# Road Race Question....



## FromLeft5 (Mar 15, 2010)

Hey guys, I have been racking up the miles getting ready for the upcoming triathlon season but wanted to see how I might do in my first road race. 
My question is if anyone can give me some info on road races in or around the Bay Area CA. (pace, distance, good for noobies, ect...) Im looking at the Modesto Road Race.......

Thanks for any help you can give.


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*ncnca*



FromLeft5 said:


> Hey guys, I have been racking up the miles getting ready for the upcoming triathlon season but wanted to see how I might do in my first road race.
> My question is if anyone can give me some info on road races in or around the Bay Area CA. (pace, distance, good for noobies, ect...) Im looking at the Modesto Road Race.......
> 
> Thanks for any help you can give.


You know about this? http://www.ncnca.org/road/


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## FromLeft5 (Mar 15, 2010)

Hey fixed, yeah the nor cal site is awesome but im looking for feedback and opinions about a good beginner race.....


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## SteelerHoo (Jul 12, 2006)

Here's a link to all of the races in NorCal and how to register for them. Course and field sizes can be seen within each link: http://ncnca.org/road/

Any race is a good first race for a noob, you just have to enter to learn what a race feels like. That being said, having pack riding skills would be very helpful, hopefully you've done some group rides.

Modesto is a good road race to start in, full road closure, flat, predictable corners. Here's a blog post I did from racing the Pro 1/2 race last year with a Garmin map of the course. http://bbcracer.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/modesto-flatlander-weekend/ 

Pace (avg. speed) is irrelevant and has zero value as a metric in trying to figure out whether or not you can keep up in a road race. 

If I have one hand in a block of ice and one hand in boiling water, on average, I feel comfortable. Such is the case in bike racing. 

In the course of a race, the effort level will alternate randomly between social and chatting to hanging on for dear life. That isn't conveyed in average speed and it is those surges that make a race difficult.

If you feel comfortable with your pack skills, go ahead and toe the line and have fun!


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*me*



FromLeft5 said:


> Hey fixed, yeah the nor cal site is awesome but im looking for feedback and opinions about a good beginner race.....


As for me, I would not do a crit early on. I would look for a road race that has a medium sized field, not a killer climb, unless you are really good at climbing, with good road conditions and closed roads. I'd guess you are good at time trialing, given your tri experience?

If you are a good climber, really good, the Mt. Whitney would be one to try. I've done it, and it's fun, in a masochistic way.

If you do want a crit that has fantastic roads and big wide corners, the Palm Bluffs crit here in Fresno is good. It's in pretty new business park area. Relatively low key.

I don't get up north or Bay area much.


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## FromLeft5 (Mar 15, 2010)

Great info steeler. Thanks for the help! I think im making a bigger deal out of this than it really needs to be. But just want to make sure Im up to speed.


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## Undecided (Apr 2, 2007)

SteelerHoo said:


> Modesto is a good road race to start in, full road closure, flat, predictable corners.


+1. 

From other events relatively soon on the calendar, the Memorial Day crit and the Dash for Cash are both straightforward crit courses and the Burlingame crit is a good downtown course. Pescadero is a super-fun road race, but it's got quite a bit more climbing (and descending) than Modesto, for what it's worth.


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## mellowyellowCJ7 (Sep 19, 2008)

I don't know where you live, but the San Jose Bicycle Club has tuesday night crits starting next week that are really low key, but the A group is pretty fast if that is what you are after. They also hold a riders clinic that precides the winter series that has Crits, road races, and TT. There are also several other racers' clinics around the bay area.
I'm new to racing and I had a great time in the winter series. I did the Los Gatos Cat's Hill race and got my rear handed to me. That was not a good first USAC race.  Neither is Santa Cruz, but the Memorial Day in Morgan Hill is a wide flat course.


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## FromLeft5 (Mar 15, 2010)

Im in Oakland, its a little hard for me to get to San Jose during the weeknights.

Thanks for all the feed back guys! Great help! Hope to see some of you guys out there.


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## SteelerHoo (Jul 12, 2006)

If you're in Oakland, you should try the Port of Oakland ride on Tuesday nights to get a feel for riding in a group at race pace: http://bbcracer.wordpress.com/courses/

The port ride is fast and can be intimidating, 80+ people on a good night. 

I don't know anything about your group riding experience, so don't take the following the wrong way. If you don't have much experience, then a better on-ramp might be the Port-lite ride on Wednesday evenings. I'm not sure when they start but I think it's around 6:30-7pm. The pace is slower and the ride is steadier with limited attacking.

Regardless of the ride you choose, for your safety and that of the group, try to get there a bit early to get a view of the course at warmup speed. Additionally, don't be afraid to ask some of the more experienced riders for help/advice before the pace picks up.

Last year when the weather got nice, we had a large influx of brand new riders who caused several crashes, whereas I had seen maybe 1-2 crashes in the previous 2 years combined. 

Be safe and be considerate of whichever ride you try.


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## FromLeft5 (Mar 15, 2010)

Thanks for all the great info guys!!

Steeler - I would love to rock the POO lite. I have been a member the google group "Team Oakland" and always hear about the wends night rides. Do you have any info on when and where I would could hook up with that ride?


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## SteelerHoo (Jul 12, 2006)

FromLeft5 said:


> Thanks for all the great info guys!!
> 
> Steeler - I would love to rock the POO lite. I have been a member the google group "Team Oakland" and always hear about the wends night rides. Do you have any info on when and where I would could hook up with that ride?


i'm not sure. but i've seen a group start arriving at the port around 6:30-7pm on wednesday. you should ask on the team oakland site, seems like a number of their riders do port-lite


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