carpediemracing 

Hard to tell, but if that rider that won is on the team of the helmet cams (he had one on, obviously), there may be a reason the helmet cam footage is not in the clip. I have a feeling that was a tight move. It's borderline dangerous. In the 3s or 4s that's the kind of move that can wipe out a side of the field.

The thing is if you have significant speed difference/delta then you can do stuff like that. For example if you're going 40 and everyone else is going 30 (or 30 and everyone else is going 20), it's possible to slice through smaller gaps. If you're going the same speed or you're not accelerating much then you really can't make such aggressive moves.

In this video I rode a pretty aggressive last lap. I thought that I couldn't swing out for the last turn, ended up missing the apex (i.e. going inside the manhole cover), and had to go wide to stay up (someone crashed earlier in that corner I think). I didn't want to swing out because I didn't think I had enough speed to clear the leadout train I passed. Ends up I was clear but so it goes. Normally I wouldn't make so many moves laterally but I had the speed and the room so I did. If my helmet cam doesn't look back I'm usually looking down, to check if it's clear for me to move. The big move, to the left, when I cut across behind the CLR guy, I looked down briefly as I was going. It was the riskiest move I made because the rider to the left was blocking part of my view, but I didn't see or hear anyone blasting up the left side so I figured it'd be clear.

Also, the closer to the line you get, and I'm talking the last 200 meters or less, the more you have to watch the riders not yet in the wind. I've waited to jump as late as 75m to go. In situations like that the other rider has to expect some movement. Maybe not as much movement as the winner made, but some movement.

For me, if there's someone obviously on a wheel inside the last 200m and I'm already out in the wind, I'll actually sprint right up next to them, holding back a bit if necessary, so that they're obviously boxed in. Then I'll go when I think I can go. It doesn't happen very often but one of the few times it did a photographer caught the action. The guy actually pushed me really, really hard. I pushed back, held my line, and the other guy ended up totally out of contention - he waited too long to go and ended up boxed in. There was only one guy to each side of him but that was enough.

He's pushing me with his forearm here. I stalled my sprint in order to hold him in place, then went when I thought it would be too late for him to go.

Photo by Jim Gerwick but I own it now

Overall I think the move was sketchy, i.e. not to emulate such moves until you're more fluent with pack riding, but without a better view I can't really say anything beyond that.

Creakyknees

rubbin's racin'

zitter

here's footage from my race on Sunday. uc santa cruz crit collegiate A's, finished 7th. small field, strong wind and few teammates so i had to race more conservatively. was forced to chase in the end and caught the break half a lap from the finish. rider in front of me let a gap go into the last corner so i had to sprint in the wind and couldn't close the gap.

furiousferret

Here's a snippet of my race; since even my family thought the whole race was boring, I condensed it;

hack

As always...thanks for the reply and info. Good stuff.

ovoleg

haha not bad dude!

My girlfriend came out to watch like 3 races and refuses to come out anymore. She says shes so bored and can't even spot me most of the time lol.

mattm

From the Merced crit this past weekend - not my video, but I was in the race! Our guy got 3rd.


Check out the alley at 00:30.. nobody hit the wall luckily!!

waterrockets 

That looks like a really fun course.

rkwaki

rbart knows the Chin Picnic course which goes through a tiight tunnel. My favorite crit course ever as there aren't really any defined or sharp corners and the finishing sprint is super super wide. COurse is also dead flat.

collin2985

Here's a simple and honest look back at my racing so far. It's a compilation of all the final moments from the races I've filmed in the last 2 years, 18 races in 4 minutes.

Ygduf

I recognized a few. San Bruno, Burlinggame? Cat's Hill?

grolby

I think you and I must have very different taste in crit courses.

rkwaki

Agreed.
Due to a significant size difference between you and I, I prefer things to be wide open, big gear and fast with very little braking. It's the starts and stops that hurt a bigger fella.

waterrockets 

I like some short climbs, lots of corners, varying widths, and a bunch of potholes and manhole covers. Throw in some high winds and rain, and it's glorious. I like a course that requires some creativity.

Jandro 

WR's ideal crit course:

waterrockets 

If only. If I could race any European race as a pro, it would be Roubaix. It might suck once I actually got there, but still.

grolby

Yep. I like punchy courses that bring the speeds down and sprints that start from low speeds. So I always liked Tim's course, and my favorite crit course ever is probably the Grant's Tomb crit in NYC (which is March 14, as it happens, but I suspect I'll have to miss it this year).

happybday29475

Thanks for posting. I watch these to learn.

I only have 1 year more experience than you, so not the most expert opinion...but it looked like to me you were never drafting. You could have had the same pack position by doing 1/3 less work (ie without a cramped calf).

Skills building suggestion: pick a random guy, say the guy who finished 5th in this race, and, at your next race, stick to his wheel like glue. Everytime you fall off his wheel, work to get back on it. This will be hard for a few races, but it will get easier, and it will teach you pack skills.

furiousferret

Thanks, you pretty much nailed it. I spent a ton of time out in the air, my goal next race is to stay closer to the front and conserve more. Hopefully find someone to follow.

Two weeks from now we have our weekly training crits and Tuesday Worlds, hopefully that will help some too.

ovoleg

This is from my race a week ago. I only included the final lap where I tried to go for it and got smoked.

spdntrxi

^^^ seemed you pulled quite a bit there....then the whole pack took ya.

furiousferret

I hope those guys thanked you for the pull!

ovoleg

I got a slight gap into the first corner and into the 2nd. You don't notice me looking under my elbow to see haha. But yeah I think they caught me into turn 3 and I lead them into that hill.

lol

mattm

Nice try!

Next time, attack from further back in the pack - so that when you pass the leaders your speed differential is so much that they have no chance of jumping on to your wheel.

This is what p/1/2 attackers do, and it sucks when you're on the front going "fast" and someone blows by going "really really fast".

Of course holding it all the way isn't any easier, but you can get a bigger gap that way.

shovelhd

Towing the field up to the break is generally not recommended unless it is a threat to your team. As mattm says, attack harder, or take your flyer for 20 seconds, look down, then make the come around you before you grab their wheel to the finish.