[NCNCA] last minute Early Bird info

[Larry Nolan]

please forward this as is appropriate
 
Happy New Year and welcome to the 20th year of the Early Bird Criterium training series.  
 
This series has a special meaning to me as it was my first USCF race back in 1988 and my family lives in Fremont.  Over these past twenty year’s many good people including Bob Liebold, Tom Simonson, Casey Kerrigan, Ted Fisher, Steve Madden, Shawn Mehaffey and Geoff Gunderson have helped to grow an industrial park Criterium into a training series that has reached hundreds of new racers.  Plus numerous mentors have volunteered their time to help new riders learn new skills, answer their questions and calm their fears about racing elbow to elbow at 25 miles per hour.
 
Three reasons for sending this e-mail:
a)      Category 4 and 5 men (with more than five races) racers start the day (8:30am)… but we encourage them to treat this series as training so that you can have a long and enjoyable season/ career in cycling.  In other words, it helps to be humble and simply train the fundamentals of cycling.  It’s January for goodness sake.  And, YES, all racers can participate in the mentoring sessions!
 
b)      Category 4 women and Category 5 men (with less than five races) are encouraged to set proper expectations for this series.  
a.       For starters: be safe out there.  Wear enough clothes to stay warm and to give you some padding if you should be in a crash.  No one wants to go down, but it’s how riders react to incidents (sudden movements; bumping into other riders; overlapping wheels) that creates the accidents, not the incidents themselves.
b.      Next up: have fun out there.  Meet some new people and share experiences.  Not that anyone cares, but I was a triathlete before I started USCF racing so I can sympathize with those that are not comfortable in a pack of 50 riders.  The mentors and I will demonstrate and let you practice how to relax while you are racing.  There is a direct correlation to being relaxed and riding fast.  There is also a direct correlation to having fun while racing and how long you stick around in this sport.
c.       Lastly (for now): take this stuff at your pace, not of your teammates or friends.  You do not have to race if you do not feel comfortable with the exercises.  Everyone learns at a different pace and we can appreciate that some will upgrade to a Category 1 by the end of the season (like Justin England did a few years ago) while others will move up slowly.  One does not need to attend all 5 weeks, but at the same time one needs to realize that 5 hours of mentoring and 5 hours of racing may qualify you for an upgrade to a category 4, but are you really ready to race?  Only you will know that answer.
 
c)       Mentors need to arrive at the beginning of the mentors meeting (9:15am and 10:55am) so that they can hear instructions and teach consistent skills.  We will hand out those sexy bright orange vests at the beginning of the meetings so please arrive on time.  Mentors are welcome to race with and observe in the Category 4 race (8:30am) so please see Shawn or me for a vest.  Mentors are also welcome to race with and observe in the other category events.  In return for their assisting the riders they will receive complimentary entry into the 1/2/3/Pro race at the end of the day (2:00pm).  Take Bart or ride to the course for some great pre-season miles and THANK YOU for helping all the riders.
 
Larry Nolan/ AMD-Discovery Channel Masters/ USA Cycling Level II coach/ Co-coordinator of the EB mentoring program
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