Author Topic: More "Green" exposure in Iowa :-) (Read 8342 times)

Mario · « **on:** October 11, 2010, 01:06:41 PM »

He,eh, read the blog: http://teamfun.blogspot.com/ It was jsutr last weekend. 60 miles on the gravel-uffdaa!!

Plantains · « **Reply #1 on:** October 11, 2010, 03:18:41 PM »

LOLOMG Mario ur so stupid I love it.

HILARIOUS!

Mario · « **Reply #2 on:** October 11, 2010, 03:44:57 PM »

Quote from: Plantains on October 11, 2010, 03:18:41 PM

LOLOMG Mario ur so stupid I love it.

HILARIOUS!

What do you mean stupid??

Plantains · « **Reply #3 on:** October 11, 2010, 06:24:20 PM »

lol... coz you wrote u had to go get ur car lol. Also, upgrade out of cat 4. Just learn in Cat 3. It will be a better experience for you.

Mario · « **Reply #4 on:** October 12, 2010, 08:57:58 AM »

Well, the reason for this note was that according to the rules, the winer had to wait till the last rider arrives in order to claim the prize. At the time I wrote the note I was already waiting for an hour...

Sal Atticum · « **Reply #5 on:** October 12, 2010, 09:17:12 AM »

Quote from: Mario on October 12, 2010, 08:57:58 AM

Well, the reason for this note was that according to the rules, the winer had to wait till the last rider arrives in order to claim the prize. At the time I wrote the note I was already waiting for an hour...

Poor Mario...wins a race and nobody's around to congratulate him

.

Plantains · « **Reply #6 on:** October 12, 2010, 05:21:38 PM »

Quote from: Mario on October 12, 2010, 08:57:58 AM

Well, the reason for this note was that according to the rules, the winer had to wait till the last rider arrives in order to claim the prize. At the time I wrote the note I was already waiting for an hour...

Exactly.

1. Grow a beard.
2. Upgrade out of Cat 4 or I'm going to start calling you a sandbagger.
3. Nice work.

Mario · « **Reply #7 on:** October 18, 2010, 11:51:32 AM »

Well, since the ceross season is bluming on the baord and peolple are more and more interested in it, I decided to continuew this topic. past weekend Tiff and I went to another local CCR and dmoinated it! Tiff took 2nd in here race, simply becasue she started at teh very end of the gruo (rookie). I took seciond in the first race (Cat 4), caouse I crashed three times (

) and also started in the middle of the pack. Half an hour later I entered the Cat3/4 race and this time showed them what UNDCT is made of: I won the race! We god some cool prizes including a set of CC tires ( Kenda Komando), $25 gift to a local Italian restaurante, and $40 in cash. i will try to post some more pics later. We celebrated that with Tiff by eating pumpkin pie dounuts, drinking decaff coffe and wine while watching the move at night. I also got invited onto a local team: Iowa City Cycling Club- Mercie Specialized Team. If all goes well, in the spring I will join their elite team, get my Specialized Tarmac S-works frame for free and pro deals on components. Lets hope they will not change their mind :-) . Anyways, keep on riding! It's fun!

Plantains · « **Reply #8 on:** October 18, 2010, 03:05:08 PM »

Mario. UPGRADE OUT OF CAT 4! You crashed 3 times and still took 2nd. Thats poor form. Upgrade.

Mario · « **Reply #9 on:** October 18, 2010, 03:16:24 PM »

Tha is what my license say right now. I wanted to be cat 2 this season on the road, they wouldn't let me. SO, that beeing said I'm going to finish this season as cat 4 and request upgrade for next season. Please notice that I also race cat 3/open whenever I can. Don't hate me Dave

.

Plantains · « **Reply #10 on:** October 18, 2010, 03:33:42 PM »

Quote from: Mario on October 18, 2010, 03:16:24 PM

Tha is what my license say right now. I wanted to be cat 2 this season on the road, they wouldn't let me. SO, that beeing said I'm going to finish this season as cat 4 and request upgrade for next season. Please notice that I also race cat 3/open whenever I can. Don't hate me Dave .

Yeah, but there are a bunch of cat 4 guys that CAN'T upgrade, because you're winning. I think Cat 3 in cx is perfect for you. You obviously have the muscle, but you need the offroad bike handling skills. You'll probably win out a bunch of races with nice conditions, and you'll have to think a little more when it gets nasty. But cat 3 is for building the skills. I wouldn't upgrade to cat 2 until you're confident on the dirt. (For cx). Personally I don't think you're ready for cat 2 road yet either, but if you're just off the front of the cat 3's then you aren't going to learn shit anyways. Of course, then again... if you're off the back of the cat 2's you won't learn either.

Ps... those aren't insults.

Mario · « **Reply #11 on:** October 18, 2010, 03:50:56 PM »

Yeah, you have good points. But what if I'm at the front of Cat 2 races-do I learn anything? Do be perfectly honest Dave, I do think I am ready for cat 2. As many cat 123 races I did and just cat3 I have to admit that it was way more fun for me to ride with cat 12 than it was with cat3, and sometimes I did better in cat 123 race than in cat 3 race. I'm not sure why but those cat3 guys just ride in a weired fashion. I do learn more riding with cat12, that is why I want to upgrade.

Plantains · « **Reply #12 on:** October 18, 2010, 04:16:09 PM »

Quote from: Mario on October 18, 2010, 03:50:56 PM

Yeah, you have good points. But what if I'm at the front of Cat 2 races-do I learn anything? Do be perfectly honest Dave, I do think I am ready for cat 2. As many cat 123 races I did and just cat3 I have to admit that it was way more fun for me to ride with cat 12 than it was with cat3, and sometimes I did better in cat 123 race than in cat 3 race. I'm not sure why but those cat3 guys just ride in a weired fashion. I do learn more riding with cat12, that is why I want to upgrade.

Yeah... its largely regional as well. The cat 5's are where you learn what bike racing is. You learn the basics about pack riding. Cat 4 is where you learn to get stronger. Cat 3 is where you learn to handle ur bike and racing skills. When you get to cat 2, you need to have the power and the tactics down. All cat 2 is is honing. If you hone properly, you'll bump to 1. If you can do anything in cat 1's, then you'll have decisions to make. Cat 2 is generally the highest level of a recreational cyclist. If you go higher than that, you're into making careers out of it.

IMO at least.

Bedwyr · « **Reply #13 on:** October 18, 2010, 04:17:08 PM »

Mario: Scoops, Jesse, and Camerin were impressed with the victory hoist. Just saying...

Mario · « **Reply #14 on:** October 18, 2010, 04:22:03 PM »

Quote from: Bedwyr on October 18, 2010, 04:17:08 PM

Mario: Scoops, Jesse, and Camerin were impressed with the victory hoist. Just saying...

Thanks!

Mario · « **Reply #15 on:** October 31, 2010, 03:05:55 PM »

Well, exposure not only in Iowa, I guess, because this weekend I raced in Kansas City, MO. It was the hardest cross race so far for me. At some point I thought the race was over for me, and basically accepted the fifth place I was at with ht front of the race pulling away, me wanting to puke and legs screaming NO. But, it is not over till is over, as I proved myself once more. I was patient and consistent with my pace, till I started to swallow one guy in front of me after another. As I saw the opportunity to possibility win it I charged it harder, took first position and pounded for the rest of the race. They were trying, but I was beyond their reach. And I won it. Hard and well deserved victory. Very technical course. Not my strength, but I guess the only way of getting better in it is to do it. Won another set of cross tires :-) Couple more races left for me this cross season, including Iowa State Cross championship and Jinglecorss UCI race weekend over Thanksgiving.

Plantains · « **Reply #16 on:** October 31, 2010, 11:20:10 PM »

Did u upgrade yet? I'm pretty sure you're at an automatic upgrade now?

Mario · « **Reply #17 on:** November 01, 2010, 08:23:02 AM »

NO, I have not upgraded. I will after this season, if they let me.

Bedwyr · « **Reply #18 on:** November 01, 2010, 09:01:17 AM »

<learning opportunity> "Upgrade" means competitive ranking of some kind? </learning opportunity>

Mario · « **Reply #19 on:** November 01, 2010, 12:01:39 PM »

Upgrading is basically moving up in a sense that you are in a different group of riders/racers that are a bit better than the previous crowd you raced with. By better I mean not necessarily strength/endurance wise, but quite often experience wise. So, for the road you have the categories: Cat5, Cat4, Cat3, Cat2, Cat1/Pro, and for cross racing there is not Cat 5, you start as Cat 4. The higher the category (lower in number), the better the riders, the longer the races, the more $$ is there to win, and the more pain the people you race with can inflict on you.

Bedwyr · « **Reply #20 on:** November 01, 2010, 12:30:01 PM »

So Cat5-Cat2 are basically the amateur rankings?

Mario · « **Reply #21 on:** November 01, 2010, 02:12:07 PM »

The way I understand it, yes.

Sal Atticum · « **Reply #22 on:** November 01, 2010, 03:01:58 PM »

"Amateur" to the point that nobody is going to pay you enough to survive to be on their team, but above Cat 5 (or the lowest category) you can win cash prizes. People are pretty serious about it, so the competition is stiff, especially in places with a lot of cyclists. To move up, you need to be getting points over the course of a calendar year, and to get points you need to be winning races (or nearly so).

The larger the field at an event, the more points you can get--but also the more serious people you're likely to race against. You could race in North Dakota (if there were races here), but you would need to win a lot of tiny races to get enough upgrade points--and then if you raced elsewhere after upgrading, you're not necessarily guaranteed to be exactly on par with the rest of the people in your category. Your mileage may vary.

You'll get a little taste of what can happen once we get the 'cross results up later today. Check out the points and start thinking about who you need to beat to win out in the end. This kind of series is a microcosm for how people play the long game of cycling.

Mario · « **Reply #23 on:** November 01, 2010, 04:23:32 PM »

In addition to what Beek said, the higher the catgory you want to upgrade, the more restrictions they put on you. For exmple, to upgrade from cat 3 to cat 2 all your races that you wnat to count need to be at least 50 miles long (for the road race), and I believe 25 miles for crit. Also, the number of riders has to be above 50 in at least couple of the races you want to use as your points.

Plantains · « **Reply #24 on:** November 01, 2010, 08:29:37 PM »

1. Mario, this upgrade wouldn't cost you anything.
2. goto www.usac.org to see what the governing body looks like.

For road:
Cat 5: You learn how to not crash a bicycle in a group. You learn the very basics involved with racing.
Cat 4: You have an understanding of how not to crash your bike. You're learning basic racing tactics and gaining fitness.
Cat 3: You have a good fitness level, and a good understanding of tactics. You need to build experience in utilizing both of these together. This is about racing smarter, not harder.
Cat 2: This is your first wake up call. You either accept the fact that you're an amateur cyclist, and get fast enough and smart enough to hang in a 2 peloton, or you make a decision to look at the pro level. If you decide that you want to "go pro" Cat 2 is essentially the cat 5 of pro cycling.
Cat 1: You're committed wholly to the sport. You're traveling nationally to compete trying to build a RESUME of experience. This will be used to get a pro license. Cat 1 is the cat 4 of Pro cycling.
Pro: You go pro. You race nationally with your team. You are ranked. You're a working cyclist. You get categorized as a "type" (domestique, sprinter, tt, all rounder, GC, etc.) regardless of what you were before. You are contracted. You're racing for (essentially)...

A Continental Pro B (or C) team. You're basically an alternate to their alternate team. You need to work your way up their ranks.
Continental Pro A team. You're competing nationally at the highest (non international level) you are attempting to earn a spot on a professional UCI B (or C) team.
You get "called up" to race with a Professional UCI B team. You're building a resume on the international circuits. You're vying for a shot to race in one of the B tours (tour down under, tour of california, tour suisse, etc.)

Now you get selected to race one of the B tours. You need to impress by winning it or placing VERY high. You do this and move to a UCI B tour A team. You will be racing in classic races. Tour of Flanders, Paris Roubaix, Milan San Remo, Leige Bastogne Leige, etc. You need to win or place VERY high.

Now you move onto the A tours or "Grand Tours". Giro D'Italia, Vuelta D Espana, Tour De France.

You win all 3 and go down as one of the greatest cyclists to ever live. Eddy Merckx, Alberto Contador. Or you win 2: Fausto Coppi.

Notice neither Mario nor Lance Armstrong grace this list. There are many other great cyclists. My point is that Lance does great things, but as cycling goes... he's not all that decorated.

Plantains · « **Reply #25 on:** November 01, 2010, 08:31:46 PM »

Sorry lads... I missed this page and just super posted. All good info.

Bedwyr · « **Reply #26 on:** November 01, 2010, 08:46:12 PM »

That's very good information, thanks. I'm becoming more multi-sport oriented rather than pure cyclist or pure runner, but it's good to know and there's a lot of skills I'd like to learn (heh, parkour?).