aggiegrads

In a race this past Sunday, I nipped someone right at the finish line. I did not get a bell, so the checkered flag was a surprise coming around the last corner, and I still had some left in the tank.

When I was telling a friend about my finish, he said it was poor form to sprint for anything other than a podium finish. Is the "road-only" etiquette? If I fight for every place for 44 minutes, why should that change in the 45th minute?

queerpunk

Cyclocross, yes, it's okay. You're always racing the people around you.

In a road ride it's okay to sprint from the group you are in.

It's not okay to sprint for a mid-bunch placing, because that usually means you are sprinting into traffic, blown riders, etc.

And that's really the standard.

Clear road, OK to sprint.

Andy_K 

I can definitely see where that would make sense in a road race where a pack finishes together, but in CX that's one of the best moments.

At David Douglas #1 I sprinted for the finish against some guy that was a lap ahead of me. He beat me, but I enjoyed it and I think he did too. In fact, he probably enjoyed it more because I doubt he knew I was a lap down. He had been chasing me for about a quarter of a lap.

caloso

From a roadie's perspective. On the road, sit up and coast over. CX, go like hell. (In any discipline, be safe. Don't take anyone out. We all have to go to work on Monday.)

midschool22

Why not? This past Sunday, I sprinted Mr.Psimet himself for 73rd. Had I not crashed the lap prior, It would have ended different.

November Dave

I'd almost say it's a breach of etiquette if you don't.

jsqueri

I thought you were supposed to sprint the whole thing?

marqueemoon

Definitely. The dynamics of road and cross racing are completely different.

DinoShepherd

Your friend knows nothing about cx and probably think its bad form to accept a beer hand up.

If you think there is truly hope, bring him out to experience the fun. If not, keep him the heck away, there are already too many whiney little roadies at the races anyway.

aggiegrads

He'll be at Alpenrose tomorrow racing in the beginner class.

DinoShepherd

Encourage him to not be one of THOSE road racers who sandbags in cross. He seems very experienced and would likely enjoy the comraderie of at least B racing. Preferably Masters where there is no sandbagging and it's really just peace and love for all.

Debusama

In a road race, you don’t want to be sprinting from the back of the back and endangering other racers when you aren’t in the points. It a cross’ race where things get spread out and people come trickling through the finish, if the guy twenty feet ahead of me wants to soft-pedal the finishing straightway, he’s getting passed, no matter what place we’re in.

jsqueri

What's sandbagging?

Andy_K 

Sandbagging is when there are guys in your category who are faster than you. Obviously, they're sandbagging and should upgrade.

CliftonGK1

In one of our local series (MFG Cyclocross) there's points awarded all the way down to 20th place. It's acceptable form to hammer your finish if you think you're anywhere near the top 25% of the field because you might get nicked for a few points in the overall standings if you just sit back and coast over the line.
2 weeks ago I was in a 3 man sprint to the line for 11th, 12th, and 13th place; 15pts, 14pts, and 12pts respectively.
There's a team competition based on these points, too. After results come out, teams can cherry-pick their top rider in each of 5 different divisions to submit for the points totals. So again, those 1 or 2 extra points getting racked up in 5 races/day over the course of a 6 race series really make a difference.

As for 85th place; if you sprint down someone and get 85th, you're still faster than the guy who got 86th, so go for it.