If you like to ride for the thrill of competing, you’ll find lots of action in Masters cycling.
Adult racers are classed as Masters if aged 30 or over, and as Seniors if aged 29 or under. Seven hundred Masters riders registered for the road and time trials, and 200 for track events, in the 1988 National Masters Championships.
The United States is also considered the world’s best country for women racers. Scores of women riders like Jeannie Longo of France, Marianne Berglund of Sweden, and Maria Canins of Italy have trained and raced in the United States because women are discouraged from racing in Europe. In the United States women can compete with men, and some women have already beaten men’s records.
Beginning Masters racing is easy to enter while older men and women can work up to the National Senior Olympics and win a gold medal.
Although competition is plentiful up to the Masters-50 age level, after that it begins to taper off. When Fred Knoller of Fort Lauder dale, Florida, became Grand Master of the United States in his mid-80s, he was forced to compete against himself in time trials because there was no other rider in his age bracket at that time. A vegetarian for decades, Fred rode his time trial for several years as part of the Coors Classic events.
Phil Guarnacia of Santa Ana, California, recently aged 73, finds plenty of competition by riding against men 20 and 30 years his junior. And Allen Ashmore, who took up bicycling at age 48 to lose weight, soon found that he could go so far and so fast that he began to race. Ten years later, at age 58, he typically competes in two Masters races in a day and had recently become the Masters National Road Champion in the 55-plus age group.
Vic Copeland was another rider who took up racing in his 40s after watching his son Zac race. In 1988, both Vic and Zac were National Criterium Champions.
Seniors or Masters Racing
The first step is to contact local bicycle clubs and bike shops and obtain the location of the nearest USCF bicycle racing club. Then find out what races the club offers, especially in your class, whether that is Senior or Master. Last, consider how far you must drive to reach the club’s events. Most racers can probably manage to drive 75-100 miles but driving farther soon becomes a drag.
Over 1,100 bicycle racing clubs in the United States are coordinated by the U.S. Cycling Federation (USCF), the governing body behind amateur bicycle racing in the United States. Through these clubs the USCF promotes almost all USCF-sanctioned bicycle races in this country. Each local club is run by men and women who for the most part are in the Masters age group. Hence these adult members organize frequent Masters races for themselves. Thus virtually all Masters racing is promoted through local USCF coordinated clubs.
The USCF classifies Seniors into four categories, ranging from category 4, beginners, to category 1, riders in national competition. But Masters cycling is graded by age. At all local level races, the organizers are free to use any age groups they wish. Only for District and National Masters races are specific age classes set up.
In most local Masters competitions ten-year classes are used, starting at age 30. Thus you typically find men’s classes from 30—39, from 40-49, from 50-59 and from 60 up. Age groups for women are typically 30-39, 40-49, and 50 up. When not all age classes can be covered, extra prizes are usually awarded within the oldest age class. For example, there will be a prize for the fastest male rider over 65, over 70, and over 75; and for the fastest woman rider over 55, over 60, and so on.
Besides organizing local, district, and sectional race meets, the USCF Masters Committee holds a National Championship annual meeting that includes a Masters road race, a time trial, a criterium championship, and track events. Each year, they also hold bicycle races as part of the Senior Olympics.
…“Honking” up a hill by standing on the pedals is a racing
technique being used here by cyclists in the annual Tour of Ohio’s SciotoRiverValley.
Nowadays, over twenty-five percent of the participants in this famous cycling
event are over 65.
The Senior Olympics
The U.S. National Senior Olympics began in 1987 and is now held annually. To compete you must be 55 or over. During the first year over 2,800 athletes participated in events in bicycling, swimming, running, golf, and other sports.
To compete in the Senior Olympics you must qualify at sanctioned regional bicycle races held in March and April. They typically consist of 1-mile, 1-kilometer, 5-kilometer, 10-kilometer, and 20-kilometer races.
If an active USCF racing club is within reach, and you have decided to go in for competitive bicycling, write or phone the USCF (address in Appendix) and obtain an annual racing license. The USCF also publishes a rule book covering all requirements from clothing to riding, and it also has publications on all aspects of racing.
To obtain a racing license you must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident, and to enter a sanctioned race you must wear an approved helmet and black cycling shorts. Currently over 30,000 amateur racers hold USCF licenses, mostly in the Junior and Senior categories.
The USCF also publishes Cycling USA, which features a Masters column each month. It is packed with racing news and includes a racing calendar with information on all upcoming races and meets. Cycling USA also carries information on the Senior Olympics.
Other bicycle racing newspapers and magazines exist, including Velo-News, which also carries an extensive list of upcoming races. However, these are not official USCF publications. A good source of books on racing is the Vitesse Press (address in the Appendix B). Races themselves are divided into road events and track events. Within each category is a variety of specialized and varied races.
In the United States the most popular road events are road races, criterium races, and time trials.
• Road races vary from 10 to 100 miles or more. They are held on streets or highways shared with traffic and often include long hills. Road races may run from one point to another, or they may consist of several laps around a large loop. Most Senior road races are for at least 50 miles. Some are run in two or more stages and they may extend over two or more days. Competitors ride road-racing bicycles and their speed averages about 25-30 mph. Such consistently high speeds are achieved by riding in a pack and drafting each other.
• Criterium races are held on a level course of two miles or less over which the competitors ride approximately 100 laps for a total distance of 60—100 kilometers. These are fast-paced rides in which the competitors often stay bunched together until the final sprint. Speeds vary from 25 to 30 M.P.H., which results in tight, fast cornering and frequent spills. Since the riders pass constantly in front of the spectators at high speed, the criterium has become the most popular road event in the United States.
• A time trial means riding against the clock over a fixed distance, usually 10 - 25 miles. Riders do not compete, pace, draft each other, or ride together. Riders leave at intervals of one minute, and at tempt to maintain a speed so high that they are totally exhausted at the moment of crossing the finish line. The rider making the fastest time is the winner.
Another variation of the time trial requires each participant to ride as far as possible in a fixed time. The rider covering the longest distance wins. Some of these time trials last 24 hours. The world record for a 24-hour time trial is over 500 miles at an average speed of 21 m.p.h.
Team time trials are another variation in which teams of four riders compete. Each rider usually stays in the lead for a minute, before dropping back. The team making the fastest time wins.
Since most races must be ridden on roads shared with traffic, local clubs frequently organize time trials so that riders can train without having to ride in a pack.
Less popular nowadays are other types of road events, such as “miss and out” races in which, say at every fifth lap, the last rider must drop out; and “points” races in which the winner is the rider who scores the highest total of points awarded for making the fastest time in each lap, and for being ahead in each lap, and so on.
• A stage race consists of a series of races, usually including time trials, road races, and criteriums, held over a period of several days. The winning rider is the one with the lowest total elapsed time for all events.
An alternative method of scoring is to award points for the first three places in each race, and these are totaled instead. Additional points may be awarded for the first to finish a certain criterium lap, or for the fastest time up a major climb. The world’s most famous stage race is the Tour de France, which occupies 3 full weeks.
Track Races
Since track races are ridden on special fixed-wheel bicycles with out brakes, we recommend your gaining experience in road competition before considering track riding. Track races are short and fast and often include some type of pursuit or sprint. They are held on closed, banked tracks known as velodromes and winning depends as much on strategy as on speed.
Mountain Bicycle Races
The governing body for off-road bicycle races is the National Off- Road Bicycle Association (NORBA), which recently became associated with USCF. To compete in all but small, local mountain bicycle races, riders must be licensed by NORBA. Mountain bicycle racing is a highly specialized sport and mountain racing bikes are quite expensive. It’s best to start out in entry level races using a regular mountain bicycle to see how you like it.
Triathlons
Over 2,000 triathlons of varying levels of challenge are held annually in the United States. Unlike the Ironman events, in which typically contestants swim 1—2 miles, run a marathon, and then ride a century, the average triathlon is based on a 1,500-meter swim, a 6-mile run, and a 25-mile bicycle ride.
There are also Masters triathlons, which typically call for swimming 800 meters, running or racewalking 5 miles, and bicycling 15 miles. Although this might sound super-strenuous, it is well within the capabilities of many fit 60-year-olds.
Triathlons are frequently announced by all local swimming, running, bicycling, and athletic clubs; by bicycle and sports gear shops; and also in the monthly state bicycling publications that are appearing in most bicycle-oriented states, and that are usually available free of charge at bicycle shops. In Texas, for example, forthcoming triathlons are listed in Texas Bicyclist, a monthly tabloid-size publication carrying announcements of virtually all bicycle activities in the state. Biathlons are also listed. (A biathlon usually combines bicycling and running or bicycling and swimming).
Fitness Counts More than an Expensive Bicycle
In entry-level racing, equipment is less important than fitness. To begin racing you need only to be able to ride smoothly and to have good reflexes, a reasonable level of fitness, and the desire to compete.
As described in Section 4, you can begin racing at the local level on a sports bike by changing to lightweight tires and removing any rack or other nonessential equipment. All you then need is a helmet and black cycling shorts. If you find you enjoy racing, you can upgrade your bike with lightweight rims and change to clipless pedals and cycling shoes. Or you can buy a brand new racing bike. A good medium-quality racing bike costs no more than a mountain bike.
The secret of racing success lies in fitness, strategy and determination. You don’t need an expensive Italian racing bike.
Finding Out Your Strengths and Weaknesses
As early in the game as possible you should ascertain your strengths and weaknesses. Older riders frequently do better in long- distance races than in short, fast events. A mature rider with good stamina can often make a good showing in long road races.
If you’re stocky and muscular you’ll probably excel in fast flat races. Or if you’re lean and tall, you’ll probably do better in long, hilly road races.
Meanwhile, you can work at strengthening your weaknesses by riding in criteriums and time trials. To succeed in criteriums you must be a good sprinter and able to ride in a tight, fast pack. And to succeed in time trials calls for the ability to pedal as hard as possible for periods of an hour or more.
What It Takes
To succeed in Masters racing most adult riders need to develop their endurance, power, and bike-handling abilities. You can do this by riding far, fast, and frequently. Most Masters racers train by using interval training as described in Section 8. It’s seldom worth having a coach. But as you get further into racing you will need a support person to hand you food and water during races, and to have replacement wheels on hand in case you get a flat.
At every opportunity you should ride in training races offered by racing clubs. You must learn to ride smoothly in a pack, and how to briefly sit on another rider’s wheel while you regain enough energy to either overtake him or her, or to sprint around and cross the finish line first.
If there’s one secret to winning races, it is this ability to conserve your energy for the last few minutes of a race by drafting the pack, or by briefly drafting another individual rider.
While it is perfectly legal to sit on another rider’s wheel through out a race, doing so for more than a brief time is considered unsportsmanlike. Nonetheless, many riders rely on this type of strategy to win. While the rider ahead exhausts his or her energy, these riders still have enough left to make a final sprint for the finish line.
How to Ride in a Pack
During road races all riders generally ride together in a close, tight pack (called a peloton) to help overcome the resistance of headwinds. Sometimes, there can be over 100 riders in a peloton. Approximately once each minute the leaders peel off and drop back while the riders immediately behind them take the lead position for the next 60 seconds. By riding flat out for one minute, they can keep the pack’s speed at 30 m.p.h. or more. This cuts wind resistance for the riders trailing behind by at least 20 percent. Riding in the rear of a large pack is like riding behind a semitrailer.
All riders in a pack are expected to work up to the front and become a leader for about a minute. However, in a large, mixed peloton consisting predominantly of Seniors with a sprinkling of Masters, older riders are not obligated to take the lead. If they do, they often make only a dozen strong pedal revolutions before turning left and dropping back to the rear of the peloton.
Whether riding in a large pack, or drafting another rider, you must be constantly alert. You must ride smoothly even while changing gear or braking. Your front wheel is often only a foot or so behind that of the rider you’re drafting. Should that rider slow, you must veer to one side or gently apply your brakes.
Because braking should be avoided while riding in a pack, it’s safest not to follow directly behind the wheel ahead but to keep your front wheel a few inches to one side or the other. In case the rider ahead slows, you can then soft-pedal rather than use your brakes. Braking upsets the pattern of riders behind you.
Even though you may be drafting only a single rider, this can cut the effort you must put into pedaling by 15 - 20 percent and even more at higher speeds. Should the wind be diagonal to your path, riders stretch out at an angle known as an echelon, creating a diagonal formation resembling that of a flight of geese.
Get All the Racing Experience that You Can
To gain experience, ride as often as possible in training rides, and in time trials and weekend races held by your local racing club. To encourage beginners, most clubs sponsor races and time trials for novices. Usually anyone can enter these races and you don’t even need a racing bike.
You will swiftly gain know-how and experience, including how to warm up. It’s best not to eat for at least two hours before a race, and to warm up shortly before a race begins, and to stay warmed up until it starts.
Local racing clubs offer beginning Masters racers a wealth of experience in every aspect of competition. By riding in their time trials and local races you can avoid the intense rivalry that exists in open competition. And some form of coaching may also be available.
Some local racing clubs are sponsored by local businesses that subsidize expenses, such as the cost of sending teams to distant events. In return, club members wear jerseys emblazoned with these sponsors’ names.
Opportunities for Older Racers
Racing is especially rewarding for mature women because of the numerous opportunities to win top awards. During the past four decades, 27 of the individual medals won at the World’s Cycling Championships were won by American women. And while the number of younger women racers tripled during the 1980s, the field in the women’s Masters-50 and over remains relatively uncrowded.
If you can’t find sufficiently challenging competition in your Masters age group, you are perfectly free to transfer to a lower Masters age group and to compete against younger riders. As a Masters cyclist you can also compete in races for Seniors but, naturally, you’ll be riding against people aged 29 and under.
Because bike racers maintain a high level of intensity for a longer period of time than in most other sports, bike racing can be demanding, challenging, and even grueling. But in Masters racing you aren’t competing in an Ironman event or in the Race Across America. By setting your sights on a realistic goal, like getting top placing in a Masters competition, you can experience all the stimulation of challenge and competition without having to push yourself beyond your limits.
Next: Eating and Drinking advice for Bicyclists
Prev: Escorted Bicycle Tours
top of page