Originally Posted by
chas58
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....
I'm always surprised at how many riders fail to use the whole course on tight corners. I see a lot of racers approaching 180 degree hairpins on the middle or even inside half of the track only to slam on the brakes as they hit the apex. These are often stronger riders who can accelerate hard out of the corner, but over the course of a race these little efforts add up.
I actually think riding cantis (especially when wet) is an advantage in this regard because it forces me to be smoother with braking and think ahead a bit more about how much speed I can carry into a corner, therefore finding lines that allow me to minimize braking.