Competitive Cycling - Fast is Fun, and we have the most fun

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > The Great Outdoors > Competitive Cycling - Fast is Fun, and we have the most fun

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

Cool thread! I'm a 95% park DH rider that did a lot of DH/Dual Slalom racing growing up but fell out of it for years before returning to riding in my mid-20s. I was never great, haven't won anything and only had sponsorships from a shop I worked at when I was racing.

I'm now at the point where I feel comfortable competing again, signed up for the first race this year actually but it was obviously cancelled with everything else. I had tried an enduro a couple years ago but I couldn't manage the climbs between stages.

My 2021 goals are to hit at least one BC Cup DH race (I'm lower mainland based), maybe some local Canada cup DH races, and whatever little local races happen at Whistler, which is primarily where I ride. Hope to have lots of photos etc for the thread in the spring/summer when it all kicks off!

I floated the idea of making some Goon Factory Racing decals in various sizes/colorways/configurations last year. Would anyone be interested?

# ¿ Oct 15, 2020 07:49

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 02:05

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

Development posted:

post pics!

I have a design at home, I'll throw up a screenshot tomorrow when I'm back.

bicievino posted:

Sweet!
Out of curiosity, how does DH racing work in terms of... what's a race day like? Are you on trails you know so it's kinda just show up, do a few runs, compare times? Is it initial times and then finals like a worldcup?
What's the vibe like?

So it's similar to UCI (sometimes is UCI). Friday and Saturday morning practice, qually saturday, race Sunday. Generally no practice sessions between qually and race.

It's divided into groups, so you might have like Jr Elite and Pro Men in group A, U18 men and Women Elite in group B, etc. They stagger the practices so people with wildly different pace aren't running over each other. On race day you line up for your run, get the beep boops and go (love a good beep boop, once you hear it start you have 5 seconds to go at any time), they stagger the riders usually 30 or 45s apart. As a junior I once had to wait on the start platform in the unexpected snow as they medevac'd the guy before me who had a huge crash. I think that was on Vancouver Island or something.

In areas without a chairlift they have trucks to shuttle riders up for practice. At the level of racing I was doing there was never timed practice but you kinda knew how you were doing based on the other riders on the track.

For Dual Slalom they used to have similar practice and timed qually, but for the race they took the qually times and basically folded it in half so that the top qually rider would be vs the bottom. This made more sense in the middle of the pack but got kinda dumb outside that. I once had a crash in qually and had to go against Thomas Vanderham in my first race heat. I can't really remember but I think it went to loser's bracket kinda stuff like a double elimination.

Oh yeah, timing is usually done by laser. In the enduro race that I tried to do you had an NFC token on your wrist that you had to quickly tag on the transponder at the bottom of the stage.

# ¿ Oct 16, 2020 05:52

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

bicievino posted:

Have always said I'm not a pursuiter, but we'll see what happens.

That's not what you were telling me, didn't you just spend like $2k and have it custom tailored to you and everything?

e: ohhh pursuiter, sorry

# ¿ Sep 15, 2021 16:49

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

jamal posted:

Two more cyclocrosses, this time at the golf course.

Not sure what my problem has been this season, could be spending hours setting up the courses before the race or maybe I'm just a little slow right now. I felt like I was doing a good job at workouts leading up to the season but now I'm questioning that, feeling like I should have done more and gone harder. I've even been getting good starts, yesterday I was right behind Howard into the first turn and then 4th wheel in the spiral of death. Then I made some mistakes, just like last week.

I made this super nasty off camber around a corner on rough grass, and had practiced the high line because it was shorter and you didn't drop down. But thought I'd probably run it on lap one. Then everyone in front of me went low, so I stayed on my bike, and slid out.Then I got hung up coming out of the back sandtrap and lost the wheels just in time for a headwind section on cart path.

This week I made the off camber go the other direction, came into it in the same situation, and did the exact same thing. Then slid out again on another tricky corner and there went everyone I wanted to be racing with again. I felt better at least during the whole race but it's hard to stay motivated when you're by yourself.

Next week is the big race at the brewery, with wed night being on the same course. So I'll be out there working all week, but hopefully will be able to relax a bit on friday and saturday and try to put together a better race. I'm doing a big mtb ride tonight, then will get in one more workout this weekend, and that will have to be enough. I'll also finally swap to the tubs. The brewery course also has grass but a baby limus should be a fairly appropriate tire for the big hillside and chewed up wet grass in the back yard. Sort of questioning that investment into a set of wheels and tires I'm going to use a handful of times a year...

Then we've got a hill climb the weekend after so I can find out if I'm actually slow right now or just am tired and riding bad.

This sounds more like in-race mental state and less about anything you did preparing. I'm definitely not an accomplished racer but I remember things like this happening a lot when I was racing DH, I'd practice a line every session and in my qually run I'd do it, but then in my race run I'd be almost too frantic and I'd be offline and then would be forcing lines that I never practiced, make mistakes and lose time everywhere. Do you think you're doing that kind of thing?

# ¿ Oct 15, 2021 01:54

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

jamal posted:

A picture of me

Is it a rule in CX that you have to get off your bike for stuff? Those seem like it'd be faster to lift your front wheel onto them and just hop your back wheel on as you go over. I know there's stuff like the stairs where you can't do that.

# ¿ Oct 21, 2021 05:52

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

Oh yeah fair enough that does look uphill now that I take another gander at it.

# ¿ Oct 21, 2021 05:56

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

I know what you linked and I'm not going to click it :colbert:

You need long platforms on the stairs to hop like that quickly!

# ¿ Oct 24, 2021 10:19

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

jamal posted:

Crit #2 today. I showed up at around 730 to setup the course, moved all the cones in position, set up the road closed signs, put up a bit of tape, got out a broom and swept off little bits of stray gravel. Didn't need to coach the clinic and then course marshalled the first two races. And ate a couple scones and a pb sandwich. I kind of forgot to eat last week. Women's race ended and I had just enough time to use the bathroom and change and go to the start line.

It was fast right from the start and I made sure to stay a little closer to the front and found myself doing a lot of work, pulling, chasing the potential break when some fast guys got a little gap, then things eased up a bit. I pulled through on the finish hill and found myself alone. OK guess I'm out here now. 6 to go? 5, 4, 3. Gap still pretty solid. Am I going to make it? 2 to go, oh poo poo they're getting closer. 1 to go, I still have a gap but they're right there. It widens a bit through turns 2 and 3. I make it to the last turn. Start sprinting up the hill. Top 3 from last week get past me in the last 50m. So close but so far.

there's even video of me losing

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb6c6ZQL76g/

Oh no! Looked really course on the video. How fast were you going at the end there?

# ¿ Apr 4, 2022 07:31

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

MrL_JaKiri posted:

Minor recovery setback: the small fall I had in Feb caused some more longer lasting damage to the deep layers of skin by my hip, and a little reservoir of blood formed and this week it got infected. Swelled up like a balloon in like 30 minutes, really impressive. Got put on IV antibiotics and now I've got 3 kinds of antibiotic tablets to take for a week and should make a full recovery rather than, uh, nasty things happening. At first I thought it was bursitis or something which would have kept me out for ages, so hurray I guess?

Picture after a couple of days of the IV stuff:

(Edited areas because a) hospital wristband with basically all of my personal info and b) this underwear leaves little to the imagination and this isn't that kind of thread, but feel free to enjoy my tan lines)

Ouch. I had a similar thing happen after a fall directly on my right hip while riding Whistler, had a couple inches of swelling the rest of the summer and super painful TI band. Glad they didn't have to go in and drain that for you.

# ¿ May 27, 2022 16:35

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

Literally Lewis Hamilton posted:

BIKE RACING IS BACK (for me)

The MTB group decided to make a gravel race this year as the opener. 50 miles, 6k ft. Mostly gravel with some pavement and singletrack mixed in. Part of the course is on private property so you can�t pre-ride those sections, and they�re of course the worst parts. I also rolled the dice on racing with new Terra Speeds with 0 experience riding on them but they turned out alright.

March in the Midwest means weather can be whatever and today it delivered with 26f, snow, and 15mph+ winds. Probably a layer too heavy but at least I was able to vent my vest on the climbs.

There�s a climb right after the neutral rollout ends and I was feeling pretty good so I went to the front and rode a decent pace. Not sure if the group thought it was doomed but wound up with only 1 other guy, and another bridged up a little bit later. The 3 of us rode for the first 30 miles together, 2 of us on gravel and the other on a hardtail. The first mtb section was definitely my weakest spot, the 40c Terra Speeds did alright but it was pretty rocky and was all on the downhill. I was able to close up the gap after the mtb sections but didn�t want to give them a wheel to draft on the gravel and then lose time and have to catch after some more singletrack.

Around 20 miles to go there�s a pretty good climb so I put in an attack and managed to get clear. I knew we had one more singletrack section but I wasn�t sure how long, how technical it would be, or if it was uphill or down so I wanted to have a little time to play with, and be in front in case I got caught. It turned out to be relatively short and the easiest of all so I don�t think I shipped too much time, but I stayed on the gas. Kept looking over my shoulder expecting to see someone or a group barreling down on me but it never came and eventually started to feel like it might stick when I hit the final 3 miles which is pavement. Rolled in around 3h17m and the next guys at 3h29m and 3h31m. Felt pretty good afterward so think I got my fueling dialed. As a sweaty mess I started getting absolutely frozen a few minutes after ending. Definitely could have used some sort of indoor changing situation rather than me stripping down under a towel.

Next up is another gravel race tomorrow. Legs feel ok now but who knows how they�ll feel when I line up.

Bike racing is good as hell y�all.

Was this the kind of thing that you could ride on a gravel bike? Good work, sounds exhausting!

# ¿ Mar 18, 2023 23:41

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

It's really not about the results at all, you're going to love it!

# ¿ Aug 18, 2023 09:56

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

They let you guys rip up a golf course?

# ¿ Oct 9, 2023 04:26

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 02:05

VelociBacon: Dec 8, 2009

dema posted:

I raced pretty seriously from 2009 to 2015. Between burnout, major health issues, and other hobbies, I stopped riding regularly until early 2022.

2022 got some good miles in. Lost 40 lbs over the course of the year. Finished three gravel races. First two went poorly and I was discouraged. Third one, SBT GRVL, didn't have as much elevation and I'd lost a bunch of weight by that time. Had such a good time.

2023 decided to get a bit more serious. Did a spring TT series, retro class. Four gravel races. And nine crits. Got some good results, including a podium.

And more importantly, had an amazing times with some awesome people.

Looking forward to 2024.

You're looking strong, good work! Never did podium myself and now I'm in masters age group with all the pros I used to worship.

# ¿ Dec 4, 2023 01:14

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > The Great Outdoors > Competitive Cycling - Fast is Fun, and we have the most fun