Stage race with your Cannondale

[IdahoBrett]

Has anyone done racing with a Cannondale?

The idea has crossed my mind. I know very little. I’ve learned about categories, ie. Cat 1,2,3,4,5. Also the general idea that the lowest elapsed time of the combined stages wins.

There is an event 10 weeks away that is about 2 hours from my place of residence. There is a Cat 5 50+ category. It’s a 4 stage event. Two distance rides, a time trial and a criterium.

Baker City Cycling Classic

I’ve never done a group ride. My weekly mileage for last week was 40 miles (64 km). My newest, best bike is a 2004 R500.

Even if I could ramp up training enough in time to be able to finish. And if I joined a local group ride to learn those skills. Would I be able to withstand the ridicule and sideways looks for showing up with a 20 year old bike? Could a 20 year old Cannondale do it?

I’m ignorant about the topic and would like to know more.

This is likely a mental exercise in futility. In a galaxy far, far away. A long, long time ago. I was a competitive distance runner. Those days are long past, but the knowledge of how to train is there somewhere in my grey matter.

I’d like to try it, maybe later this year or next…..

 

[black lightning 1987]

I raced my first SR600 a few times but never in a point to point stage race. Pretty much only circuit races and crits around here. I'd recommend riding with a group with some racing experience before showing up at a race. You might be surprised at the pace. I know I was even after riding with a group of 6 or so racers for a month or two. I wouldn't worry too much about the bike being up to the task, performance is probably over 95% dependent on the ability of the rider. You will need to develop the skills needed to ride in a pack. There are lots of dos and don'ts. Bike racers are often, let's just say, not the friendliest folks you will come across.

 

[IdahoBrett]

I watched a couple videos made during the Baker city race. Their average pace on the flats is my finish line speed in front of my house. And their speed on a big descent without technical corners approaches 60 mph (97 kph). I'm likely 12 months plus away from being that competent.

 

[letsbike]

My counsel is DON'T DO IT! I tried my hand at racing when I was in my 20's. There is a high level of bike handling skills involved. Overlapping wheels, tangled handlebars. There are all kinds of ways for you and your bike to never be the same. I remember thinking to myself that this is what it must feel like to be in a battle. One moment someone is next to you, the next they're on the ground in a pool of red. Broken bones were commonplace.
I also competed in a few time trials, and might suggest looking to see if that is a possibility in your area. You are still are racing, just against the clock, and of course the people on the road in front of you. Best of all it is very rare to crash.

 

[kjop]

from zero to hero^^

without years, when not decades of permanent training you'll be dropped from the bunch right after the first corner... like a stone thrown into the river

here in germany you can survive an amateur road race with such an old roadbike from 2004. but even there you need years of training to finish with the bunch. don't underestimate, that a whole lot of these guys that you want to race against are riding and train since their youth

you can try that, but straight said... it probably ends not as you would have thought before.

but all over europe you can find commercially organized races, like 'ötztaler marathon' and others, where for most of the riders is not important to win the race... it's more about to finish, to race against your time and to push yourself to the limit. to have a good, for you fitting experience. maybe you have some similar events nearby to you, where the fun to finish is the goal.

 

[letsbike]

That was my experience as well. There is another type of race that doesn't involve a category license. It is called a citizen race, and that is what I competed in. Riders left in groups based on their age. I would quickly be off the back trying to keep up, shortly thereafter I would be caught by the next group, that is where I saw most of the carnage happening.

I think what kjop is describing would be called a patch ride in the United States. In the past you would get a patch when you finished the ride. Unfortunately those patches went by the wayside awhile back. Many of these rides are a once a year fund raiser for bicycle clubs. There are all kinds of people riding those rides, and of course there are those looking to treat it as a race to the finish. That is a way of getting your fix of racing if you wish. Also, these rides center around distance. Metric centuries (62 miles) and Full centuries (100 miles) are common. Every new rider needs to notch one of these for their belt.

 

[letsbike]

If anyone was interested in putting together a Vintage Cannondale team for a future year of Ragbrai, I'd be all for it. It would be a way of meeting and riding with fellow enthusiasts. Maybe some European friends could make the trek as well?

 

[IdahoBrett]

If anyone was interested in putting together a Vintage Cannondale team for a future year of Ragbrai, I'd be all for it. It would be a way of meeting and riding with fellow enthusiasts. Maybe some European friends could make the trek as well?

Quick math says 435 miles (700 km) in 7 days. Now that would be epic!

 

[letsbike]

Mull it over everybody. Looking at July 2025.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I had never heard of a patch ride before. Good point about racers doing centuries as a fast training ride.
A safer option for competitive riding would be time trials. One of my local bike shops stages a weekly 10 mile/16 km time trial on public roads. Riders are sent off at one minute intervals and timed to the finish. Anyone is welcome. When I first did the ride there was a couple in their 70s who were there most weeks. It's been a while since I did it but it's been ongoing from April to September for at least 15 years.

 

[IdahoBrett]

I thought about it some more. The reason the idea of racing has crept into my thinking is due to my past. For 20+ years I ran. Not once was it for general fitness or weight loss. I always “trained” for racing.

So now that my skill and fitness level are better than 6 months ago I’m thinking of a goal. I know “what” bike racing is. But haven’t a clue how to execute.

So this mental exercise may or may not turn into futility.

 

[letsbike]

You only live once.

 

[kjop]

that's for sure an advantage. so you know at some point how to treat your body and probably the borders of your fitness. and how to unleash and control the 'beast'^^

racing is not only fitness. it is as letsbike also said before a potpoury of all... bikehandling skills, fitness, mindset... to understand the physilogical process inside your body at different efforts. to know, 'how much is left in the tank'. to ride with the bunch, to 'read' the race and interaction... how to give pain to the others. how to hide and just swim with them to save as much energy as possible til the final effort.

you can sprint 60km/h. good but could you do that in a 20 seconds lasting all out sprint after 2 hours more or less intensive preload? when you did already 50 rounds in a criterium with multiple attacks? or can you ride by yourself an attack and can you hold the effort for 20minutes to get away from the bunch, maybe with a smaller group? it's not just a bunch ride

but i don't want to say: no, don't do it! just, that it's even at amateur level not as easy as it looks from outside. if you think you're able to compete, go for it. and let us know about your experience. i'd be interested how you survived. the bike performance is maybe only a gain, if you want to hit the line first.

 

[roKWiz]

Still riding the same Super V I raced some 25 years ago both cross country mountain and time trials.
Time trials is a better class of racing you not likely to get seriously injured doing.
In different area of the country the Australian Time Trial Association held events based on distances of 25km, 40km and 100km (you can work out the miles)
Mountain bike racing can be down right dangerous in Oz, bloody snakes, spiders and heat are some of the challengers.
At lest we don't have bears running after us.

 

[letsbike]

They're just waiting for the right opportunity.

 

[letsbike]

Look what tomorrow is!
You just never know where these threads will lead. Good job Brett.

 

[roKWiz]

They're just waiting for the right opportunity.

Well, apart form dropbears.

 

[letsbike]

Still riding the same Super V I raced some 25 years ago both cross country mountain and time trials.
Time trials is a better class of racing you not likely to get seriously injured doing.
In different area of the country the Australian Time Trial Association held events based on distances of 25km, 40km and 100km (you can work out the miles)
Mountain bike racing can be down right dangerous in Oz, bloody snakes, spiders and heat are some of the challengers.
At lest we don't have bears running after us.

They call my part of the world OZ too.