newcastlecycling

Do you need to have a club kit to ride in CD events?

Not to worry - I've found the answer to that:

"Riders must wear their club’s registered shirt or uniform unless they are registered with CNSW as a member of a sponsored team.   No club or team shirt = NO RACE."
Source: http://centraldivision.110mb.com/rules.php

It's just a shame my club had no more kits left in my size. 

Then there is the handicap race. You would think that the group would work together & roll through to do a short turn. Nuh-uh. The group I ride in have 5/6 riders having a go at keeping a good tempo, & the other 6 riders as passengers. On the last lap, the passengers wait for the chasers to catch us, then jump on the back of that group to be taken to the line. Poor form if you ask me.
If you are not interested in putting in an effort to help the group stay away from the chasing bunch, then stay at the line till the group you want to wheel suck off is leaving & go with them....

Wow - that really resonates with me as you put it "poor form". My view of handicaps is that they are like a team time trial. You work together and really flog yourself to try and stay away from the group behind (and catch any groups in front).
While my pacing in handicaps is so bad that I cook myself and fly out of my group like I've "put it in reverse", I do hope to finish one some day.

As for scratch races. If you can do a turn, then do so. If you can't, don't try to sprint for the line if you have been sucking wheel all race. Another case of Poor Form if you ask me. Then to be given the excuse that they are a sprinter, please..............wake up to yourself. There are probobly only a handfull of true sprinters in Newcastle area, & I guarantee none of them are in the lower grades.

Just out of curiosity, how do you define a "true sprinter"? By the law of averages, should there not be an even distribution of sprinters to all-rounders to climbers to pursuiters?
I consider myself a sprinter yet I am not a very good one (not very fit/fast). My "feel" and data suggests I am one (I have a down-sloping plot for my power profile as per Allen & Coggan).
That said, I hope that I do my fair share at the front - although when the hammer is down, my lack of fitness sometimes does complain about the effort.

There is an interesting thread developing regarding "E" grade at KOCC last weekend. Allegedly, a young man sat on the back for the majority of the race, and then sprinted to the win. The winner was chastised by an older competitor of the race, which resulted in action taken by the commissar.

Now while I'm sure everyone is in agreement that there is no place for abuse of any kind in our sport, there is an etiquette for "taking your turn at the front" during a race. It is that etiquette I'd like to explore with this post.

Everyone would agree that different people have different strengths and weaknesses. Some people are good at TT; some people are good at sprinting; some people are good at climbing. Why then, should someone who has strengths in sprinting be required via etiquette to "take a turn at the front"? Shouldn't the better time trialers/escapists try to escape from the pack, or at least make it so hard for the "sprinters" that they fall off the back?

If escapists broke away or put the hurt on week after week, the sprinters would surely have to change their behaviour should they want to win? To be honest, I've never seen a breakaway succeed in the low grade I race in (not that I've been racing long). While there certainly are the odd "surges" from the pack, I don't even recall anyone really attempting to get away. That said, should a rider (or small group) get away on a regular basis in the very lowest grade, it could have a negative impact on developing riders who do not currently have the capacity to chase down such breakaways. This would surely be demoralizing, and could push people away from the sport.

Where has the etiquette of taking your turn come from? Has it just been passed down from generation to generation? Is it part of a strategy to create stronger, more rounded riders? In theory it will make you a better rider (at the very least, a more rounded rider if you are a sprinter).  Is there some other reason why "taking your turn" is expected?

At what point does the etiquette of "doing your turn at the front" stop? Obviously the pro riders don't "take their turn". They are focussed on doing what they can for either themselves or their team to win. However, from what I understand, there is still a hierarchy inside the pro peleton; which has its own etiquette. Does the requirement of "doing your turn" stop at "A" grade? When you’re a member of a team? At some other level?

Obviously, this is a fairly polarizing topic. My intension with these questions is to answer my own curiosity about the topic, plus be able to explain the reasons of why we should "take our turn" to both new riders and other people outside our sport.

Hi,

I am only very new to the local racing scene (low grade and very ordinary to boot), but I was wondering if there are any special events throughout the year that people aim to be in peak form for?
Are there any longer races (i.e. more than an hour or so) scheduled throughout the year with any of the local clubs? (i.e. true road race rather than a Kermesse/Crit)
Also, are there any events which have more than the normal 20-30 starters at once (I'm not sure of the terminology, but I think mass-start may be the idea I'm thinking of).

Thanks.