Cyclocross race strategy

I've found that the elastic stretching in cross is more of a concern than it
is on the road. It seems very difficult to reel in riders if a gap opens,
mainly because there's so much inertia vs. road. For example, grass
sections that have absorbed alot of rain make for heavy riding that is not
condusive to accelerations to rejoin a group. Therefore, working in a group
is better than going it alone. Of course, you should self seed, and
selections are naturally made.
If you're in a group, then everyone should work. Speeds are lower, but
there is still a drafting effect, as well as psychological.

--
--------------------------
Andre Charlebois
AGC-PC support
http://agc-pc.tripod.com
BPE, MCSE4.0, CNA, A+

"almost fast" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Okay to pull other riders lap after lap? Or should I draft them, then
sprint around at the finish? Because the speeds are slower than racing
on tarmac I don't worry so much about drafting. Or should I?

[email hidden] (almost fast) wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Okay to pull other riders lap after lap? Or should I draft them, then
sprint around at the finish? Because the speeds are slower than racing
on tarmac I don't worry so much about drafting. Or should I?

Depends on the course, really. On a flatter, non-technical course, drafting
can be an issue, but in most races it really isn't. To my way of thinking,
it's better to be in front of the group on through the barriers, on run ups,
and technical sections. Mishaps in those areas can quickly open big gaps--
and, if your caught behind one, you're pretty much [censored]. Since drafting
doesn't have much of an effect, it's harder for gapped riders to work to
close those gaps. Sprint at the finish? I haven't seen many `cross races
finish in a sprint, so don't spend too much time sweating that.

"Andre" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I've found that the elastic stretching in cross is more of a concern than it
is on the road. It seems very difficult to reel in riders if a gap opens,
mainly because there's so much inertia vs. road. For example, grass
sections that have absorbed alot of rain make for heavy riding that is not
condusive to accelerations to rejoin a group. Therefore, working in a group
is better than going it alone. Of course, you should self seed, and
selections are naturally made.
If you're in a group, then everyone should work. Speeds are lower, but
there is still a drafting effect, as well as psychological.

--
--------------------------
Andre Charlebois
AGC-PC support
http://agc-pc.tripod.com
BPE, MCSE4.0, CNA, A+

"almost fast" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Okay to pull other riders lap after lap? Or should I draft them, then
sprint around at the finish? Because the speeds are slower than racing
on tarmac I don't worry so much about drafting. Or should I?

Today after the initial sprint following the start, I settled into a
group of about 5 riders going about my pace. We lined up and followed
the same guy for a couple laps, gradually going slower and slower as
he tired. After his two laps were up, the rest of us passed him. He
hung on the back.

I was next in line and pulled for two laps. A couple of times I tried
making a fast tempo to drop some guys, but they all hung on. Gradually
I was going slower and slower. After two more laps I decided to let
others pull, so slowed until the other four or five riders burst
around me and I was last in the group. I hung on the back. The pace
seemed reasonably comfortable (for a race :-) ).

Writing this I think I can see drafting may have had some effect in
our race.

Should we trade pace doing shorter pulls, more like on the road?
Should I do my pull or stay off the front of my little group? I guess
the risk is that a slower guy can hang on if nobody pushes the pace.

Do cross racers discuss this stuff during the race?

"Andre" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I've found that the elastic stretching in cross is more of a concern than it
is on the road. It seems very difficult to reel in riders if a gap opens,
mainly because there's so much inertia vs. road. For example, grass
sections that have absorbed alot of rain make for heavy riding that is not
condusive to accelerations to rejoin a group. Therefore, working in a group
is better than going it alone. Of course, you should self seed, and
selections are naturally made.
If you're in a group, then everyone should work. Speeds are lower, but
there is still a drafting effect, as well as psychological.

--
--------------------------
Andre Charlebois
AGC-PC support
http://agc-pc.tripod.com
BPE, MCSE4.0, CNA, A+

"almost fast" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Okay to pull other riders lap after lap? Or should I draft them, then
sprint around at the finish? Because the speeds are slower than racing
on tarmac I don't worry so much about drafting. Or should I?

Elastic stretching: who does the work? Maybe me, or maybe a faster
group of a few riders...?

Yeah, wet bumpy grass is more difficult than the smoothly-worn single
track. It really sucks the speed out of me. Sometimes that's the only
way to pass...

Self seeding works pretty well for me. I'm getting to know some of the
guys in this year's series, and we naturally tend to line up about
where we belong.

I undersatnd what you mean about the psychological effects of being in
a group. When the two leaders lapped me I hung on for a few minutes,
going faster than I had been. That was pretty cool, following these
fast dudes, and realizing I could actually keep up ... for a little
while. Until I (minorly) blew up and returned to my own pace. Still,
took me ahead of the other guy I was with.

Tim Mullin <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (almost fast) wrote in
news:[email hidden]:
Sprint at the finish? I haven't seen many `cross races
finish in a sprint, so don't spend too much time sweating that.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=photos/2004/oct04/downeast/70BD7494

http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=photos/2004/oct04/downeast/Sprint

Mike Connair said:

Tim Mullin <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (almost fast) wrote in
news:[email hidden]:
Sprint at the finish? I haven't seen many `cross races
finish in a sprint, so don't spend too much time sweating that.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=photos/2004/oct04/downeast/70BD7494

http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=photos/2004/oct04/downeast/Sprint

Those guys are raging, particularly the one on the left. Is this an example
of an artificially levelled playing field?

Quoted message said:

From: "Kyle Legate" [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=photos/2004/oct04/downeast/70BD7494

Quoted message said:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=photos/2004/oct04/downeast/Sprint

Those guys are raging, particularly the one on the left. Is this an example
of an artificially levelled playing field?

The cool thing is that we all know the guy on the right in the Cycle-Smart
jersey. At least it looks like it was mutual.
Bill C

"Kyle Legate" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=photos/2004/oct04/downeast/Sprint

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Those guys are raging, particularly the one on the left. Is this an

example

Quoted message said:

of an artificially levelled playing field?

Looks normal to me. Maybe too much sudafed.

-WG

[email hidden] (Mike Connair) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Tim Mullin <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (almost fast) wrote in
news:[email hidden]:
Sprint at the finish? I haven't seen many `cross races
finish in a sprint, so don't spend too much time sweating that.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=photos/2004/oct04/downeast/70BD7494

And your point is?

To say that I haven't seen many is not to say it does not happen (for
example see the result of this weekend's superprestige race). With all
due respect to Adam, the photo you reference was a sprint for 12th
place. The race winner finished solo, 1:02 ahead of the next rider.
Not exactly a sprint finish....

Quoted message said:

From: [email hidden] (Tim Mullin)

Quoted message said:

With all
due respect to Adam, the photo you reference was a sprint for 12th
place. The race winner finished solo, 1:02 ahead of the next rider.
Not exactly a sprint finish....

That's another thing that I was amused by. If you look at Adam in that picture
he looks like he's having fun. I think there's more of a story to this than we
know. I smell some smack talk and Adam's sense of humor. Been wrong before
though.
Bill C

"TritonRider" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

From: [email hidden] (Tim Mullin)

Quoted message said:

With all
due respect to Adam, the photo you reference was a sprint for 12th
place. The race winner finished solo, 1:02 ahead of the next rider.
Not exactly a sprint finish....

That's another thing that I was amused by. If you look at Adam in that
picture
he looks like he's having fun. I think there's more of a story to this
than we
know. I smell some smack talk and Adam's sense of humor. Been wrong before
though.
Bill C

The story I heard from an eyewitness was that Adam lead out the sprint on
the far left and Noah Taylor came around and had a clear line up the right
and was overtaking Adam. Adam then came over on him and nearly put him into
the curb. I was told Adam took the sprint but the results do show Noah in
12th and Adam in 13th. Wonder if they relegated Adam.

Why isn't is a sprint finish. The riders were sprinting. It was their
finish. Did anyone say it was a sprint for the win?

Wade

Quoted message said:

From: "Wade Summers" [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

The story I heard from an eyewitness was that Adam lead out the sprint on
the far left and Noah Taylor came around and had a clear line up the right
and was overtaking Adam. Adam then came over on him and nearly put him into
the curb. I was told Adam took the sprint but the results do show Noah in
12th and Adam in 13th. Wonder if they relegated Adam.

My other reaction was, I'm glad that I wasn't one of the officials at the
finish for that. If they weren't just screwing around, you know somebody heard
about it and had to make a tough decision.
Hey Wade,
Where were Al and John in that since they are all listed s.t.?
Bill C

"TritonRider" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

From: "Wade Summers" [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

The story I heard from an eyewitness was that Adam lead out the sprint on
the far left and Noah Taylor came around and had a clear line up the
right
and was overtaking Adam. Adam then came over on him and nearly put him
into
the curb. I was told Adam took the sprint but the results do show Noah in
12th and Adam in 13th. Wonder if they relegated Adam.

My other reaction was, I'm glad that I wasn't one of the officials at the
finish for that. If they weren't just screwing around, you know somebody
heard
about it and had to make a tough decision.
Hey Wade,
Where were Al and John in that since they are all listed s.t.?
Bill C

Don't know. My buddy only described it as a two-up sprint. He did mention
that Fries was screaming his head off!

Could be John was 2-3 seconds up and Alec was just behind and they all got
same time. Don't think officials bother with 2 or 3 seconds
gaps in cross finishes, especially for 11th-14th place.

Wade

"Wade Summers" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

He did mention
that Fries was screaming his head off!

....and that is notable [for Richard], why?

Quoted message said:

From: "Wade Summers" [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Could be John was 2-3 seconds up and Alec was just behind and they all got
same time. Don't think officials bother with 2 or 3 seconds
gaps in cross finishes, especially for 11th-14th place.

Wade

Thanks. I'd bet you're right about the scoring. My guess would be that they
had "Riders up" John, OH [censored], then Al staying out of the way, time check.
Bill C

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=photos/2004/oct04/downeast/70BD7494

And your point is?

Sorry, I just got a kick out of the photos. And they were sprinting.
Mike

On 26 Oct 2004 10:16:20 -0700, [email hidden] (Mike

Connair) said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross.php?id=photos/2004/oct04/downeast/70BD7494

And your point is?

Sorry, I just got a kick out of the photos. And they were sprinting.
Mike

I've seen this at times and one might thing the guys are mad at each other
and would be belly bonking after the finish, but it's not true, always, b/c
I've seen cordial and smiling/friendly finish interviews and it does not
seem to be the case? Your take?

-B

Quoted message said:

From: Badger South [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

I've seen this at times and one might thing the guys are mad at each other
and would be belly bonking after the finish, but it's not true, always, b/c
I've seen cordial and smiling/friendly finish interviews and it does not
seem to be the case? Your take?

-B

Judging by Adam's expression I thought they were screwing around. To be honest
it looks just like some of our skills clinics when Adam and some elite team
guys are "demonstrating" a point. Especially given the position involved I
didn't think it was serious, but I haven't talked to anybody. I'm at the other
end of the State right now.
I'm not going to say Adam wouldn't lean on somebody either. You don't get to
where he is without knowing all the tricks well enough to teach them.
Bill C