tspek

My lady's little brother is going to do his first race on the 14th. It's labeled a practice crit. I told him to approach it as such. He's fairly strong though, and I could see him being in the mix at the end.

The mix at the end of a practice Cat 5 Crit in March. I'm not sure that's a place I want to be.

Discuss...

waterrockets 

Tell him not to be in the pack when it's bunching up. That's when it's dangerous. If I'm in a pack that bunches up on the last lap, that's when I launch all-out if I'm near the edge. The talent can't respond too quickly in the mess.

The other option is not to let it bunch up by taking the lead. It depends on goals for the race. Sitting on the front will hurt chances for winning, but help chances for not crashing. Good for training too.

tspek

It's his race, so he can have is own goals, but since I've sort of been mentoring him as much as my limited experience allows me to, my goals for him would be:

1. Realize he's a lot stronger than he thinks he is (he has been comparing himself to nothing, mostly)
2. Get a sense for how a race plays out and how the pack moves/floats/takes on a life of its own
3. Get over that first race jitter
4. Avoid an on-the-road seizure resulting from a bunch of fat cat 5's sprinting for 20th in a practice Crit

MDcatV

i'm assuming he's got a little bit of pack experience and has worked in some pacelines before to get comfortable with moving around in close proximity to others? if not, i'd be apprehensive to put him into this crit, but that's just me and my overly protective nature.

tell him to have fun, launch at first chance, and not to look back. if he gets caught, catch his breath and do it again, and again, and again.

Psimet2001 

Seeing as how I have both ridden with him as well as coached a phenom last year in the exact same race as his first race I would give this advice -

That race is run with 4's and 5's at the same time. They let the 4's off and then the 5's after a slight delay but it ends up as 1 big pack anyway. Totally f'd up. They are scored separately.

Even though it's a flat crit there is a long false flat all the way to the finish. A lot of people mis-judge it.

This is the race that MJH2 took a spill in leading out little meatball. They were doing 32+ the whole last lap and he came upon some lapped traffic in the last turn. Instead of cutting off the genetic freak he took the line into the grass/curb. Still was hurting him during cross last year. In other words - lots of people with no clue and everyone still riding like they are on a trainer.

That race allowed 3 cat 4 riders to go OTF and stay away. They were all 3 material looking to upgrade early season so they had the motors.

General feeling from that race was that the pace was fairly slow. JF won the sprint by a HUGE margin.

Psimet2001 

He has limited experience. I think last Saturday was his first group experience. That said he rode with:

tspek
colorchange
myself
CyLowe97
jpradun
Little Meatball
The Knop - a cat 3 stone cold killer
some other accomplished riders.

In the group he carried himself well and really rode very well. He has talent and instinct for sure. I was very impressed. He's receptive to listening to advice and I found I was only yelling at him a few times because I felt like he needed to be yelled at.

This will be a great learning opportunity.

...EDIT: in that he's going to show how well he can read a race. There will be some 4 rabbits that he could chase and die or he could play it smart and go for the field. I think he's best lurking as much as possible - getting into the wind a few times after about 5 laps and then holding what he can until the final 2. get someone up front for the 2nd to last and as much of the last as possible then he needs to jump wheels or be in clean air as much as possible.

He has the motor to do better with a final lap effort than the sprint IMHO.

Creakyknees

this. he might just win the thing or get in a break. either way he'll get a great workout.

mattm

Yeah he should go OTF, if he's really a "stud"

tspek

He's not a freak, but I'm willing to bet he's in a lot better shape than the majority of true Cat 5's.

I've got about 30-40 watts on him FTP wise, we weigh the same, and I'm anticipating a Cat 3 (for myself) upgrade by May/June...so, that's what it is.

carpediemracing 

I'd queue up Botto's list on how to race. Figure he's at #5 or #6 in the process with 'race' substituted for 'group ride'.

Bike Racing for Beginners: How to get started

1. Find some group rides, fast group rides. Sit in the back.
2. Don't get discouraged if/when you get dropped from those group rides.
3. Go back the following week and do the fast group ride again.
4. If you're dropped a 2nd time, repeat steps 2 & 3
5. Once you're comfortable with the group and pace (and vice versa), take some pulls.
6. Once you're comfortable taking pulls, try some attacks (if it's that kind of group ride).
7. Once you're comfortable with steps 5 & 6, it's time to enter a race.
8. At your first race, repeat steps 1-6, but substitute 'race' for 'group ride'.

cdr

tspek

That's really not relevant to what I'm getting at. How do you tell a an eager 19 year old to not go for the sprint if he's not at the front of the pack? I suppose I could tell him to just attack at the end...

Grumpy McTrumpy

I don't know if this applies here but, in music, some things cannot be taught.

They must be "lived".

tspek

True.

I worry lots.

waterrockets 

Yeah, he's more likely to misunderstand the bell as the finish than anything else.

MDcatV

just make sure he gets there on time and doesnt mistakenly line up with the 1/2 race.

carpediemracing 

When I say "queue", I mean in the new rider's mind. It's a lot of info to take in all at once, all this stuff. So it's best to organize the race into sections and have goals for each one. You'll have to illustrate that Rome wasn't built in a day. It'll be be easier for him to grasp the concept that, for example, it's harder to win field sprints from the back of the field.

If he's really strong you can give him some basic guidelines, adjusting for the course. These are "section goals" for different parts of the race.

For example, for a new racer at Bethel, a course that doesn't emphasize cornering at all and one that allows riders to move up quickly, I'd tell a new racer to take the following approach. Keep in mind that this list is for a racer at Bethel; I point out at the end of the list that you should customize this list for the course in question.

1. START: Get in the frickin' pedals at the start. Don't lose the wheels.
2. FIRST HALF OF RACE: Sit back a bit, maybe at the back, watch what the other riders do gear wise, position (standing/sitting), etc, esp on the short hill to the finish. In general keep it in the big ring - reduce the possibilities of dropping the chain by not shifting the front derailleur. That wide ratio cassette suddenly doesn't seem too bad (I have a 23 or 25 at Bethel and rarely climb the hill in anything easier than a 53x17 or 19).
3. HALFWAY POINT: If you feel kind of comfortable sitting behind the other riders, try moving up a bit. Try moving up on the hill, on the first stretch, or on the back stretch. Follow your lane in turns, meaning don't follow that "optimal line" that so many riders tell you to follow (out in out). The "optimal line" is one where everyone stays upright, and in most cases that means simply following the rider in front of you.
4. 4 LAPS TO GO: If you feel pretty good physically you can start thinking of the finish. You should be closer to the front - maybe 10th-20th - at 2 to go. You should hold that position at the bell. The last lap is very fluid. The field rapidly shuffles. Don't swerve across the road to respond to any moves. Go with every surge directly in front of you, go with side surges if there's a gap you can fill safely without cutting anyone off. Resist getting into the wind too much. Hint: Look down to check your six, you don't have to turn your head to look back.
5. LAST LAP: With half a lap to go, you can eat wind to maintain or improve position. Remember that you're going to sprint in a bit, so don't kill your legs before you get to the sprint.
6. SPRINT: Lay it on the line up the hill in the sprint. Follow a path parallel to the curb - if you jump on the right side, stay more to the right. Move left only if you've verified that there's no one there. If you jump on the left, follow the curb, and watch for guys coming in from the right. (The finish curves right then left at Bethel). Look down to check if things are clear, and move if the road is clear. Remember that as fast as you think you are going, there will be guys going way faster.

Adjust the above for the course in question. The sections can be adjusted for the rider's strengths and weaknesses. This works even for Cat 3s and 1s and whoever. For example, for WR, I may put in something like "Hide" for 20 of 25 laps of the race. Then "move up" from 20-23 laps. Then "Get ready" for lap 24. "Attack" at the beginning of lap 25. If I was a teammate setting up for WR, my schedule would look more like "Launch a bazillion attacks that don't gain too much time, don't work with anyone who bridges, and try to get caught by 23 laps into the race".

I think sitting at/near the front is extremely overvalued in most races, at least for the first 80% of the race.

I also think that attacking, although good for the soul, is best experienced after the first race. Second race, sure, first race, maybe not. For Cat 5s breaks rarely succeed, and if they do, it's more a reflection on the rider's strength, not tactical savvy or field handling skills. Both of them (savvy, skills) are what you want riders to learn in the 5s. It's much better to learn those skills early on, not find yourself a Cat 2 who can't handle a bike. And there are those riders, trust me.

cdr

carpediemracing 

ZeCanon

CDR, great post. Mind if I adjust it a bit and send it out to our new collegiate racers?

carpediemracing 

Feel free

cdr

tspek

Gold.