Newbie Team

Can it be sensible for a team to be made up of all first-timers?

Our first race was all first-timers. We ran it as a club. We finished 29th and had 100% retention (although 2 forced drop-outs before the race). The key is that it's either 100% serious or 100% for fun. Also, the Unofficial Guide was invaluable.

Also key, for us anyway, is to do it with friends. It's an experience you'll want to share and remininesce about, so whom better to do that with that with friends. 6 years later there are 6 of us that have done all 6 years, and the remaining 6 have done 5 out of 6, with the years they missed due to injuries having them designated as official van driver. That's the type of loyalty and comraderie you can only find when thrown into a stinky van with 11 other people.

:lol:



Edited Mon Jan 14th 2008 4:17 am by Captain Bubble

Likewise, our first time was a team of newbies. Granted, the race wasn't quite as big as it is now, so the shear size of the race wasn't as intimidating. But doing it with all newbies makes it a true adventure! As long as you view it as an adventure and can roll with the punches, your first race will probably be your most memorable.

I say go for it. Be sure to ask a lot of questions here, and understand that you're going to make some mistakes, and be okay with that. And to reiterate what JPGarland said, make sure everyone on your team is okay with what kind of team you are (competitive or out for fun). Personally, I say go for fun... it's more, well, fun! That doesn't mean you can't try your best, because that will probably be more fulfilling for you, just meet your teammates where they are at, not where you wish there were... But that's just me, I'm a middle-of-the-packer (on a good day).

Good luck and hopefully we'll see you out there. And as always, be sure to say hi when you're out on the course.

Just to be clear, when I said serious vs. fun, I meant state of mind not speed. We've had a wide range of speeds, but 100% commitment to effort at the race and to training beforehand.

Just wondering what the Unofficial Guide is and where I can find it?

Thank you
Stacey

:P

The brief history of the guide goes something like this;

The RTB web site has always had a forum/BB but every year it was reset. And year after year, the same basic types of questions (primarily on what to expect and how) were posted & answered but then deleted. A couple of years back I copied all the posts and started to group then into subject areas. The result is a narrative of the process of the race. I sent out drafts to folks who routinely post like the guys you see above this post and from their comments the URG was born. Subsequently, I also incorporated comments from others that have asked for & used the guide. What it does is it keeps kind of a running summary of 'best methods' that doesn't get deleted every year.

It is Unofficial as it is not sanctioned or approved by the race committee, but it does layout the race in a format that I think is a little easier to understand than the handbook. So far you have to e-mail me to get a copy (I sent out some 60 copies last year), we've talked about posting it so it's easier to get to it but I've yet to give up control :-)

I've yet to update it to take out the last minute changes to the legs from last years race but the body is 99% the same.

email for a copy at runbikeski@excite.com


RBS