Racing tips etc

[Toks]

Ok, I come at you on this matter purely with my 'Team Addiscombe' hat on. I've been thinking a lot about Racing so here are my thoughts. Feel free to diss or disscuss

General advice

1. Stay near the front
2. Stay out of the wind
3. You save more energy riding 5 or more riders back than you do being second wheel
5. Some race circuits can be ridden from the back. But generally the more twisty, turny and hillier they are the closer you should be to the front.
6. Watch out for gear changing numpty's on hills during Road Races (see 1)
7. Try not to let everyone know you're the strongest right from the get go
8. Stay calm and ever ever so watchful
9. Stay clear of dopey riders who seem slow to react or who don't ride smoothly
10. Don't swear and cuss other riders (your an agreeable ) and it doesn't help them really
11. Practice drinking form your bottle (not at the race)
12. Practice racing line turns (be safe though!) (not at the race)
13. Ride in appropriate gears. Excessive spinning and big gear munching will tire your legs
14. Recce the circuit if you can
15. Get to the race early and be ready (its much better psychologically!) Did I tell you the one about the ACC rider who refused to start a race cause he only had 10 mins to spare rather than the normal 30 mins
16. Be Positive, no matter the situation and T R Y T O R E L A X
17. Find your self a mantra to get you through the difficult parts of the race. Here's my one "POWER POWER I'VE GOT POWER!!
18. Everyone gets dropped, there's no shame in it. Come on the forum and we'll give you LOVE
19. Ignore those racers with the flash blingy bikes - it don't mean a thing!
20. Have FUUUUUUNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's some situations you may find yourself in.

Scenario 1

Lets say theres a 5 man break up the road with one ACC guy in the break. If there's a few of you and the man up front is pretty strong (George, Paul, stu, Keith etc) sometimes blocking (slowing the bunch down by riding tempo at the front) may help the break gain some valuable seconds. Otherwise I would look to jump on the back of any groups or indiviuals trying to get acroos to the break.

Scenario 2

Its gonna be a bunch sprint. ACC's fast man/woman is in a good position and you and a few others are feeling strong both physically and psychologically I would lead out the fast man or perhaps help string things out to prevent any Cancellara types going for a long one.

Scenario 3

There's 3 or 4 or you in a 6 man break and the finish is approaching. One by one each man except perhaps your sprinter should attack the break and all other ACC team member should sit on the back of the non ACC riders who will follow the attack. Once the attack has been caught then another ACC rider attacks until hopefully the non ACC guys is too tired to chase or weakens significantly

Scenario 4

There's 3 of you in a break and with 2 other non ACC'er but one of them is refusing to work (might be a lazy sprinter). Sit in front of him/her and allow the other 3 to pull away. Once a gap opens up he/she will generally try to close it. Jump on his/her wheel and repeat if necessary. Remember though if he/she is genuinely knackered this tactic may fail and you' may get dropped.

Scenario 5

You've managed to get yourself into a break but your not feeling great. Do as little work as possible. No one can force you to work although peeps will invariably give you a lot of verbal grief.

When to attack!

1. After a break has been brought back
2. After some confusion (a shouting drama)
3. On a hill sometimes near bottom. middle or as you crest it.
4. On a downhill (not always expected - see Rob Hayles or Toks Adesanya )
5. When a strong riders are near the front (they may come with you!)
6. Roll away (sit out front and wait and see. If no chase appears - get going)
7. To get rid of or shake up hangers on and hence you can see who really fancies it
8. If you're feeling strong especially in the final 3rd of the race and you think you could do it solo.
9. The bunch is just about to real in a break (sometimes things slow down a touch)
10. Final lap or so - if like me you can't sprint and there are no team mates what have you got to lose

When not to attack!

1. Generally - in the first 3rd of the race. In variably everyone has fresh legs and you'll get brought back. In more than 100 plus races I've only known an early break to stay away (first few laps or mins) just a handful of times. But hey - ya never know, right Marek

2. When you've got Team mates in a break up the road

Cheers I better get ready for work now

[kieran]

number 7 is my problem

[-Adam-]

Haha, this is funny, because my team and I had a little talk on tactics yesterday. Between the elder guys and the management there was probably well over 100 years of racing experience. Yet we all agreed the only way to learn is to go out and do it. Make the mistakes, and learn from them. I lost a lot of races last year due to inexperience, and will lose more this year for the same reason.

Racing is 80% mental, 20% physical.

A few of your points are not all that wise Toks. Attacking on a hill is not a good idea, unless its a long hill and your a bloody good climber. Attacking at the top of a hill is better, when everyone drops their head, in relief at making the summit.

Breaks take commitment, but also realism. If your breakaway companions aren't strong enough, don't work with them.

I have only ever started one break, I've been in a lot. Choosing the right one is the skill.

Downhill attacks are good, only tend to work in bad weather, it has been done. I still cocked that race up in the last 5km though.

Know your strengths, and ride accordingly. Don't be affraid of anyone. Be patient, in the last lap of a race, wait for your moment. Which won't make sense until you are in a race waiting for your moment, but you'll know. You'll either take it, or realise at the finish that you just missed it.

Attacking immediately after horses, crashes, general confusion, is bad form. Especially if any incident was particularly nasty. In the bigger races, you will be chased down by someone big if you do this. But given the general unruly nature of 3rd cat races, you may just get away with it. But do you have a conscience?

Racing is like poker, you want to keep you hand secret until as late as possible. If your in a break, theres no prizes for dragging the break along, you will get beaten.

Remember, 2nd place is 1st loser. If your happy with 2nd, why sign on to race in the first place?

[Toks]

As you know Adam its pretty difficult to talk about these things as generalisations cause there will always be that exception that proves the rule. You've now raced in much tougher races than I have so I'm happy to except what you say. Great point about the brow of the hill by the way I forgot about that one.

At 3rd cat level I initiated loads of breaks but interestingly the successful ones were almost always initiated by others but I always did a massive turn to help it suceed. I'm surprised what you said about the breaking away on a hill not being successful cause I've seen it work loads of time - but mostly when the field is pretty tired. Your point about racing experience is a great one. There's nothing better than just going out there and racing once a week or whatever you can manage. I find I need to do that because half the time I'm doing all the things I shouldn't do. Great tips by the way,hopefully others will chip in too

Re - Attacking after crashes and horses may well be bad form and personally its not something I would do. I've seen it happen loads of times and work though. A certain Elite rider Daniel Patten took great advantage of horsey confusion nearly three years ago. We were just about to catch him then we slowed to let horses past but he raced on. Job Done. In my first ever road race Marek crashed and the pace increase tenfold. Hmmm

[Tony]

Some useful advice in Tok's note....a few additional pointers....

Hold your line, especially when cornering in a bunch
If you're in the middle of the bunch with riders potentially on both sides of you behind you, leave room for those riders as you corner. This means not 'clipping the apex' of the corner, Lewis Hamilton style, when you go round a tight corner nor running excessively wide.

Do not suddenly switch from one side to the other
If you are about to attack or need to move around in the bunch (e.g. to get in position to attack) do it with due consideration for those around you. Don't suddenly switch from one line to another. If it is not safe, don't do it.

Accept that you will be wrongly placed in the bunch and unable to respond to attacks, etc. on many occasions
You will see a break go that you want to go with. The riders around you don't respond and you are boxed-in. You're desperate to try to get on the back of them.... I'm sorry but life is like that sometimes. Don't panic. Keep your poker face and re-plan your tactics accordingly.

And as Adam has noted
[quote="Toks"]Attack.......2. After some confusion (a crash, horses, shouting drama)

[-Adam-]

[quote="Toks"]A certain Elite rider Daniel Patten took great advantage of horsey confusion nearly three years ago. We were just about to catch him then we slowed to let horses past but he raced on. Job Done.

[kieran]

re starting breaks - surely depends on what your strengths are and those of the other riders? e.g. Mark Cavenish is unlikely to start too many breaks but if you were racing against him you might want a break to put in some distance from him?

Breaking away on hills, whats not long and hard or who's not considered a good climber for 1st cats may be otherwise for 3/4th cat races.

Also in 1st cat etc the riders tend to know each other much better so the setting is different.

[-Adam-]

Kieran, what I'm saying is, if your gonna attack, you need to be sure that once you establish a gap, you have the legs to keep it going. So attacking on a hill, is not always the best place to go. Many reasons in addition, such as the expectancy of an attack on a hill, so everyone jumps straight on you and you waste your energy. Also, 2/3/4 cat racing tends to be quite negative in that pretty much every move gets chased straight away, because thats what riders see on TV, so mimic. If your gonna make the effort to attack, you need to be damn sure its gonna do some damage.

And yes, like I said, know your strenghts, If I get in a break with Tony Gibb on Sunday... (hopefully not!) I'm not gonn wait for the sprint, because realistically he'll beat me, so I'd attack him earlier say around 2km to go... And at that distance, you have to commit fully, it would not succeed if you didn't.

[quote="-Adam-"][quote="Toks"]A certain Elite rider Daniel Patten took great advantage of horsey confusion nearly three years ago. We were just about to catch him then we slowed to let horses past but he raced on. Job Done.

[Toks]

[quote="-Adam-"]Kieran, what I'm saying is, if your gonna attack, you need to be sure that once you establish a gap, you have the legs to keep it going. So attacking on a hill, is not always the best place to go. Many reasons in addition, such as the expectancy of an attack on a hill, so everyone jumps straight on you and you waste your energy. Also, 2/3/4 cat racing tends to be quite negative in that pretty much every move gets chased straight away, because thats what riders see on TV, so mimic. If your gonna make the effort to attack, you need to be damn sure its gonna do some damage.

And yes, like I said, know your strenghts, If I get in a break with Tony Gibb on Sunday... (hopefully not!) I'm not gonn wait for the sprint, because realistically he'll beat me, so I'd attack him earlier say around 2km to go... And at that distance, you have to commit fully, it would not succeed if you didn't.

[Jon H]

Keith Butler gave a great talk on racing tactics at the clubroom a few years ago. One of the best pieces of advice was along the lines of "Attack when it's hurting, because if you're hurting you can be sure other people are hurting too. If you attack when it feels easy and you've plenty to give then other people will have plenty to give to chase you down".

[-Adam-]

[quote="Toks"]Isn't he an ex pursuiter? If that scenario goes down you'll have your work cut out dude ...

[kieran]

[quote="-Adam-"]I don't care what he's done in the past, he's an old man now.

[quote="kieran"][quote="-Adam-"]I don't care what he's done in the past, he's an old man now.

[kieran]

I see now, belief in yourself, positive thinking etc

desperate housewives is only looked at by people at a similar stage in life, you've a few years to go yet.

Which, on a separate note, for those lazy posters, reminds me; it's you're not your when meaning "you are".