Conundrum of the Day.
If no one wants to do a turn in a race, do we all try and track stand to make the others go past
Sitting In
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Arbuckle23
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Sitting In
Righto
Conundrum of the Day.
If no one wants to do a turn in a race, do we all try and track stand to make the others go past
Conundrum of the Day.
If no one wants to do a turn in a race, do we all try and track stand to make the others go past
Last edited by Arbuckle23 on Sun Feb 25, 2018 7:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Arbuckle23
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Re: Sitting On
Ha! Love it 
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Derny Driver
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Re: Sitting On
Depends what sort of a race it is.Arbuckle23 wrote:Righto
Conundrum of the Day.
If no one wants to do a turn in a race, do we all try and track stand to make the others go past
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Arbuckle23
- Posts: 1144
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- Location: Mornington Peninsula
Re: Sitting On
Crit racing
All advice I have seen is "don't be on the front", sit back in the bunch and save energy.
The conundrum is, what if everyone takes that advice to heart and none wants to go on the front for a few laps, do we just sit there?
And not really a serious post, just a bit of musing in my mind after watching a few videos on how to ride in a crit.
All advice I have seen is "don't be on the front", sit back in the bunch and save energy.
The conundrum is, what if everyone takes that advice to heart and none wants to go on the front for a few laps, do we just sit there?
And not really a serious post, just a bit of musing in my mind after watching a few videos on how to ride in a crit.
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andrewjcw
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Re: Sitting On
It's true that in amateur crit racing where there's no teams there really is no point to do any work unless you think it helps you win the race - that is if your only goal is to win the race.
The reality is people race just to stretch themselves and have some fun and build some fitness and winning isn't always that high up on the priority list. Also if you're feeling strong and in form sitting on the front at 87% intensity for 40 sec stretches doesn't actually fatigue you out that much. Also doing nothing for 30-40 min is really bloody boring and a bit depressing if you just paid your entry fee and have been looking forward to the race all week.
The reality is people race just to stretch themselves and have some fun and build some fitness and winning isn't always that high up on the priority list. Also if you're feeling strong and in form sitting on the front at 87% intensity for 40 sec stretches doesn't actually fatigue you out that much. Also doing nothing for 30-40 min is really bloody boring and a bit depressing if you just paid your entry fee and have been looking forward to the race all week.
https://www.strava.com/athletes/andrewjcw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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stevecassidy
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Re: Sitting On
This was our race this week at Waratahs, Eastern Creek Raceway. C Grade decided that it wasn't going to go too fast and plodded around. A few people, myself included, had a little dig but were immediately chased down and then the pace settled down again. Needless to say the final sprint included everyone who still had fresh legs.
(Actually, I just looked at the race on Strava and our average was 37.5 which is fairly fast for EC - so the perception of a slow bunch was maybe due to the lack of attacking or something...)
Steve
(Actually, I just looked at the race on Strava and our average was 37.5 which is fairly fast for EC - so the perception of a slow bunch was maybe due to the lack of attacking or something...)
Steve
Where's your next race? cabici.net lists bike races in Sydney
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Cossie Phil
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Derny Driver
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Re: Sitting On
Well its pointless pulling turns for no reason - unless you want to be first to get to the coffee van after the race? If you are not chasing a break, no need to be on the front.
The essence of crit racing is to get off the front and stay off the front. Win from a small group.
You can do nothing in the bunch but if a break goes and you miss it, you may find yourself swapping turns to pull it back. May as well swap those turns with the leaders in the break rather than in a chase group.
My advice to my son is to get in every break that goes off the front. If 20 breaks go, be in all 20. Swap off in the break. If theres nothing happpening in the bunch, stay near the front but dont drive it. Look for the opportunity to break clear, or jump across if a break forms.
If you want to win you have to cover everything.
If it ends up in a bunch sprint then you dont need to sit on the back all day to win it. You can attack all day and still win the sprint. If you cant, you are in too high a grade.
Gee DD that sounds like hard work !! Actually, its no harder than riding the front of the bunch all race and mindlessly chasing every wheel that slips 3 metres off the front - which is what most people do. Its the difference between being positive and aggressive, or being negative. Being positive delivers a result. Being negative you usually finish last but have some dumb excuse like "I just wanted a hard race" of "Im just using this race as training for another race".
Rule number 1 of crit racing : Be aggressive.
If people are sitting on ...who cares. 50 of the 60 people in there are just making up the numbers. Theres only 5-10 to worry about.
The essence of crit racing is to get off the front and stay off the front. Win from a small group.
You can do nothing in the bunch but if a break goes and you miss it, you may find yourself swapping turns to pull it back. May as well swap those turns with the leaders in the break rather than in a chase group.
My advice to my son is to get in every break that goes off the front. If 20 breaks go, be in all 20. Swap off in the break. If theres nothing happpening in the bunch, stay near the front but dont drive it. Look for the opportunity to break clear, or jump across if a break forms.
If you want to win you have to cover everything.
If it ends up in a bunch sprint then you dont need to sit on the back all day to win it. You can attack all day and still win the sprint. If you cant, you are in too high a grade.
Gee DD that sounds like hard work !! Actually, its no harder than riding the front of the bunch all race and mindlessly chasing every wheel that slips 3 metres off the front - which is what most people do. Its the difference between being positive and aggressive, or being negative. Being positive delivers a result. Being negative you usually finish last but have some dumb excuse like "I just wanted a hard race" of "Im just using this race as training for another race".
Rule number 1 of crit racing : Be aggressive.
If people are sitting on ...who cares. 50 of the 60 people in there are just making up the numbers. Theres only 5-10 to worry about.