Velo Allegro Bike Race

July 2007

I am an avid cyclist on 2 hours a week. My husband is also an avid cyclist on 8 hours of training a week. He can get out of bed at 5am and ride– I can’t! I can do 6o minutes of spin on Tuesdays and if I’m lucky- one other day during the week for one hour outside. This past weekend, I got lucky. The timing was right and childcare was available- so I got to participate in a criterium. For the month of July, I probably rode outside TWICE.

Criteriums are high-intensity cycling races where packs of riders compete against each other for primes or the finish. At the finish, you can regularly win money. Not a lot, but as much as $75 for first place and the primes are sprints for SWAG.

Since, I returned to racing, I downgraded my license from a Category 3 to a Category 4. I have also taken 5 years off racing competitively. So on this particiular day, I was entered in a Cat 4 criterium for women. There were probably 30 women racers- most of them seasoned veterans over the age of 30. In addition, there was a “mentor” in the race. She was wonderful- ex-pro Cat 1 cyclist woman who was there simply to coach and train the rookies on how to race and upgrade!

Cat 4 women can also be dicey- they are rookies or out of shape “wannabes” like me or just women racers who prefer to remain a Cat 4 even when they could upgrade. So, there is no way to hide in big packs of Cat 4 women. You either ride at the front or take your chances at the back. So, I stay in the front. My front wheel is safer there although my heart rate is NOT.

For me, since I don’t race or ride a lot, the best part of bicycle racing is the swag i.e. free stuff. You can choose what you want and then sprint for it. Sometimes it’s a pair of socks or a tire or points in a series or dinner at a great restaurant or sometimes it’s lube for your chain. It is fun and I love it. If you want coffee, sprint for it. If you need new tires, sprint for it. If you want $20 sprint for it…you never know what the end will be like.