In 2001 I went back to the race I used to go to the one season I raced. I brought the same bike, after 20 years(23 now) It's still the bike I usually ride Motobecane grand sprint, not high end at the time, very entry level for racing.
The result was not good, DNF after about 4 laps. I would have kept going, but figured that if I got lapped, which was going to happen on the next lap, I'd just be in the way. Certainly not the bike's fault, rather the 20 years and 40 pounds difference in me.
20 years ago, it was an unlicensed race with category c and b with c being the slower/newer riders. It's now a cat 5, so I'm not sure how the comparison works out.
Some of you may be wondering why I bothered, and it's as simple as bad memory or changing times. I recalled the pace being about 15 mph for 12 miles(relatively flat, in the old days I never bothered shifting)My weekend rides had gotten to that pace and distance, so I figured it would be fun. After I registered, the guy in line behind me asked how fast it was. the answer was "around 25 mph" so I was in trouble before the start.
Lots of stuff about bottom level racing had changed too, my first race 20+years ago, I was cautioned that I neded the legally required reflectors that I had removed. This time I was told to get rid of them. in 81, the only requirement was a helmet- one guy even did his first race in a hockey helmet. Now it must be a proper helmet, (a change for the better) some of the better riders used to ride with the lower level, and give us instruction. Now it's not allowed. Finally the group was about 20 on a good day then, and very friendly. These days it's more like 50-60, and everyone took things way too seriously.
Steve Birmingham Lowell,Ma
Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 15:48:49 -0700 From: Shannon Menkveld <shannon.menkveld@cox.net> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR] Is anyone racing older bikes? Message-ID: <88E9C5BE-A466-11D8-ACC4-0050E4FA0552@cox.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed MIME-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v553) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Precedence: list Message: 2
Leaving the pros and elite amateurs out of the equation is probably useful, so I offer this question:
Has anyone rolled up to the start line of a cat 3 or lower race on an on-topic bike? How did you do? Did you feel handicapped by your bike? And most importantly, what did the other racers say?
Shannon Menkveld
San Diego, CA