Allright so yeah I wasted my entire winter mainly do to my being booted out of college. yeah sucks and I didnt have any desire to ride until I picked up my fixed a few weeks ago and started putzing around, then i started looking at old race pics, and then finally saw Paris Nice which just about did it for me. Does anyone think that its still possible to get a decent base in and make a late season break say around the July / August area or should I just hang it up and just ride the fix for the hell of it with no intention of racing?

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Fighting Blue Hens

I say race as much as you can. You maybe able to race yourself into shape. Look at it this way, you've got nothing to lose, and you could maybe gain some points towards upgrading categories. I say go for it.

August is almost half a year from now, you got plenty of time to get into shape!!

I got to say I do disagree with your statement. Racing yourself into shape????

I'd say you'd be better off building a base fitness, once built up then over lay this with specific training to boost LT, power, endurance, strength, etc depending on your training aims.

Surely the start point is in building a base?

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"Ride it like you've just stolen it!"

You guys are talking like he is going to be Pro. Build LT, power, endurance? Of course everyone would love that, but how many Cat. 5s are honestly doing that? To say that he shouldn't race because he didn't do these things is a bit rediculous I think. I agree it is ideal to have a good base, then intensity (the things you mentioned), then racing. HEck, thats what I do myself. But, fact of the matter is, if he's just starting out he shouldn't have to worry about structured training. Sure, he probably won't do as well as he could, but its his first year. I say have fun, learn the ropes of racing. Even if he doesn't win, experience counts more than anything - especially in road. What I mean by racing into shape was, he'll probably become more fit by pushing himself in races than if he was to simply train on his own. So, if he does less intensity during the week, and races on weekends, well thats a pretty good schedule. Summer is still three months away, start riding more now and go for it. Worry about doing things "right" next year when you have time to plan it out. But don't think that since you haven't started in November with base training that your whole racing season is blown.

For now I am just going to continue to ride the fix. If i get the urge to race I will. I did miss out for my base but to be honest racing in cat 4 I could probably just say screw the base and just push hard for 2 or 3 months peak for a few races and fall off hard. There will always be next season just hurts to finally realize i missed out.

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Fighting Blue Hens

have you ever trained or raced in the past? or are you just a poser?

it's only march. you can take 6 weeks to lay a solid base and then 8 weeks for a couple of builds and be in decent, even competitive shape... kinda sounds to me like your not the real deal. if you ACTUALLY wanted to race, then ride your bike as much as you can and you could be racing in 8-10 weeks from now, no problem.

life's too short. go ride your bike.[/b]

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