[NCNCA] How to kill junior racing in the USA

[Shawn Mehaffey]

I remember my first road race many years ago, which was a Sr. 4/5 event on flat terrain.  We started out into a head wind and I was fine.  We turned a corner and then had a tail wind, and within two minutes someone put the hammer down.  Despite being in decent shape I couldn't keep up and was finally spit out the back.  I wound up doing the rest of the race with a few stragglers.  My biggest gear at the time was a 53x13, which equals 112.36 gear inches.  The following year I put a cog set on the back that included a 12 tooth ring, increasing my gear inches to 121.72.  This is the gearing I think most Cat 4 & 5 racers use.  I didn't get shelled on down-wind attacks and did better in sprints after that.   
 
A 52x14 equals 102.36 gear inches, which is significantly less than the taller gears most adult riders use.  Slight downhills, tailwinds or just sustained attacks could result in most juniors being shelled.  Yes, our top level juniors could probably keep up if they go at their max, but what about the vast majority of juniors that are like most of us - intermediate level athletes?  Being non-competitive in the sprints and getting dropped in situations mentioned above could result in most of them getting out of the sport.  Hell, we lose enough of them to girls and cars.  =)   Is it worth sacrificing the future of our sport just so a few top-level juniors are forced to learn how to spin?

I understand the value of spinning - heck my normal cadence is 90 RPM.  I can see restricting juniors aged 15 and younger from using bigger gears, maybe even 16 year-olds.  But at 17 and 18 years of age I think they should be allowed something bigger than a 52x14 or have no restrictions at all in elite races.
 
Shawn M.



----- Original Message ----
From: Scott Patton <scott at fixedgearfever.com>
To: Tony Catudal <tcatudal at yahoo.com>
Cc: Shawn Mehaffey <spmehaffey at yahoo.com>; ncnca at ncnca.org; ncva at googlegroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, January 9, 2007 7:36:31 AM
Subject: NCVA Re: [NCNCA] How to kill junior racing in the USA


I have a hard time believing that this will "kill" or even damage junior racing.  I personally believe that if many of these juniors spent more time learning to pedal, they would ultimately become better cyclists.

I started racing in about 1978... back in the day, we had gear restrictions, we all had funky chainrings, different cassettes, etc... but we got by.  

In ... I think it was about 2001, I had the opportunity to line up with a bunch of super fast masters here in Colorado.  We took off for a 10 mile event on the track.  I was shelled early, riding my 92.8" gear.  (I could have been in any gear in the world and I wouldn't have been able to do 10 miles in 19:10.  The pace was brutal.  The conditions were good... With about 250 meters to go.. a rider unleashed a furious sprint, did the last 200 meters in 10.9 something... and won.  Here's the catch, he was riding an 84' gear.  

That rider happened to win my first bike race in 1978... we are now both 38.  His ability (and mine) to spin fast has helped us in numerous occassions, him more than me, I am sure!  As Larry Nolan pointed out, a 100" gear is not small.  It may take you our of an NRC sprint, but if you sit down and learn to pedal, it will likely help your cycling career and help prevent knee injuries.

The single best way to make a bicycle go faster?  Pedal faster!

-jsp



> --- Shawn Mehaffey <spmehaffey at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
>> How do you kill junior racing in this country,
>> especially juniors in their mid-to-late teens that
>> begin to race against adults?  ANSWER: Severely
>> handicap them so they cannot compete against riders
>> 19 years and older in the same elite category race. 
>> After a year of being blown out the back of the pack
>> once the pace picks up almost all juniors will
>> consider quiting the sport.
>>  
>> Read on and find out how USAC has once again made a
>> bad decision:
>>  
>> ***
>>  
>> Direct URL: 
>>
> http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=2706
>>

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