People supporting sporting endeavour

[KuteNurse]

Hey Kutenurse that's such a shame. But at least it sounded like he must be in good form for the future races.

For what it's worth, does he use clichers or tubular tyres? My fiance said he always carries a spare tub and a pressurised gas cannister, as then you can whip it off an put a new tyre on, and the tubs are quicker (less than a minute for the whole thing). But that probably would have been no help 2/3 into the last lap. My fiance says its more common to carry a spare like that in time trials, particularly as there is no support cars and if you are 25 miles away from HQ you're pretty stuck if you can't change the tyre and get home. Maybe some quirky English practice could give him the edge

And wheels in the back of the car sounds very familiar. That was the saving grace when I drove the bike on the car into the car park barrier. No wheels to damage. He needs some wheel bags for xmas :lol:

Keep us posted. Still no racing at this end.

Awww...I hope he picks up racing again soon! For our benefit! lol He uses Tubular I believe, do not quote me on that. lol He did have a spare tube and a small air pump with him. But the weather was bad...Freezing cold with a lot of wind and he said it was time to pack it up. It was not a USA sanctioned race, so he didn't get points for it. He is really looking forward to future races and I think this race got him excited to start the season. Next week he races in Southern Minnesota. Another Road race. I can't bring up the flyer yet, so I do not know information about the race other than it is a race course my son has done before. Have a great day.

 

[KuteNurse]

My son did great at two races this weekend.

He took 3rd place in a 63 mile road race and he won his race fee back in a prize.

He took 2nd place at a criterium and he won another $40. He said he is gonna win the race this weekend. We will see

 

[karena]

Hey that's great! :clap:
Well he's on track to win, with that pattern.
Do they accumulate points throughout the season to lead to some general award?

 

[KuteNurse]

Yes they do...They are called Roy or something like that. I have to learn more about it. Not sure how your cycling works in the UK, but in the States they break it down in categories. Cat 1 being the top. Professional level. My son is presently a Cat 3 with enough points to upgrade to a Cat 2. He wants to wait until they force him to upgrate. You have to have 25 points to upgrade to a Cat 2, they force you to upgrade at 40 points.

Some local riders are upset with me because I have connections around here and I talked to a person of position who asked me what I thought about a cycle race being held in a state park memorial weekend. I told him it was dangerous for 2 reasons. Memorial weekend traffic with campers and tourists, also, the course is unsafe...These are amateur races, not the Tour de France. The course winds up and down hills, with no shoulder on the road with inclines about 20-50+ feet off the sides of the road. I just honestly stated my opinion about the course and now people are mad at me...They think I have ruined their race.

But, I know I did the right thing. Saving lives and injuries is all I care about. If people want to be upset over that, then they are the ones with the issues.

My son races tomorrow...A shorter road race of 48 miles. He has raced that course before and he says he is looking forward to it. Has your boyfriend been riding or racing yet?

 

[KuteNurse]

I must be a dedicated parent because yesterday I drove 3.5 hours one way to a race located in central Minnesota while having walking pneumonia. I am absolutely exhausted today...I really should have stayed at home and rested yesterday.

My son did great racing. He has received 3 more upgrade points. He now has way more points necessary to upgrade to a category 2 rider...He is just about at professional level I told him, why worry about upgrading now until you are forced to do so. He is winning money and prizes, plus getting experience. He is only 19 and he has a lot of racing years ahead of him.

He did great in his race yesterday. It was a 48 mile road race...shorter one. A few small rolling hills, with one HUGE hill about 2 miles long. As he says, he kept cracking the whip...lol His group started with having about 45 riders. My son was in the front and he was pulling attacks right from the beginning of the race...He kept dropping riders...He would really bike hard up the long hill, dropping riders...On the last lap, he was down to 6 rider's in the main group. Everyone else was spread out way behind the group of 6. He said he felt really strong during this race, but during the last two miles, his position in the group of 6 was not good, he ended up taking 5th place. 5th out of 45 is not bad. Overall, it was a good learning experience for him. He now wants to work on his positioning for the final sprint. He has LOTS of racing in front of him...We are off to the Quad city races in Iowa at the end of the month. The money payout is HUGE for the riders. Racer's from all over the country attend these races and it will give my son an idea of how he ranks overall. June and July will be the busiest months for cycling. June has a calendar of local races filling out the calendar. July also has many races, including the famous Super Week races located throughout Chicago, Milwaukee and Green Bay.

 

[karena]

Yes we have elite, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th cat. My fiance has only ever been 3rd cat. And I don't think he's any cat at the moment :lol:
Your son's progress sounds great :clap: Hope he's not doing too many turns on the front though leaving him tired for the end. It must be really hard not to go all at it when you're feeling strong and save some for the end. I guess that's just experience (and really what do I know, I just sit on a sofa and watch it :lol. Looking forward to seeing him in the TdF
And did you hear Astana are getting a ride in the Tour of Italy, so you might be able to see Levi afterall.

 

[KuteNurse]

Yes we have elite, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th cat. My fiance has only ever been 3rd cat. And I don't think he's any cat at the moment :lol:
Your son's progress sounds great :clap: Hope he's not doing too many turns on the front though leaving him tired for the end. It must be really hard not to go all at it when you're feeling strong and save some for the end. I guess that's just experience (and really what do I know, I just sit on a sofa and watch it :lol. Looking forward to seeing him in the TdF
And did you hear Astana are getting a ride in the Tour of Italy, so you might be able to see Levi afterall.

Awesome! I hope your boyfriend picks up his cat 3 status again soon. My son did over do it during the last race. He should have conserved more energy, but he was testing himself he said. lol I did hear that Astana was let into the Tour of Italy. Levi gets to race! I wonder if Astana might get let into Tour de France after this. It will be interesting to see if Levi will get to race it. There are no races now until Memorial weekend. So I have a couple of weeks to get my life back together again! lol