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Tuesday night Worlds
Last Post 05/03/2018 07:53 PM by Frederick Jones. 6 Replies.
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Dale

Posts:1767

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05/02/2018 10:12 AM
The fact that I came in less than a minute down from the lead four guys speaks more to my ability to surf wheels and my decades-long experience as a wheel-sucker extraordinaire than my strength alone.... but I was happy just the same.

There are a couple of younger guys who are pretty strong but haven't figured out that a race/ fast ride isn't an hour+ full effort, it's an hour of being at 85% then an explosion to 100% and they get gapped and popped out the back.

Next week I'm going to suggest they spend some training time doing intervals. Nice kids, pretty strong, but haven't figured out the nuances of fast rides
Cosmic Kid

Posts:4209

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05/02/2018 10:30 AM
Most important skill of road racing....being able to suck a wheel.

Way more guys out there with higher FTP's and are pure watt monsters....they can put out numbers I can never hope to even sniff. But I'll still be there at the end of a ride (and taking my turns) when they are long gone.

The ability to ride just sub-threshold and suffer is greatly overlooked.
Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
Dale

Posts:1767

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05/02/2018 11:09 AM
What kept going through my mind when a surge would take place is "it's only going to last a little while, you can suffer for another 90 seconds and hold that wheel." Then it would ease up a bit and a few more guys had been popped.
6ix

Posts:485

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05/03/2018 07:07 AM
In all my years racing, I never really put it into words like what Dale has done. Sure, I knew the first 10-15 minutes of a crit would be pure hell but would eventually ease up. It's all about knowing the suffering will eventually subside if only a little. The mental note I made that really changed how I did racing was quite simple. If I'm hurting, everyone else is hurting too. And that's when you attack. It's not about how many watts you can put out for 20 minutes straight like CK mentioned but rather the willingness to light all your remaining matches at once.
Was reading one of Phil Gaimon's books recently and he had a really great suggestion for how to improve in crits that I so wish I knew back in the day. He simply eases off the gas a bit coming into corners and allows for a gap to open up between him and the guy/gal in front of him. This allows him to carry more speed consistently through each turn rather than braking followed by sprinting. I suppose it works well in theory if the field is super strung out but not so much in a tight group since there would be 4 guys trying to force themselves into the gap you just opened.
Cosmic Kid

Posts:4209

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05/03/2018 08:50 AM
6ix hits a key point....anyone can attack when the pace slows up and you recover. The attacks that stick are the ones that go when everyone is on the rivet....they look up and say "oh, fook that schitt...I'm toast already". Like he said, if you are hurting so is everyone else....and the converse applies as well....if you feel recovered, so is everyone else.

One of my favorite moves was to surf wheels through a prime....go over the line with the guys gunning for the prime, but not killing yourself. After the line, you just keep on motoring. The "ideal" is to dangle out front just long enough to have a couple guys bridge up to you, form a group and then really floor it.

I used the technique Gaimon describes often...since I was never a watt monster, but could ride sub-threshold all day long, it worked well for me in a crit to even my pace / efforts out as much as possible. Problem is that the best palce to do that is tailgunning at the back....which can leave you in a precarious spot. A break goes and you have a LOT of ground to cover to get up to it, etc.
Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
79pmooney

Posts:3189

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05/03/2018 11:26 AM
This is where I have to laugh every time I see one of those studies that proves foot retention is not needed for efficiency. Might be true but you don't see those guys after the surge!

I was a hopeless crit rider but my bike did give me an advantage I used many times. A really high BB. Even with 175s I could pedal deep into corners and be the first on the power (what little I had) coming out. On (higher cat) crits laid out on hills, I could occaisional lead the field through the downhill turn. It was fun to use the high BB and all the effort I had and enjoy the effects of that effort on the faces of my rivals going into the next turn. (Lower cat crits, those hill courses meant I might survive if I rode my heart out and use every second of "recover time" when the field slows to move up so next surge I was sill there.)

Edit: yeah, like Phil and CK, setting up the cushion in front of me so I had the space to come into the turns fast was key.

Ben
longslowdistance

Posts:2886

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05/03/2018 07:53 PM
"Cushion" and fearlessly diving in no brakes reminds me of poor Cav at MSR, who hit a padded traffic thing at top speed while doing what sprinters do to move up before the finale. That poor guy is just snake bit right now. I hope he fully recovers by July for another run at the Tour.
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