Purpose of Racing

Training and Performance Fundamentals
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What is your purpose to race?

I am a new cyclist and went through my entire season just to train for a century. I will be attempting it on October 6th and I am confident that I will complete it.

After a century, my question is what next? I am looking into racing “kinda” but I don’t have a proper racing bike.

I currently am at 225 Ftp. I have a 2017 Orbea Avant with rim brakes and Superteam carbon fiber wheelset with Conti GP5000 TR with Tubeless installed and upgraded everything, new stem/handlebar (carbon aero), groupset from Tiagra 10 speed to 105 (11 speed), bottom bracket is Dura Ace, new chainring 34/50. I have been training consistency since March and plan on training in the winter with a (not purchased yet) smart trainer using either Swift/Rouvy/Training peaks Virtual.

I know I won’t come out winning races but just curious what motivations everyone has when doing races?

Cheers.

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there are races (all types of races) on some of the online platforms that you can have a go at with your smart trainer: zwift, mywhoosh, tp virtual, rouvy

motivation: test the effectiveness of your training, competition, something different, all sorts of things

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Your bike is fine… If you can win races you likely can win them on your bike :slight_smile: I am not a real racer so probably the wrong person to respond but I like to set goals to keep me consistent. I am gravel rider and the goal is aways just to finish.

There is different mindsets to training and training indoors. For many people it is to keep them consistent through the winter, so they go with what inspires them to keep consistent. For some (most) that is virtual rides that is usually more enjoyable while not doing structured workouts and Zwift is arguably the best platform at least for being with other humans. For others they are motivated by training very specifically as part of a plan. The plan can help you from going the wrong direction but consistency and not over doing it is most important. Some people have really hard winters and then are burned out by spring time and others do fine with hard winters. Many people that come to TrainerDay realize they want to train smarter not harder. But some here love to train very hard as well.

So if you really like competive racing then Zwift races can push you and give you the most opportunity, but probably 1 race a week or 2 is smartest and then complimenting that with some easy rides. But riding indoor or outdoor is all about finding your pleasures and interests. Some people struggle not racing in Zwift every ride. If you like video games that’s the best as well. If you like riding around then Rouvy is likely the best. There is a lot of choices obviously.

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I don’t race, but I think If you’re going to race I think the main objective needs to be that you find it fun.

I think your bike should be fine.

Dave

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Some say racing can be all kinds of fun

Type 1 - fun during the race
Type 2 - not fun during the race, but fun when looking back on it
Type 3 - not fun, but it makes a good story that is fun to recount

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Yes, I guess almost all races include some level of suffering, so it’s only about what kind of suffering is fun for you and is it fun or is it only in hindsight that it’s fun?

It’s probably not really a race if it doesn’t include suffering. So the desire/purposr for many might be to induce the perfect kind or the perfect amount of suffering that we like or can tolerate.

I prefer duration suffering, and others would prefer competitive or intensity suffering. And some combination of all…

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Hi Pawdey,

What a fun, but fundamental question.

I race for fun, to break my pr’s, to compete, and to compare myself with others. Although I achieved top 5 finishes on a national level in different sports, I never had the drive to improve myself and be a pro. I lack the attitude and the focus. There is so much more to discover. For me, it is about the fun. I will do everything within the rules to win, but when I lose, I really don’t mind as long as I did everything to win.

I disagree with Alex. For road racing, you should have disc brakes. Rim brakes are too slow and will get you into trouble. Especially on shorter one or two-hour races. The pace will be so much higher.

If you are serious about racing on the road, my advice would be to join a club and do group training on a circuit. You need to get experienced in riding at high speeds in a group.

The reason I never did any road races is that I love my bike and my body, and I don’t want to crash. Be aware that at the amateur level, there are a lot of people who aren’t that good at steering and/ or losing.

That’s why I race gravel, tt, and mtb but not on the road. I would like to do a gran fondo as a race, but I’m not really a climber. But the shorter races are tough, competitive, and risky.

I do the Zwift races as well. They are fun and without risk.

Although the majority of people may want to train smarter at TrainerDay, it is a great program to train harder as well.

Let me know what your plans are, what type of rider you are, and what country you are from. That can make a huge difference in the kind of race you could be riding.

Have fun, Coach Robert

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I am not an expert in racing at all but I like disc brakes and they might be safer I am pretty sure they are not going to be what keep him from winning. GCN says they are back in fashion on highend fast bikes (obviously good ones).

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I road raced for 10+ years at amateur level from cat 4 and mostly cat 1/2 in my country. The main motivation for me was adventure, competition, friendship and shared experience with fellow club riders. I ended up racing pretty much every race in my country and visited counties I would otherwise have never seen.

From the volume of races when I was a proper race junkie :slight_smile: there were relatively few crashes and none that were serious. All racing including this year at cat 2 were on a rim brake bike, never had any issues. Admittedly discs are better but not essential imo.

These days I train for big euro gran fondo’s like the Marmotte, Maratona and just feeling strong riding in the mountains.

Starting out your bike is adequate and like the guys say join a club as you will glean alot of information from them and learn skills riding fast / close in groups.

If you are young, don’t rush it or get disappointed because you are not a world beater. The bike for me has been a great journey and I still have lots of ambitions to ride certain mountains or locations.

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