First Race

Raoul Duke6 said:

I have my first race soon. The track is 1.4 k.m with an incline halfway in, the race is only two laps and then later another five laps. This is all part of a learn to race program, so everyone is going to be trying to stick behind someone else. What happens if i get stuck in front? Any other advice would be appreciated.

If everybody in the event is new to racing, I think your primary objective should be to avoid crashing. The tactics that a more experienced rider would use if he got caught up front and nobody else was willing to come around (e.g., surging, going to the far leeward side of the road if there is a crosswind, etc.) are a bit dicey for a new racer and I wouldn't advise them. Rather, if you get caught up front just go at a moderate pace so that you're not using up valuable energy you might need later. The most important things you can learn in your first mass start races are to anticipate where and when successful breaks will happen and how to be positioned to take advantage of them. Most successful breaks occur in places where bike speed is slowest (uphill or upwind). This is where incremental application of power has the greatest payoff in percentage terms and where the strongest riders can open a gap. Most break attempts downhill or downwind will be unsuccessful. If a break does occur in one of the strategically advantageous places, it will happen very, very quickly and if you're not positioned correctly, it is over before you can blink. So, get near the front and stay near the front as you approach the slowest sections of the course (due to either grade or wind). If a couple of strong riders start to move off the front, get on their wheel immediately. If you're behind a guy who allows a gap to open, go around him immediately. Don't assume he will close the gap. Chances are that he can't and won't. Every second you stay on his wheel your chances of closing the gap solo are dropping like a stone. When you're on someone's wheel, don't overlap your front wheel with his rear wheel. Most crashes occur because of wheel kisses and even the most experienced riders go down this way. Keep your fingers wrapped around your brake levers any time you are following closely and don't hesitate to brake if you start to overlap wheels. Watch out especially as you approach a climb. Lots of guys get off the saddle to climb and the transition from the saddle to off the saddle produces a momentary slowing of bike speed, creating an overlap. Lots of guys crash then and there. If you're in the front group for the finish, I would advise just holding your line and accelerating with the others. If you change your line in a sprint finish with a bunch of new racers, you're really asking for trouble.

RapDaddyo said:

If everybody in the event is new to racing, I think your primary objective should be to avoid crashing. The tactics that a more experienced rider would use if he got caught up front and nobody else was willing to come around (e.g., surging, going to the far leeward side of the road if there is a crosswind, etc.) are a bit dicey for a new racer and I wouldn't advise them. Rather, if you get caught up front just go at a moderate pace so that you're not using up valuable energy you might need later. The most important things you can learn in your first mass start races are to anticipate where and when successful breaks will happen and how to be positioned to take advantage of them. Most successful breaks occur in places where bike speed is slowest (uphill or upwind). This is where incremental application of power has the greatest payoff in percentage terms and where the strongest riders can open a gap. Most break attempts downhill or downwind will be unsuccessful. If a break does occur in one of the strategically advantageous places, it will happen very, very quickly and if you're not positioned correctly, it is over before you can blink. So, get near the front and stay near the front as you approach the slowest sections of the course (due to either grade or wind). If a couple of strong riders start to move off the front, get on their wheel immediately. If you're behind a guy who allows a gap to open, go around him immediately. Don't assume he will close the gap. Chances are that he can't and won't. Every second you stay on his wheel your chances of closing the gap solo are dropping like a stone. When you're on someone's wheel, don't overlap your front wheel with his rear wheel. Most crashes occur because of wheel kisses and even the most experienced riders go down this way. Keep your fingers wrapped around your brake levers any time you are following closely and don't hesitate to brake if you start to overlap wheels. Watch out especially as you approach a climb. Lots of guys get off the saddle to climb and the transition from the saddle to off the saddle produces a momentary slowing of bike speed, creating an overlap. Lots of guys crash then and there. If you're in the front group for the finish, I would advise just holding your line and accelerating with the others. If you change your line in a sprint finish with a bunch of new racers, you're really asking for trouble.

Excellent advice. Wish I'd read that before my first race. Especially the bit about being behind a guy who allows a gap.

Cheers

mogulhead said:

Excellent advice. Wish I'd read that before my first race. Especially the bit about being behind a guy who allows a gap.

Cheers

Thanks. If you've been in a few races, you might appreciate this added tidbit that I left out of my first post because it's a little too advanced for one's first race. Most new racers don't know how to organize a chase group. If a couple of strong riders get off the front and you want to chase them down, you only need 2-3 "temporary partners" to do it. Get a couple of guys of similar strength and go to the front of your chase group. Be the leader and tell your partners to pull for 15 seconds each, no longer, and steady. Use your stopwatch and call them off the pull at exactly 15 seconds. There's a reason for 15 seconds. The 4th order acidosis/power curve penalty doesn't kick in until 15 seconds, so a 15sec pull at, say, FT+100w can be offset by 15sec at FT-100w. This ratio goes way up after 15sec. A 3-4 person team can really fly with everyone taking 15sec pulls at FT+100w. You can chase down just about anybody. Hopefully, others hanging on your wheels will follow the program if they get to the front. If they don't, just go around them. They'll get the hint. There are more aggressive solutions to that problem, but it's probably a bit dicey for Cat5 riders.

RapDaddyo said:

Be the leader and tell your partners to pull for 15 seconds each, no longer, and steady.

Generally, at least in my experience, they won't want to do this. Even in a four man break, people are obsessed with not facing the wind. And they will accelerate at the beggining of each pull.

cosmo_the_third said:

Generally, at least in my experience, they won't want to do this. Even in a four man break, people are obsessed with not facing the wind. And they will accelerate at the beggining of each pull.

That is the natural, instinctive reaction -- they accelerate when they pull through and then stay on front too long. You have to try and do some gentle coaching to get them to understand the consequences of those actions. Accelerating when they pull through causes everybody in the chase group to have to accelerate, using up valuable energy. Staying on front too long triggers the 4th power acidosis/power curve and results in a net loss of power. As with any situation in which individual behavior hurts the goals of the group, you have to try and get people to change their behavior. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't. At least you can try. I know it can be done because I do it all the time. The main point is that you only need 1-2 willing teammates to make it work. You don't need to recruit the entire chase group.