First Race advice and cornering/crash concerns.
 

I have my first ever bike race on the first weekend in August so like two weeks away. It is going to be a category 5 criterium basically. Corners flat course etc. Here is the race map: https://d36gb93zszu20a.cloudfront.ne...%20Details.pdf

So my first question. How should I prepare the few days in advance for it. Anything special? My FTP is 250 watts (4.5w/kg) I am a smaller rider so my bigger races are going to be climbing ones so I don’t have high expectations (I signed up because I really just wanted to race), but I still want to attack and finish top 1/2 and have fun. I am pretty sure I am strong enough and I will have a teammate racing with me.

Next week I want to not do a lot of endurance riding I just want to practice corners and sprinting as that is relatively low stress on the body.

The BIGGEST Question… My bike is an allez sprint with DI2 Ultegra and carbon 50mil wheels. tbh I am actually concerned about is my shifters and derailers getting damaged/broken in a crash. I plan on letting small gaps open up by a few feet in corners and I want to try and take the outside for cornering. Aka If it means I have to put in a small effort out of corners it is fine because I will still be upright. I say this because I know I am not the most confident when cornering even though GP5000’s have given me more confidence recently.

I am also curious for a cat 5 race in the standard right hand turns (like stop sign turns) how fast should I be taking them (assuming dry fair condition road). Right now I can take them at 22mph so is that fast enough or are my going to cause a crash because I am going slower then everyone else.

Thank you!

If you do this, you won’t have to worry about being taken out in a crash because you will be riding by yourself off the back of the group.

Corner at the speed of the guy in front of you, following their line. I know that’s tricky advice in the Cat5s because most people suck at handling bikes in that category, but if they make it though, it’s unlikely that you won’t. Don’t look at your bike computer when cornering. Or really at all. I think the only time it’s acceptable to look at your computer is on a solo break, but even that’s questionable.

As for training prep, take it easy the week before, do a couple shorter efforts with good recovery the day before and remember to warm up well before the race.

+1, go the same speed as the group through the corners. Doing it slower or faster is unsafe. If you're worried about the safety of being in the pack, I suggest you attack early and often :)

As other said, go the speed of the field. Crashes happen when people try to go faster/slower than others through turns. And watch out for that one guy who will dive bomb the corners even if he doesn't have the line - there's always at least one person in a Cat 5 field who does that. It's okay to leave a little space as you enter into a corner, but don't be surprised if someone takes it.

Read up on some of the other threads and stickies on racing. Crits are less about FTP and more about dealing with surges - How many times can you sprint out of a turn before you run out of matches? It's not uncommon for Cat 5 fields to blow up in the first few laps. Someone usually tries to win from the gun while someone else - usually at the front - can't get clipped in.The first few minutes will be fast, then people will start to fade and things will settle some. If you can make it through the first 5-10 min, you should be fine until the end. If you get dropped, just keep going and ride safely. That could mean slowing on a straight so that the field doesn't catch you in a turn.

As far as tapering this week, I think you should maintain your training intensity, but decrease the volume. So, if you normally do 6 sprints on Tuesday, only do 3 the week of.

Find someplace you and your teammate can spend a little time cornering on a wheel. Industrial park? School? (most are abandoned right now). Nothing like familiarity to gain a little confidence.

You don’t have the power to afford to close more than a couple of gaps during the race; even a cat4-5 race on a smooth flat road will be 30mph+. You might think you only have a small gap to close but then you’ll realize that 2-3 riders ahead have also let a gap open up and you have to go around them too. Unless you can to do 35mph on your own 3-4 times in an hour you’ll be dropped by the fifth lap.

The best strategy is to ride in the front of the group as much as possible, turns are usually pretty smooth at the front of the pack. If you don’t have a >1000w sprint you won’t be in contention so unless you’re in a position to lead out your teammate I would drop back a few hundred meters before the finish, as bad things tend to happen in a cat5 sprint especially if there is a $50 gift certificate to Olive Garden or some other classy place for first prize. You’ll be amazed what risks some guys will take for a 7-11 slurpy coupon.

Note: Corning at 22mph is way too slow for an open corner in a crit. Remember you’ll have the whole road, so expect to turn at a high speed.

Kevin, you've spent two years making countless threads and then just disappearing from them.

Since there are so few bike races going on, please come back and tell us how this goes. I'm genuinely interested!

Kevin!

Looking at this map, there's no way this tactic is going to work when you have to go right-left-right. As others have said, follow the wheel in front of you. Preferably in the first 10 spots or so. Things will be smoother up there. If you get shuffled to the back, the accordion effect will suck up all your watts and then it's just a matter of time before you get popped off the back.

if others are making it through a corner at a given speed, odds are good that you can as well, as long as you are smooth and don't panic.

Are there any group rides going on currently that you can ride with at speed?

So you got a new light bike? Wasn't your last post about how heavy your old bike was?

Use the other one if youre worried about it for your first race.

If you’re a Cst 5 with 4.5 w/kg FTP, drill it from the get go. There aren’t too many Cat5’s you won’t drop

But that's doing 250 watts.

He's not dropping anyone doing 250 watts.

guess it depends on size, and frontal area. For me that would be over 400 watts. I never quite got to that as a Cat 3. Pretty sure if I had an FTP of 425 watts, I would have won more Cat 5 races.

Cat 5's tend to go out way too hard, just hang on at the beginning and let them burn themselves out. Try to establish and keep a front-ish position early on (top 5-10) to avoid the yo-yo's and squirrely riders. Cat 5 breaks never work, someone will chase it back. Last lap, tell your legs to shut up and go hurt peoples feelings. DO NOT think about how fast you are going into a corner. Unless you are going like 30+ mph on a 90 degree corner (you won't be), your tires will hold. Stay in your drops, keep a low center of gravity, you'll be fine. Trust your equipment and go win it, we need to see a race report after!

My guess is that Cat 5 races are going to be even worse this way than before, since a bunch of them have been doing Zwift races, which do this excessively. They're all going to think that's how races go in real life.

They'll also try to chase every single thing down.

Zwift is building a lot of strong riders with zero bike handling skill.

When I raced collegiate a long time ago, the guys and girls from the Naval Academy weren't allowed off campus to train, so 100% of their riding was on trainers. The result was as bad as you'd expect...so many watts mixed with absolutely zero handling ability. Luckily, I've not been riding much for the last year or two, so I'm in the perfectly opposite category. Or maybe neither. :D

Crashed. Everything was going fine. I was sitting in the main group the whole time. Was under/FTP the whole time so I never truly burned a match. Last lap second to last turn I was trying to pass someone did not realize how close I was to the curve and down I went. It was not a confidence issue on my bike it was a lack of focus on the corner. Lessoned learned. I was in a good spot too I was in the top 5 in the last two corners and charging my legs for a sprint (that I knew I was not going to win) but able to keep in the top 5 or 10 at worst (Out of 40 riders).

Are you ok?

How's the bike?

Kevin!