From weekend warrior to racer...

Intro:
OK, so following a few years of doing sportives/charity cycles and club rides, i think i need to take the plunge and go racing at some point this year, most likely in my local county league races from June-September.

First a bit of background about me:
So to start of with, age is on my side (i hope anyway ) as i am only in my mid-twenties, so hopefully i can adapt to the stresses and strains of competitive cycling fairly quickly. I have always played sport during my life and played Gaelic football, soccer and basketball during my teenage years and still continue to play Gaelic to a fairly high standard at club level. I also competed in athletics to a decent level during my teens where i specialized in sprint events (100m, 200m and hurdles). I took up cycling 2 years ago and have done the Ring of Kerry a few times, a few of the An Post series and loads of smaller local events (charity/fundraiser cycles etc). I done 3500 miles last year and have 400 done this year (would have been more except i was sick for a few weeks in January).

Also, I have been having a pretty tough time of it lately too, so i really feel that the bike could be a very welcome distraction for me to take my mind off things.

Some observations:
As mentioned, I still play Gaelic and will continue to do so for the forseeable future at least. This has created a few problems for me when trying to train for cycling. Firstly, Gaelic training takes up 3/4 nights of the week which in turn limits my cycling time which is a big problem. Looking forward to the clocks changing at the end of march as this will give me a bit more time to go cycling. Next, i feel that the training i am doing for Gaelic is the opposite of the training i need to be doing if i am going racing. In Gaelic, during a match it is all about short sharp bursts of speed followed by recovery periods. Whereas from what i can see, cycling is all about speed endurance and fatigue resistance over prolonged periods. Would love to hear from anyone else who has combined cycling training simultaneously with another sport.

What type of rider am I?
Do any of us really know the answer to this question? Well i am relatively light (69 kg and just under 5'11 tall) and on club rides i am always in the first 4/5 over climbs (most of the time anyway). The guys who are 1st/2nd race already. I really enjoy short sharp hills (e.g. ramps of 10-15% for ~500m) in particular. I think this may be partly due to my sprinting background as i feel short sharp hills suit the type of explosive power that i have developed from my time as a sprinter and from Gaelic training. I am grand on the flat too although i don't have a diesel engine like some fellas who seem like they could keep going forever. I have developed decent group riding skills too as i have been cycling with a club for the past 12 months.

Where i really struggle, is with endurance. I always feel good and strong until ~45/50 miles into a spin and then i seem to slow down drastically as the legs begin to seize up. I am going to have to do a lot of endurance work before my first race evidently. Also, i think my nutrition on the bike could be influencing me here.

Aims:
For my first season, i want to be realistic. Having watched a few of the county league races last year, there are approx 30-40 A4s in each race. I know it is highly probable that i will be dropped during my first few races but my ambition is to get a top 10 placing by September. Maybe a bit ambitious for a total noob at racing but better to aim high i guess.

Also, just being able to prove to myself that i can do it is a big motivator too.

Where to start:
For the next few weeks i am going to try and build at least 2 endurance spins (>4 hours) into my weekly schedule. I also have a turbo so hope to make use of that too, gradually bringing in some interval work.

I will try to update this every week or so and i would love to hear any advice for a guy going into his first season of racing.

So onwards and upwards from here i guess! :cool: