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I've been doing a lot of reading on how to race. Derek tells me a lot of stuff, but as we all know, even though he is right most of the time, its more fun to ignore him and torque him off. One thing when I first got into racing that everyone told me was not to ride at the back of the pack. This is especially true in crits. They said you spend more time and effort sprinting in and out of corners, closing gaps, avoiding crashes. Many newcomers to the sport really don't believe this and hang out at the back saying they just couldn't hang. It takes a while mentally to believe you belong near the front of the field, but truthfully, it is easier and much smoother. I can attest to this because I have spent a lot of time a the rear as well as the front. Is this all heresay? Or is there proof to this? Well, I was looking over some downloaded races from past seasons and came upon the Saco Bay Crit I did a few years ago which really showed how herky jerky it is in the back of the peloton in a technical crit versus being near the front or better yet off the front. |
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I remember starting this very technical crit in the rear of the field. As you can see from the speed (blue line), the top speeds were pretty fast and the slow speeds were slow. It is not very smooth as I was braking hard into each corner and sprinting fast out of them trying to move up. I remember I wasn't even near the front the first time they rang the bell for a prime. Around lap 5/6, I had positioned myself in the top portion of the peloton and my HR (red line) shows that I'm not working any harder than before. The speed really begins to smooth out around lap nine as I solidify my positioning at or near the front of the field occassionally taking a pull but keeping the HR out of the pink zone. See, it IS just as easy to ride near the front, and it is less stop and go up there. You can keep your momentum a little more, conserving valuable energy.
On lap 14, there is a big spike and then it really gets smooth with the max speed coming down a tad, but the minimum speed coming up a bit. What's this? The HR now increases into the pink and levels off meaning I'm working harder.
The spike is me attacking the field and subsequently getting off the front solo. Sure it's working the system a little harder, but notice how the speed really gets smooth as there is no one to slow me in the corners? A gap of about 25 seconds was created and maintained by just keeping an even pace. By just working just a little harder after initiating a gap, I was able to maintain approximately the same pace as the field was before the attack. The technical nature of this course made it difficult for the field to organize and the solo rider had an advantage with the numerous turns which slowed the field and allowed me to get out of sight for much of the course. My average speed after the initial acceleration was approximately the same as prior to the attack. In fact, it was a little faster AFTER and way more consistant.
So remember, always try and fight to stay near the front on a technical course and you'll be fresher at the end because of it. Also remember that if you can pick the right moment to attack (this one countered a prime), and can get away, you can actually ride the same pace as the field. Your max speed will be slower, but you'll be able to zip in and out of the corners more effectively since you won't be jamming on the brakes all the time. Many of us mortals don't have this opportunity very often, so we need to take advantage of the situation and capitalize when we get the chance. |
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