Aggressive Racing, Sprint Power, Over-Unders and More – Ask a Cycling Coach 297

@Nate_Pearson Only just finished listening to this episode and I am SHOCKED. How dare you disparage the wondrous workout that is Disaster!? Every moment of Disaster is a pure delight.

I think @mcneese.chad will back me up on this one…

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:rofl:

Then be ready for 11 December!

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Now that is epic!

Regarding UCI’s ban on positions, I’m with @Nate_Pearson on this one. Both positions should be banned for safety. Here are my primary reasons:

Super-tuck position
Even if one can handle the bike in that position, most modern carbon frames aren’t designed for vertical loads on the top tube (Josh Poertner discusses this on the Marginal Gains podcast; sorry, don’t remember the episode). So hitting a bump in that position can cause the frame to fail catastrophically. Once a clubmate of mine slipped off his pedal and landed on the top tube (ouch!) of his carbon frame. The toptube broke cleanly in the middle! Yeah, a bump on a descent may not be the same as landing full body weight onto a toptube, but it’s just not worth the risk.

Invisible aerobars position (aka puppy dog, praying mantis)
This one is also dangerous for a similar reason, hitting a bump. With no grip on the bars, hitting a bump or pothole can cause your forearms to slide off, throwing your chest into the handlebars. THIS HAS ALREADY HAPPENED! Allison Tetrick crashed like this in the 2015 USA Cycling Professional Road National Championships in Chattanooga. In her case she even had her hands somewhat on the hoods, but since most of her weight was on her forearms, it still caused her to go down. Here’s the video (crash occurs @ 46:16):

I agree that both these bans will probably decrease the success of solo and small-group breakaways, but safety should take precedence. Maybe UCI could reconsider allowing Spinaci- and Scott drop-in-style bars from years ago?! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

While these long-forgotten bars also reduce accessibility to your brakes, at least you can get a proper grip on the bars (with thumbs wrapped) while being aero.

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I’m late to this episode, but I just wanted to thank @ambermalika for your comments about “being happy now” around the 25 minute mark. So many of us struggle with thinking that “I’ll be happy when I get to X”, whether that’s weight loss or a certain power level, and to hear you phrase it as “you can be happy now” was an extremely helpful way to see that there’s no reason to deprive yourself joy just because your not yet at your goals. And even better - being in the right mindset now will only help you reach your goals faster and actually enjoy the journey!

Thanks so much for your wisdom on this and so many topics.