Getting faster, getting older

Triathlon Forum
1

i just started biking last august at age 36, and am wondering how i am doing, since i haven’t yet integrated in to the local cycling community (i will as soon as i get this durn grant written). i would really like to ride time trials and some road races, and maybe slowly advance to higher categories. so, i have two questions. first, how good to you have to be to move up from cat 5 to 4, and second, what sort of progress have other late bloomers out there made on a yearly basis in terms of speed?

when i started, i was averaging about 19-20 on my road bike. now, i can time trial for 10 miles at 25.3 mph, and for 25 miles at 24.2 (super windy day). if i train hard, will i get faster from year to year, or will aging counteract my increased training? can i do reasonably well (e.g. advance upwards, however slowly) at these sorts of speeds? will i ever have a podium finish :slight_smile: or will i need to purchase a plastic podium and place it surruptitiously in the basement? naturally, i am mostly just really happy that i discovered this amazing sport, and don’t need to be first in my AG or anything, but i’d still like to know whereabouts i fit in.

any personal stories of changes in bike times over longer-term would be great to hear! thanks

toad

2

You don’t have to place to move up to Cat 4. You just have to have a certain number of starts in mass-start races.

I would guess that you’ll get faster for the next 5-6 years or so, maybe longer.

You’ve got a great start, but TTing is much different than riding with the peloton. Think 90-100% intervals, followed by recovery intervals repeated ad nauseum. You should be fine in CAT 5 provided you are comfortable in the pack.

A bit of advice: practice going up rollers and short climbs as fast as you possibly can.

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I was always told that regardless of age if you were new to endurance sport expect 6-8 years of continous improvement.