Originally Posted by
msu2001la
Hey thanks! And totally agree about the technical bike handling vs. power thing. I grew up riding BMX and mountain bikes, and usually do pretty well in the more technical twisty sections.
This post makes me wonder if it's possible to convert my current bike (Cannondale CAADX) to a single speed? This would give me a great excuse to buy a new geared race bike, and start doing two races on Sundays.
I might have to do some research into this.
I was a little surprised and some technical places where I gained time last weekend:
1) Old Velodrome. We entered high, and exited low. I guess most people don't know this, but you can make a velodrome track a constant downhill (at least on the half we used). I passed 2-3 people here
2) Drafting. We had a good 20mph headwind on a straighaway. Yeah, the bike speeds were only 10mph, but I drafted, got my heart rate down, then at the end of the straight passed a couple of people and was refreshed for the rest of the course. Who the heck wants to ride into a strong headwind when you can get a bike shadow.
3) runup. We had a choice between bike up or run up. The time seemed to be about the same. But during practice, I found out I could ride up the run-up. So if there was traffic, I would take the long "ride up" alternative. But as the riders spread out, I would take the shorter run up - and ride up it instead of dismounting. That gained me a couple of places each lap.
4) the rest was just watching my apex and run out to make sure I exited each tight turn right on the edge of the course. That of course and balancing momentum with kinetic energy....