A theme in my foray into the cycling world is to continually seek guidance from the more experienced athletes in my community. That recently led my husband and I to the doorstep of fellow Green Mountain Community Fitness Masters swim and Central Vermont Runners members in Montpelier. These women are both retired professional road bicycle cyclists. Living in Vermont is so freaking cool!
I wrote in Planning my race schedule that I have so many questions about the USA Cycling races, a point system, etc., and I didn’t know how to approach planning a race schedule to consider these factors. Training is one thing endurance runners can adapt to rather naturally, but racing itself? That’s an immensely complicated sport requiring skills beyond fitness levels. When I started asking my questions about these logistics of racing road bicycles, my friends quickly countered by asking what my long-range cycling goals are, explaining that it typically takes five years to amass the racing/bicycle handling experience to become a road racing cyclist.
Honestly, I have been so focused on the task of structured training to see where my fitness can land in the next nine months that I hadn’t paused to consider a strategic, long range plan to better learn the skills of the sport. While I’m still mulling over that advice, I’m grateful that my considerate, experienced friends brought this to my attention so early in my journey. They explained that I’ll need to start practicing race skills regularly throughout the season to learn what it means to be a road bicycle racer, and it’s hard to do that in New England anymore. If my schedule allows the time and flexibility, I should consider traveling to race, and it doesn’t have to be too far from Vermont: Montreal and New York City both have a scene.
Not only was I pointed in the direction of expanding my bicycle racing skills, my friends also lent me books about the sport and connected me with a local coach with fifteen years of experience. I’m grateful they were so generous with their time and advice, and I hope I can pay it forward some day. Wherever this journey takes me, I’m glad that I’ve already learned to pluck up the courage to ask questions and share my curiosity with confidence.