From triathlete to road racer

I have been racing now for over 20 years and to be quite honest triathletes' drive me crazy when riding with them.
In racing, you tend to ride in groups, so your first need is to try and assess the riders in that group. Who are the weak ones more to the point who are the strong ones and who are just users by not taking a turn at the front.Obviously don't burn yourself out by taking long turns at the front and short stays at the back. Remember while at the back you are saving 30% of your energy.
Watch out for breakaways, some are just testing the field others are simply trying to get rid of the weaker riders, so as a general rule try to be with in the first five riders, of course this depends on how many riders in the group.
Towards the end of the race try and get on the wheel of the rider you have assessed as the strongest and stay behind that wheel until the last moment say 50 yards then give it every thing you have and go for the line. If possible try not to lead out for the sprint as there always will be another rider on you wheel waiting for the final fling.
Being as you have been a stonge rider I would think you have to practice your sprinting ability. I always practiced mine on a track but if you only have the road then pick out a couple of markers approximately 200 yards apart and sprint as fast as you can between them. Do this at least 5 times per session. It would be a big help if you have a fellow cyclist of about the same strength so as to compete against each other,each of you taking turns to lead out just before the sprint.After a few weeks you will notice your sprinting ability is getting better.

Triathlete

olij said:

Hi i am new to road racing i have been a triathlete for the past 8 years but have decided to challenge myself and try a season of road racing next year. I live in France and want to try some road racing next april in france. What sort of standard do i need to achieve regarding average speed to be able to ride with a pack. I have done 3 ironman races and have a good endurance base and i am reguarlly training 10 hours per week. Any advice would be greatly recieved so i avoid the usual mistakes.

Thanks everyone

Oli

I agree completely with the above post. Being able to "read" the race is very important. So is sprinting.

I want to add that since as a triathlete, your are more of a time trialist, you might find yourself struggling with accelerations. In criteriums, and even road races, the attacks can be relentless. If you want to stay with them, you will have to surge, and then recover while still going quite fast. Once or twice, it might seem easy, but the surge and recovery cycle over the timecourse of a race, can really take its toll. Riders will also accelerate of of corners, and you will need to respond to those accelerations as well to not get shelled.

I recommend practicing for this with interval workouts that simulate this with harder efforts followed by minimal recovery. 10min intervals where you are working hard, but slightly below your LT. During that intervals kick up the intensity for 2min every 3 min so that you are working above your LT. You won't be able to recover completely between harder efforts so your goal is to fight through the pain and keep you power numbers up during the last 2 min. Between 10min intervals, ride 5min easy to recover and repeat as many times as you can. These are extremely hard, but great training for racing on the road - and the more you do them, the easier they start to feel!

I think between us we have covered all the essentials for road racing, the last being just go out there and try a few races without trying to win, just observe.
We race every Sunday all year round alternating between about 6 different courses with distances 40 to 60Km. A couple of courses are over very undulating land and on these courses I dread having young riders with me. At the top of the second rise I am still recovering from the first rise so if they really want to get rid of me they just attack on the third rise.Unfortunately it is probably an age thing but it does frustrate a little.

You'll smoke everyone in the time trials!