Running Races vs. Cycling Races

As I become more and more immersed in the local cycling scene, I'm realizing there's a huge difference between the way cycling race directors run their shows compared to how running races do it.

Here's an example, the Boston Marathon sold out this year in 8 hours. 8 hours! And the race isn't until April. And you have to qualify to get in, meaning only roughly 10% of the .1% of the population that runs (and finishes!) a marathon are even eligible to register! (I pulled the 10% number out of the air. I have no idea how many people actually qualify for Boston, but it's not a lot.)

Another example: The Ogden Marathon, a small-town-Utah marathon that I ran back in 2008, is sold out for 2011. The race is May 21, 2011. That's just under 7 months away. 7 months!

Another good example is the St. George Marathon. You enter a lottery in April that is decided the first week of May for a marathon that's run in October, 5 months later.

Bike racing? The first race I'm planning on for next year is the Bear Lake Classic road race, which should take place on May 14. I say "should take place" because so far, their website only acknowledges the 2010 race, which took place in mid-May. I have no idea when it will update the information for 2011, or when registration even opens. I will need to keep my eye on it as the date approaches.

And did I mention that the governing body for bike racing, USA Cycling, requires you to have a license to register that is good for a calendar year at a time and costs $65. If you don't have this, you have to buy a "one-day" license at your race for $10, and your results aren't tracked over the course of the year as they would be if you were a "licensed" racer. Contrast this to the governing body of running races, USATF (USA Track and Field), which sets down some rules but lets just about anyone anywhere run in anything they want to.

I don't get it. I just don't get it.

This looks insane

.... but I kind of want to do it someday. A new item for the bucket list, maybe?

http://www.peakraces.com/deathrace/results/race-report/

I love racing

This week I completed my second go at the D Flite at Rocky Mountain Raceway's criterium. I went into it with the goal of staying with the lead group and not getting stuck out in the wind. I'm happy to say I accomplished both. I was able to stay with the leaders every time there was a selection, which really wasn't much. I think I finished around 11th or 12th out of 20 or so, so we never did drop that many. I made a really sweet move on the back side of the last lap, going from the back of the pack with maybe one person behind me up to 3rd wheel coming around the last turn. The pace picked up and I stayed with the wheel in front of me... only to discover that he wasn't moving fast enough as the bunch swarmed around us. I don't know if there was a gap between where I finished and where the winner was, but I don't think there was.

These last two races have been so fun for me. I just love riding with a group, but even moreso in a race. I love the dance as everyone jockeys for position, the way the group ebbs and flows as it goes around corners and the order gets reshuffled. I love the subtle moves and differences in pace that it takes to move up from the back of the pack to near the front, and yet staying out of the wind the whole time. I love the challenge of not getting dropped as I take the slightly wrong line out of a turn, the 5 second sprint to get back on the wheel in front of me. I love the education I get as I realize what a sprint is like and know that I'm not ready for one. Yet I love that I'm able to hang with the guys that have been racing all season when I've just started.

Sigh. I love racing.

My weekday rides usually consist of a lunchtime jaunt up City Creek Canyon. The canyon is open to cyclists on odd-numbered days between Memorial Day and October 1st. The rest of the year you can ride it everyday if you so choose. It's a gorgeous place to ride, and just enough of a climb to keep your legs remembering what it feels like to work a little.

My boss and his wife often ride the canyon at lunchtime as well, so I like to give them a head start and I see if I can catch them before the usual turnaround point at the water treatment facility. Most times I'm able to if I give my boss about a 10 minute head start. Today they got a little bit more of a head start because I had left my sunglasses on my desk, and had to head back up to my office in all my spandex glory to retrieve them. Long story short, I caught them both just before the turnaround point, and managed to PR the climb from my office by 5 seconds.

I'm sure I'll write more about City Creek in the future... It's a favorite ride of mine and about the only one I'll do at lunchtime.

Rocky Mtn Raceway Crit - race report

Well a Tuesday night finally opened up and I was able to go race the Rocky Mountain Raceway Criterium series. Unfortunately, this late in the season they're not assigning any numbers, so I didn't get to get an official result, and it seemed that there was some confusion as to the finishing order, but I'm pretty sure I know where I finished. More on that in a second.

I loaded up the bikes (Yes, bikes -- all 3 kids had to bring their bikes too) on the rack and got to the raceway as the A's and B's were still cruising at breakneck speed. I signed in with a buddy of mine that I talked into doing the race just this morning. I was able to take a couple of warm up sprints up and down the straightaway (which is about 1/2 mile long). It wasn't the warm up that I wanted, but it would have to do, as soon they were calling the C and D flites to the line.

I lined up on the outside in the second row. I didn't get a good count, but I'm estimating there were 18 or so in our flite. As soon as the start was given, the guy I was behind went to the front and I found myself in second position going a lot slower than I anticipated the first lap would be. I had conveniently forgotten my speedometer, so I have no idea how fast we were actually going, but it wasn't very fast at all and I had to resist the temptation to go to the front and pick things up. We were riding 2 across for the entire first lap at a leisurely pace. As we hit the first corner in the second lap, one guy decided to give it a go on the inside and the group accelerated, not giving him any room. I went from 2nd to 4th wheel as we merged to single file.

The wind was out of the south, but I didn't really notice it as I was staying in the pack pretty well most of the time. I stayed near the front in 2nd, 3rd, or 4th position for a couple of laps as the pace increased each time as someone else from the back half would give it a go on the first corner. That was right where I wanted to be. At one point I took the first corner too tightly and found myself on the front of the pack, pulling for about half a lap (about 75 seconds). That was completely and totally unintentional, but alas, there I was. I figured I'd make this an easy lap for the group and kind of soft pedaled, but the group was happy to just sit on, so I led. Just before the final turn I peeled off and jumped on the back of the lead group, now in 8th or so. As we roared down the straightaway, the pace really started to pick up, and when we hit turn 1 again, the group split for good, losing about half the riders off the back, including my one and only "teammate" buddy. I stayed with the lead group for another lap or two, when I got caught taking the first corner too wide putting myself into the headwind, and the 8 riders I was with took off, never to be caught again.


So there I was, out in the wind, all alone, where I would remain for the rest of the race. 2 laps later I heard the "Two laps to go" announcement made just for me, as there was no one in front or behind me. I watched the lead group enter turn 1 about 15 seconds ahead and counted 9 riders, so I knew I was in 10th. With a lap and a half to go, I passed two ladies, one that had fallen from the lead group, and one that I had passed before but she had caught on to the back of C flite and made up some ground (big no no). When C flite went by me, I asked to make sure I wasn't getting lapped and saw her on the back, at that point she knew she was caught and dropped off and let them go. I stayed ahead of those two gals and finished in what I am pretty sure was 9th place, all alone, lapping two guys who had blown off the back of the back group just before the line.


All in all, it was extremely fun, very challenging, and somewhat painful. I can't wait to do it again!

Catching up, and what's new

So much to say...

If you've been following my twitter feeds or looking at my workout log, you'll know that I'm not running AT ALL (just about) these days. I've kind of become hooked on cycling. Case in point: So far this year I've biked almost 1600 miles and run a total of 207. In July alone, I biked 331.4 and ran 27.9 miles. And I'm getting faster as well. Now, I want to try my hand at cat 5 racing, just for kicks, to see what I can do.

In July, my family and I took a day to go to Bear Lake, where my in-laws were camping. I took my bike and rode the 50+ miles around the lake. I knew there was a half ironman that had this for its bike leg, but I soon learned that there's also a road race that goes along this same route. Well, I looked up the results of this year's race, and as it turns out, had my ride occurred during this race, I wouldn't have finished last. Mind you, I was going it solo, where in a race I would have had a group to draft off and pace from, etc., so I would have been significantly faster over the 50 mile loop. I think I could reasonably have finished in the first or second group of cat 5 racers.

As you may know, when I rode my century ride back in May, I was a little nonplussed at the thought that there was no clock or reason to do your best. It was just a ride with supported rest stops. I suppose there's a place for that in the realm of cycling, but having come from running marathons, I'm used to having that objective standard with which to measure myself against. I know I'm not going to win any marathons, but if there wasn't a clock and at least a semblance of competition, they'd be just another long run, and really, what's the fun in that? (Okay, long runs can be fun, but that's not the point here. You don't pay $60 or $70 or $100 to go for a long run...)

So anyway, I've been looking for bike races that would fit my schedule. I fully intend to do the Bear Lake Classic next year, but that's so far away. I really needed a fall race to focus on.

Enter the Rocky Mountain Raceway Criterium Series. For $10, anyone who wants to give bike racing a try can go down and race around a 1.3 mile circuit for half an hour + 3 laps. Last Tuesday (August 3) I went and watched the tail end of the Cat 1/2 race and the Cat 3 race (known in the crit series as "A Flite" and "B Flite"). After that there was the Cat 4/5 ("C Flite") race and the beginners ("D Flite") race. Watching the D Flite gave me a lot of confidence, thinking that I could keep up with those guys. It's hard to tell from a spectator's point of view, but it didn't seem as if anyone from D Flite really attacked at all until the final sprint. I don't know if there were any unsuccessful breakaway attempts prior to that, as I could only see about 1/3 of the course, but it looked like everyone was content to stick together and sprint it out.

In any case, I'm going to give the RMR Crit "D Flite" race a try, probably next Tuesday, the 17th (providing I'm in town), and I will gleefully report on it when I'm done. And then there's a race in September that I'd also like to do... more on that later (probably).

A potential goal race AND a final call

So I have had all but 0 interest in the jersey/fund raising idea. To proceed with this, I need at least 25 confirmed jersey buyers or it's just not worth it. I know this isn't THAT popular of a blog, but please, if you know anyone who is or has been affected by cancer, please get one of these jerseys. You'll get a great jersey at a great price, and you'll be helping a great cause.

Okay, done begging. For money. Sort of.


The second thing that I'm going to beg for (haha!) is teammates. I'm looking for 4 people to run the Dirty Dash with me on September 25th. It's only a 10k run, and it's not your usual 10k run. Check it out. It's $35. I have one "verbal" commitment, but I'll need 3 more before I can register the team. Let me know via a comment on this post if you're interested. Could be (should be!) tons of fun!