is it?

No idea. But it shoots up if I go outside for a decent distance, Lately I'm only 5-6 hrs a week on the bike atm, mostly turbo with one 30k outside if I'm lucky. Easter sportives, BoB and Flanders should see this rise a fair bit.

Hi , newbie here , I've recently got the MTB bug back ( even though I've never took it serious or stuck it for long before ) but this time is different . I took it up with running last year to try and get fit and live longer , I was running 5k park runs and even though it was hard work I enjoyed it , I was finishing top 50 out of around 400 runners , all ages , shapes and sizes mind . Last September my knee swelled up after a training run , after an MRI scan I found I have a miniscus tear , I might need keyhole surgery so that's my running days over with . Anyway it's 95 percent better and doesn't effect my riding so that's what I'm concentrating on . I've recently discoverd the world of XC racing and am contemplating entering the nutcracker series and maybe the north east XC series . I've just turned 46 this week but in my head I'm still 21 and am really looking forward to competing even if I'm last first time and gain a place every time after , that would be something to aim for .

Im never a racer in a million years, I do enjoy entering enduros though with about 9 under my belt now, I enjoy the whole atmosphere and excitement leading up to it and on the day, I came to the conclusion its all about the fun factor for me nowadays,it instantly takes any pressure away, last year as a vet so 50 and over next year 😕 (how did that happen),but there some excellent racers in that catogory alone, but even a basic bike ride is all about the fun nowadays and tbh Im enjoying my riding much more.

As for training for it, I usually just go for longer rides with more climbs at the weekend and couple of weekend faster rides in my local hills 🙂

Standing at the start of the 1st stage. Oh look there's Nico Voullioz, Cedric Gracia, Fabien Barel etc. Maybe I've bitten off too much here About 3 corners in I almost pulled over to vomit with nerves then proceeded to spend the rest of the day crashing.

😀 Bob I literally laughed out loud at this, I can imagine you standing there looking around you :), you would have had a better time in the E2 with us plebs 🙂

cycling is my sport and want to be good at it

Kryton, for someone with this almost in-built need to do well in this, it seems you're not fully embracing the two things that could help this. Rest/tapering we've already talked about. But also coaching. A coach will look at your schedule objectively and your feedback from each session and plan a way to improve. Sounds like you're in the same geographical area as TiRed and when he's mooted needing a "guinea pig" to train, I'd be snapping his hand off!

You could spend years planning your own training, battering yourself, not particularly improving or you could get a coach to take out (some of) the guesswork. Give yourself the best chance, so you can focus more on the physical doing. You might find you improve for less time/effort on the bike and this will help you in competition and also off the bike with family life.

A coach will tell you what to do when you don't manage to complete a session. They will plan sessions so that you will return to that session and nail it next time. Rather than just beating yourself up mentally for "failing" and then trying to go harder and harder.

You've had 3 years at this. Is your training evolving? Do you note down when you feel good? Do you note down when you feel bad? Are you learning from what works and what doesn't? Or do you feel you have to go out and smash it every day?

You've had 3 years at this. Is your training evolving? Do you note down when you feel good? Do you note down when you feel bad? Are you learning from what works and what doesn't? Or do you feel you have to go out and smash it every day?

2 years but yes. My training is periodised a la Friel, I know when I'll be strongest (not yet) and the conditions and races / sections which suit me.

Like I said, this post wasn't intended to be about me, just gaining opinion on others views of the effort vs the outcome.

Mentally I'm feeling better today after yesterday's TT result despite everything I had going against me.

Someone has to be average....you seem very committed to it 😉

Thanks. Not very helpful to anyone.

a coach

Just out of interest, how much does one tend to cost?

Depends what you want really. Most have reasonably priced offers that give you a plan and some weekly contact all the way up to a day by day review of progress. Bit of googling should give you a good idea pretty quickly.

just gaining opinion on others views of the effort vs the outcome.

Cyclical for me - motivation comes and goes. Spent the winter doing massive traditional base and entering events. Now ill, coming back from injury,moving house and demoralised.

Have to force myself to remember base takes a while to erode. Doing as much as I can and shifting the emphasis of my season to August/Sept/November.

The point being I think you have to expect downs - the key is how to adapt.

mucking about mid pack either. No sireee, I've got this won

If Binners shows up you'll all be competing for the scraps, literally.

Hutchinson about Hoy when interviewed "...what this* produced was the measurement against himself against and his own expectations, rather than against others. It's not about being the best, it's about doing your best".

*refering to his late development as a child / teenagers creating an inability to win.

After coming firmly mid pack in the Midlands xc yesterday I can quite happily say that was not only my best result but also one of my favourite races so far. The best bit for me was actually having some people to race against.

Time to find out if the trainings been worth it for me

Ferrals, was it worth it? 🙂

I was distinctly mediocre yesterday! Happens to all of us. Completely lost it mentally in a steep road section of deep potholes and just kept going back through the pack on each lap. Drifted off the back in a strong headwind and never caught the bunch. I was lapped five laps later on the last lap. Positives: Hung on for 45 km, finished, climbed Milland Hill (25% slope) nine times.

I did relatively well at some of the early enduros down in the southwest (top 20-25%) and am one of the quicker riders in my riding circles so fancied trying out more racing. Did the full UKGE and Enduro 1 series last year expecting to scrape 50% but typically finished 75%!

It kinda p*ssed me off at times that I wasn't were I expected myself to be, especially as I was racing for a team, but this year I'm firmly in the take part and have fun camp regardless of result.

I like racing and testing myself against others (and admittedly hoping for some decent photos of me on Roots & Rain!) but I'm getting more used to considering myself as average. Which is all fine with me now!

mrblobby - Member
Time to find out if the trainings been worth it for me
Ferrals, was it worth it?

If you're referring to the perfectly spaced (wheelbase) peaks & troughs through the 1st wooded section, I'm not 100% any amount of skills coaching other than being able to wheelie the whole damn section would help.

As my mate put it, it was lie Cannock but without the flow.

I've done the last 6 months of the Gorricks after last racing in the youth category nearly a quarter of a century ago.
Solid mid pack in the enduro ones, with a fair few lessons learned on prep and nutrition etc.

Now into the spring Gorricks my aim to is come higher than I came last time, which I just managed this weekend. Which shows to me the training and changes to nutrition are working.

I've analysed my lap times and compared them to the last one where I cramped up to see the difference it made, I worked out where I would have come if I hadn't missed a turn and wasted 3 minutes.

I looked at the people who beat me, and those I just beat and it's the same names as last time so I have focus on getting faster to get past them again. It's definitely motivation for the hours on a turbo.

Unfortunately for my racing career I have a child on the way so the next Gorrick will be my last race for a while as the fitness ebbs away. Back to riding for fun again... 🙂

So a whole year of coming 26-33rd in the Eastern leagues although my London series place improved by 1 (8th) and here I am again. Slightly boyed by the fact my overall league table placing is 26 not 34th this year.

I've just build the next sixth months training plan to March, trying to get motivated about it yet actually wondering quite why I'll be training every other day.

It's quite obvious that with my weekly time (6h) and level of athletic ability I'm destined only for mid-pack. Made worse but my club colleague coming 11th in the same race, his 4th MTB race ever. I suppose it keeps me fit and interested.

Another good trick is to find events where you can be near the top. Low entries and multiple age categories are good for that - you can often pretty much win the mixed 40 vets at an MTBO just by turning up 🙂 (I know it's not quite the same thing as a race)

You got a coach sorted yet Kryton?

I think so, yes...

Wasn't going to post in this thread as I have no personal knowledge of racing and can't offer much in the way of advice.

However one thing that carries through the 4 pages and 6 months is that you (Kryton) come over as being rather too negative on yourself.

Nearly all your posts are tindged with 'oh well' or 'never mind' type negativity.

I think you need to take a step back and actualy pat yourself on the back. I'm a similar age to you (45 on Friday), love riding bikes and have done for 30+ years - but I'll never be anywhere near you in a race.

You need to stop thinking your racing positions are rubbish and questioning yourself all the time. Your positions are what they are and to say your racing snakes half your age I'd say they are damn good !

I sort of coach my wife as she is into triathlons. Not physically but mentally, and you have similar issues to the ones she faces.

One of the best bits of advice she got was to simply race herself. Forget others and the actual races. Use your training wisely but most of all enjoy your riding.

A race is just a combination of how much work you've done before and the mental attitude on the day. If you constantly have a downer on yourself and question why you are doing it, no amount of training will come to anything.

Hope that waffle make a degree of sense 😆

Nearly all your posts are tindged with 'oh well' or 'never mind' type negativity.

Welcome to my personality unfortunately, this is how life is for me. But thanks for your words, makes sense and are useful. One thing: I'm racing Vets so everyone is about the same age 🙂

Have you considered racing Sport rather than Vets? Probably an easier level of competition. Especially with Vets you have to bear in mind that a good proportion of the field probably have years of training 10hrs a week under their belt.

If you've got a coach lined up then plenty to look forward to with training over the winter ready for a flying start next season.