I think you're right. I never have any pop in my legs on the group rides in the day or two after a long or hard run. I'd definitely set the running aside if I ever decided to really give the cycling a serious go.

Btw, that 4:43 is a great time for someone in their 1st season. Sounds like you've got some potential.

Early in the 2003 season, Top Kiwi Olympic distance athlete Kris Gemmel had an injury that prevented him running and was doing lots of bike miles.

He was invited to ride in a team in the Tour of Wellington and I am pretty sure he won the KOM title that year.

Cycling is fairly unique in endurance sport in that the best possible result is not just achieved with a consistent maximum effort over the sustained period of the race, due to tactics and the drafting factor.

Although tactics and drafting do come into something like a 10k or marathon it is tiny compared to a road race. In a road race you can recover from a bad patch and still get up to win - this is almost never the case in a distance race (ever see a guy fall off the front group at the olympics, come back and win it a la Tyler Hamiltons solo break away in the 2003 tour).

From what I have seen road cycling is a very intimidating arena for a novice to break into - of course it all depends on the area/club but speaking from experience in a certain area of New Zealand. You turn up, nobody speaks to a new guy, they may have no idea of racing/etiqueti (sp?) etc, there is no coaching or help. If they make an honest mistake in a race chances are some dick head will give them a dressing down and make them feel even worse after they have probably been dropped and had to ride 40km solo to get home.

After huge success and coverage on TV in NZ for cycling based sports at the Olympics the level of interests in both cycling and tris in NZ will be at an all time high. Hopefully this will translate to record numbers of first timers turning up to races. How they are welcomed and treated will have a lot to do with future growth of the sports in NZ. Sadly I fear that we may not be as welcoming as we should.

You are mean, mean roadie scum!

---

Andy

'You'd be surprised how many people violate this simple principle every day of their lives and try to fit square pegs into round holes, ignoring the clear reality that Thinsg Are As They Are.'

Ya...mean....that's me!!!!

Andy here is a tri head and he was welcomed at a USCF State TT. Some roadie scum even changed his flat very quickly 5 minutes before his start time and got him to the line in time to win the CAT 5' State TT Tilte for PA in 2004.

I had tri geeks out the ass under my pop up in the pouring rain while all the other rodies warmed up in the rain. Bad Roadie...Bad Roadie.


Ask Andy who road 50 miles outside this past weekend in 20f temps. And ask him who road his trainer inside in the warmth of my laundry room. Big Pussie!!!!!

(All in fun kids)

What did Caden say? "POPPI'S A STUD"!

Lasse Virén ,10K, 1972 Munich Olympics

---

Your favorite mafia sucks.

I freely admit to the slowtwitch world that I was rescued by a roadie at the state TT. I also publicly apologize for relentlessly mocking you, belittling you, and calling you harsh and vulgar names when you bought that BIG ass tent. You were the man and all tri-geeks there that day will openly and freely admit it.

Now... check your personal email about the Boone trip!

---

Andy

'You'd be surprised how many people violate this simple principle every day of their lives and try to fit square pegs into round holes, ignoring the clear reality that Thinsg Are As They Are.'

Are you doing Boulevard RR this weekend? It'll be my first race of the season, as well as first time doing this race. What race did you do last weekend? If your fitness is good, which it sounds like it is, some races def seem easy. But there will be some hard ones for sure - E

I hope to be able to get some road races in this year. I've lost all my sprinting snap, but, I'm much better off the front...so, maybe I won't have to always wait for the field sprint. The bad thing is, all the older guys, like me, that are still racing, they are blazing fast. I'm afraid I'll just have to eat their dust at least for a year. Hope my back will hold up to the strain...

As a triathlete (haven't road raced a bike in about 18 years), I have zero doubt that the roadies are much better riders. I've just found a few that I can train with, they don't mind my triathlon bike when it's just a few of us (nobody is trying to do anything amazing with bike handling skills on our rides), and I do have a road bike I can ride if the group gets larger. So, I'll see how it goes...it certainly can't hurt my triathlon performance.

---

Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)

In Reply To
(ever see a guy fall off the front group at the olympics, come back and win it a la Tyler Hamiltons solo break away in the 2003 tour).
Lasse Virén ,10K, 1972 Munich Olympics

Whether deliberate or not that's pretty funny.

From what I hear and see around my little neck of the woods...well, put it this way, most roadies wouldn't piss on a triathlete if he/she were on fire.

They seem to hate us. They hate us for being bad bikers, and they hate us when we both slower or faster than they are. They hate us for not having matching pro team gear, or having out of date gear. I think mostly they hate us because we think that 3 hrs on your own is a better workout than riding round at the back of a bunch of 200 cyclists for 4 hours at 30kph.

---

kiwipat

per ardua ad astra

I'm signed up. I might even still go.

I hear it's a really tough race with a strong field. I've certainly heard some horror stories from the guys on my team.

Exceptionally well said KiwiPat

I just find it odd that guy's with arm's the same size as I had when I was 7 and similar chests can be intimidating ?

Respect the leaders and climbers but on the relative flats musy have one helluva vaccuum behind some of those peletons :)

---

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream" - Les Brown
"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment" - Jim Rohn

there are always a few ringers in the 5s especially this early in the season

You going to race McLane Pacific? Sea Otter?

You should definitely go. It's really only tough if you're not prepared. It does help to be a 140-lb climber, though. Since you'll be going off at 9:30, it won't be stupid cold, like how some of the collegiate riders will be facing at 7am starts. But the first 10 miles (nearly all downhill) most likely will get cold, so a good warm up will help a lot. There are three crucial points on the loop.

First is the turn onto La Posta Rd. Newer riders might have trouble getting through this part as it's a little bit after the descent and you'll still be going fairly fast. The turn is going to be swept Friday and there'll be Marshalls so you know when it's coming (if you're near the front). You'll hit a very short, but steep power hill that will be very hard if you haven't shifted in preparation for it. Next is La Posta Rd itself, which seems like a long false flat that is, in reality, two difficult climb. It's more obvious on the course profile or if you get to the top and look back. It is very easy to be dropped or make people suffer here. Third is the climb up Old Hwy 395. This is where the supermen separate themselves from the strongmen, at least on the final time up.

There's probably a lot of regrouping on the descent if you get drop on Old Hwy 395. I wouldn't really know, though. Otherwise, just be aware of cattle guards in the ground on La Posta and cracks on the shoulder between the finish and the start. The race organization is really really good.


edit: I am working at the race and will also be racing, albeit in a collegiate-only field.

---

Increasing awareness for suffers of DGS (Diminished Gluteal Syndrome).

Sea Otter, hehehe. The toughest race I have done. I did the circuit and road race last year. Don't expect to see me back this year :(

---

Reverend Dr. Jay
Lake of the Pines Triathlon fastest bike course record holder - Golden State Super Sprint fastest tri course record holder - Wildflower Long Course slowest run course record holder (4:46:32)

---

"If you have a body, you are an athlete." -Bill Bowerman

Sea Otter is a great race - Always a tough field there.

After 15 years as a dedicated roadie (most as a USCF Cat. 4 and 3 in California), my body and mind couldn't hack the trips to the pavement anymore. And it's not because I was particularly agressive in the pack or spent too much time doing rainy crits. It's just the nature of the game that you will go down, hard, with regularity. It's a crapshoot really; pack racing has that as a feature whether you are a pro or a Cat. 5 (I had stopped racing by the time they added that one). You can only break your collar bone so many times before you have permanent problems. Getting into triathlon lowered my crash risk tremendously, helped with my shoulder and neck, and best of all, keeps me in the competitive bike game (I was a skinny 140 lb. climber then, now I'm a 140 lb. runner instead).

So, I want to just throw this slight caution out there at the risk of sounding like a wuss; if you want to increase your chances that you'll be able to toe the start line at your next A race tri, you may not want to spend a lot of time in the peloton. TT's sure, group training rides OK, but voluntary pack racing is a little risky for a person who considers themselves a triathlete first and foremost (unless you are an ITU type, then go for it!).

Tim "Every scar tells a story" Mech.

Ah. Good point and good knowledge of your history but WADR Viren tripped/fell he didn't "fall" off the pace because it was too tough early on or he started out having a bad day.