Is this a typical road race?

Kings Valley is no joke!

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So much of what you were talking about with the pace changing rapidly at the beginning of your video was probably 90% because of your position in the group. In road races with a double yellow in effect you absolutely have to take every opportunity you can to move up through the field and stay in the top 5% of the peloton. Those sections where you were coasting and taking it easy are fine, but it looks like there was a ton of space to move up through the group at that point as well, you should use that opportunity to pedal just a bit more to pass riders who are recovering and coasting. The ride will almost always be smoother and easier up front.

It also is pretty common in beginner races to see guys lose all sense of how to ride a bike when they’re in the red, this leads to incidents, and those incidents are usually further back in the pack because those riders are trying to stay in the draft and just hang on. You can see this in the riders that you come up on who are wobbling all over the place after putting in hard digs.

@jpolchlopek asked about the pass at 10:20, and that was actually a really good move, you gained a ton of spots and did very little work because you were able to maintain your momentum through the corner and carry speed that no one else had. this is what you should have been doing more often. You didn’t put anyone at risk and weren’t chopping any wheels, it was a safe and effective pass.

When that incident with Charlie happen, you absolutely should have stood up and just closed the gap asap. You close it faster and can carry speed into the draft of the back of the group and then recover at that point.

As for crashes, they happen. In beginner races, they happen more often because like I said above, guys ride beyond their level and shit goes down because they’re out of their ability zone. This causes a domino effect for the riders around them, and for newer riders who don’t know what to do in that situation or how to handle themselves, they usually just target fixate and end up in the crash, or crashing themselves.

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Thanks for the tips @TheCyclissimo. You’re right, I should have taken more opportunities to move up. My excuse is (we’ve all got em, right!) that it was my first race and I just wanted to hang in the pack to feel things out.
I was planning on trying to stay more towards the front in my last race but there was a lot more climbing and I could barely hang on to the back of the pack… before I finally got dropped on the last lap.
I appreciate the words of advice!

Looks like a pretty typical race to me and I thought the pass at 10.20 was fine. Are you wearing gloves or not, it’s a bit hard to tell. Given the number of crashes you probably should! Nice vid.

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+1 for the good video!

Staying at the front is often easier said than done, since everybody else has the same idea. The more practice you can get the better, doesn’t have to be in races, there should be local group rides around you where roadies and racers show up and the ride (or at least sections of it) replicates a lot of what happens in a race. An extra benefit of this can be that you get to know (and be known by) the local racers, which can really help with getting a wheel or a good position on race day.

Re your last race, I actually find the races with a decent amount of climbing tend to be much safer than the flat ones, since the climbs thin out the pack naturally, so there is much less need to try and force a selection by attacking on the flat, hammering through bends, etc. Of course that’s not much consolation if you’re one of the ones being thinned out! But worth bearing in mind, either by seeing if you can improve your W/kg to be one of the guys that makes the cut, and/or by looking for courses which suit you. E.g. if you get dropped by the skinny guys on the long climbs but have good 2-5 minute power and can hang with them on the shorter climbs, try and find races to suit. Your ideal position as a heavier guy is a race where there are enough hills to weed out the other bigger guys, but you can hang on and get into the finish with the smaller climbers where your outright power should give you an advantage. Again easier said than done though!

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Hi @bmcd, no, I haven’t been wearing gloves because I have trouble getting anything out of my back pockets with them on. I should at least get fingerless gloves though.
Thanks!

Thanks @cartsman! Yes, there are some group rides around - at least one that I’m aware of and probably more. I really should join some of those. I never have… Good points regarding the local knowledge!

That’s so true regarding the climbing races. It was definitely a bit more stretched out compared to the previous race. Unfortunately, considering my size, I feel like the first race (the one in the vid) is more my strength since there aren’t any big hills for me to get popped on! The second race was about 3k feet of climbing.

I’ve only been riding for about 2 1/2 years so I’m still trying to build my FTP. I’ve got a long ways to go!

Thanks again!

@CrunchyGears listening to your commentary I picked up a few things:

  • While in a group going down a hill into a climb even if the riders on the front are pinning it you will normally run over the wheel in front if you don’t do something. You thinking the guys on the front are not riding hard is not correct. You having to hit the brakes is your fault not the guys in front of you.

  • You made a couple comments on the pace out of the corners. In every race or group ride that’s the case. Being in front you can take your line and speed will generally be quicker out of the corner. The guys behind, just like transitioning from a descent to a climb, will need to brake coming into the corner (if sharp enough) and therefore, apply a lot more power exiting. If done enough it can really fatigue a rider. Good riders will use the corners to put the hurt on the guys behind or even open gaps to further punish competitors. That’s the name of the game…make your competition work more than you. Sometimes, even though you are on the front pushing the wind, you may save more energy through technical sections of courses. You’ve seen races on TV where teams are drilling to get to the front prior to a hill or technical section. They are spending energy to save more energy later.

  • “Is it the same up front?” No. But, the caliber of the riders up front dictates if it’s harder or easier to stay up front. If it’s rolling or a criterium that’s not wide open etc…I try to stay up by going with accelerations. Sort of “surfing wheels” and if/when it’s my turn to roll through I roll through to keep it fast/safe when it makes sense. Sometimes you may find a gap opens up and unless you are attacking just ride a tempo so that once they latch on they blow past you super fast. When that happens you have to sprint back going too deep. It seems like road events are more about trying to limit the super huge power spikes and riding up front help in this department. With that said, there are situations where riding up front is impossible due to the level of riders. In that case just hide and conserve the best you can. Try and limit huge power spikes while in the group.

  • The dude you said had hand cramps I think was signaling gravel or some kind of FOD/hole. Anyways, that looked like a gravel signal…I could be wrong.

  • The guys stretching in the group (from my experience) happens at all levels. I think it’s a mistake to assume anything else from it. I thought your observation was interesting mainly because I’ve seen it so much I wouldn’t have thought to make a comment about it. Now the dude “Charlie” with the calf/foot cramp…I’ve not seen that and that sucks you were in the wrong spot at the wrong time.

  • Getting dropped…we’ve all been there. In this case and in most cases it comes down to fitness. Yes you have to close gaps way quicker but, if you don’t have the power to do it then you pay. You’ll get batter at anticipating when and where to be in a group to limit the need to close gaps but, gaps will happen at every race every level. I had the chance to ride behind Rahsaan Bahati in a criterium out here on the west coast yesterday. When the race is on he closes gaps quicker than most. He talks a lot about wanting to minimize gaps but, when you have to close on down, do it quick.

  • Comment on gaps…they happen for many reasons. Sometimes they are intentional to make others ride harder (team oriented tactics perhaps) or sometimes they are unintentional. They happen at all levels. All I can say is look ahead and anticipate what the riders are doing given the terrain and situation. I’ve lost so many races not paying attention it’s laughable. Totally my fault. Road racing can be and is a little like chess especially when teams start to get experienced.

Good luck! Nice video. Thanks for the comments as they really help to get a better picture of what and why you’re doing what you’re doing. Hope you keep racing. As you get better it gets more fun so stick with it a bit. Do some more fast group rides too.

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YEah, I would always wear gloves… I can’t imagine how bad my hands would’ve been if I was barehanded when I went down at 32mph a few years back. They were bad as it was. Yikes.

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Good stuff @KorbenDallas, thanks!

  • being my first race, I’m sure a lot of things were my fault! I was just trying to learn about road racing and one of the things I was really surprised about was how dramatically the pace slowed fairly regularly toward the tops of small climbs.

  • ya, I guess I understand the strategy of hitting it hard out of corners to make everyone else work a bit harder, but was still surprised it happened through almost every corner. It made it seem like more of a habit than a strategy after awhile.

  • I couldn’t agree more - stable power with as few spikes as possible is ideal, especially for someone like me who is a… plus size… rider :slight_smile: but, as you said, that’s only possible as far as my ability will take me, which isn’t far at this time!

  • the “hand cramps” thing was obviously a REALLY bad joke because you aren’t the first one to clarify for me. I understood what he was doing… just a bad attempt at being funny :confused:

  • it’s comforting to know that people who don’t look comfortable on their bike is commonplace. I just don’t see that happen much with MTB and CX, so it did jump out to me. Definitely bad timing following the guy who cramped, but we’re Strava friends now, so it’s all good :stuck_out_tongue:

  • Gettting dropped is all I know so far in the two road races I’ve done, haha! If I’m ever in the situation again and happen to have the spare watts, I’ll definitely hit it hard to close the gap.

  • I’ve got a lot to learn with road racing and anticipating moves is one of a long list! I’m also at a bit more of a disadvantage in that I am not on a team, so I’m always flying solo. There’s a big team in the area that usually seems to own the races - partly due to ability, but also due to numbers. I think they had like 9 people in that particular race.

I appreciate the tips, encouragement and critique!

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