Mel's report: Midweek Cycling Club LTR

Midweek Cycling Club Learn to Race Clinic update…1st night

Being the team novice, I knew I had to get some experience under my belt before attempting a real race. So I decided to do the Midweek Cycling Club Learn to Race clinic. I had heard good things about the LTR clinic and knew friends who had done it in the past so I decided to sign up. My first night was awesome!

Overall, it was a big group of men, junior cyclists, and women. But divided up into ability levels, groups were smaller and more easily managed. Our two coaches were amazing and really encouraging. I must admit, I was a bit nervous when we did our initial lap of the course, but I got over that pretty quickly. The coaches took us through the course and showed us how to take the corners.

It was a pretty steep learning curve – can’t say I’ve done a lot of tight cornering at 30+kms/hr, but I felt good. One of the coaches – who’s name I can’t remember…I think Steve – was funny. He was riding next to me for about a lap and a half pointing at the spot he wanted me to ride in – pointing and yelling - getting me closer and closer to the woman in front of me. There was a lot of yelling and pointing for about half a lap, but I got the hang of it. When I finally recovered enough to tell him that it was my first night he laughed and said that he thought I had been there last year. Jumping right into it does help with the learning though.

We worked on cadence, sprinting, out of saddle stuff…all pretty cool. I felt good – really, good. Towards the end of the session we had one big group race – three laps all riding together. All 40 of us started together – the goal was to make your way from the back of the pack to the front of the pack. Of everything, that’s my biggest fear. Riding close front, back, and side to side…all squished together.

I was nervous the first lap, but by the second lap I made my way up about half way in the pack. Getting used to having someone pass by so closely will definitely take work. At one point, one of the coaches was working with someone else and yelled “that’s wide enough to fit a friggin’ house trailer through”. I thought they were talking about my butt; turns out they were talking about the amount of space between me and the rider next to me. Next thing I know, some young kid comes darting between the two of us. I just stared straight ahead and kept reminding myself to stay loose, breath, have fun, no white knuckles, etc.

One of the coaches (Rachel I think), rode next to me and had me get out of the pack and ride up to the front. Amazing how much the wind is blocked when you’re tucked away in the middle of the pack. But I was able to ride up the side and get to the front of the pack. Granted, we weren’t going that fast but it felt pretty cool making it to the front.

We ended the session with another race – this time there were 4 of us in my group. First lap was neutral, second was a race lap with a sprint finish. Once the race lap started, not knowing tactics, I started out on my own; but the coach corrected me and had me draft behind the front rider. It worked well because as we came into the final stretch I still had lots of energy to sprint to the finish and actually win the race. Granted, there were only 4 of us…and none of us were going that fast…but I felt like a rock star.

I had a great time last night and am super excited for next week. I can’t wait to see how I improve over the next 8 or 9 weeks. So cool…so cool!