Originally Posted by
rubiksoval
This.
And to go with this, you don't move up from the middle of the pack. You surf the sides, ideally behind other dudes as they're moving up. It's easy to get stuck in the middle when you start hurting as it gives the most draft, but when you're in the middle everyone else is moving up the sides and then you're quickly at the back again. It's a vicious, race-ending cycle. Once I finally figured out how essential that was in large crit fields it took me from getting dropped and not even finishing to being in the money, with little change in actual fitness. It was probably the most significant thing I've ever learned in racing.
You have to set yourself up on the outsides of the group to continue to surf towards the front. Get yourself in that "blob" of the first 15-25 riders and you'll be coasting while the rest of the field is strung out and dropping 500 watts out of the turns. Game-changer.
What he said! It took forever for it to click for me but I'm finally starting to get the hang of it.
I turn it into a game sometimes, see how little I can hit the brakes. When others slow down I use momentum to surf up the sides. Or when the pace is a bit higher and things are a bit strung out you can sometimes slingshot forward using the draft. You can read people's body language a lot of the time too and see they're intending to move forward, so you hop on their wheel and let them do the work for you. People can also read your body language and will realize if you lack the confidence to protect your position. So, act like you belong, and yeah if you're not moving up you are proooobably filtering backwards.