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An Unsettling and Disturbing Guide to Road, Criterium and Track Racing in Australia... continued 
Indoor Riding I do most of my training indoors now, simply through lack of time in my day. My preference is to be out on the road, but there are risks on poorly-lit roads at night and I don't want to die. Yet. Firstly, you need to get a training benefit for your effort, so plan your indoor work. Balance strength and endurance efforts, set targets and be prepared to sweat. (A heart rate monitor may help keep you on target.) If you are unfit, go easy. Don't exceed your limits. I have seen, although the reasons weren't apparent at the time, a rider pull out of a race, red-faced and puffing. He had been an excellent racer earlier in his life, but with a growing family he had stopped training, put on some weight and grown unfit. He just raced each weekend. After pulling out of the race he sat down and talked to a friend. He didn't look well, but he looked OK. It's not unusual for a rider to pull out of a criterium. An old friend sidled up and sat down on the log with him, just to check that all was Well. "Don't tell my wife", he said. "But I think I'm having a heart attack". And his friend didn't tell his wife, either. And later that day he had another heart attack at home, which his wife did see and off to hospital he went. Luckily he recovered. What am I saying? Don't ignore heart attacks? Do tell your wife when you have had a heart attack? Don't race unless you have trained? All of the above? Yep. So, make your initial effort comfortable and build up the miles with low resistance work. Start with just 10 minutes easy work, maybe 3 times a week. Then do the same 5 days a week and add at least one road ride. When you are regularly training for at least 100km a week, or the indoor equivalent, try something like my current routine. (You can put a cycle computer on your back wheel if you want to accurately measure the distance – but don't fool yourself by setting the resistance too low.) It can be boring pedaling in the garage. I like to read magazines during endurance efforts and then drop the mag and focus on the strength and sprinting work. Set the resistance of your trainer (no matter what type, unless it's not adjustable!) to a level where you are simulating a reasonable road effort. I find that with my magnetic trainer I need to set the resistance at about 75% of max and then adjust the effort using the bike's gears. So start slow in a small gear at low resistance, warming up for, say, 10 minutes, reading or watching TV or whatever and then assess how you are feeling. If stressed, slow down and cool off. If you are just starting then 10 minutes is all you need. Don't rush it. If you have a few more miles in the legs, pick up the pace a little and raise the gearing. Continue to warm up for another 5 minutes before doing an interval at, say, 60% effort (check your pulse and judge an 60% effort by doing the usual 220 minus your age calculation and mutiplying that by 0.60). The interval can be for as long as you like, depending upon fitness, but start with, say, 20 secs and build from there. Don't exceed 60%, ease off if you are going harder and rest in a lower gear for about 2 minutes. Then repeat at 70% or higher, depending upon fitness level. If you do this for the next 10 minutes, before easing off and cooling down over the last 5 minutes, you will have had a reasonable 30 minute ride. Remember, do less than this if you are just starting. Do this routine 3 days a week, plus a steady-effort distance ride of at least 30km and you'll be ready to start racing after about 2 months. Don't rush it and face possible disappointment. Your first racing experiences should contain enough positives for you to want to come back and do it all again. |
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Variations on this same training theme are endless. Try extending the intervals, or increasing the effort to 85%. Add some sprints (really just short, sharp intervals). Lengthen the session and do it more frequently. (Currently I use the above indoor routine 5 days a week, for a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 60. My intervals include 95% efforts.) Remember to document every ride, indoor or out, so you can plot your progress. Write down distance, intensity, time spent, number of sprints and so on. Fitness – what is it good for? Well, if all you want to do is to start in a bike race, fitness is measured as the ability to get you and your bike entered in the race and waiting at the start. That's an art in itself. Here's a tip! Train in a bunch, if you can. Skills rub off, and you'll be pushed to go a bit harder, a bit further. But what if you want to actually finish a bike race, say your first race? Then you need to do some research. How long is the race? 30 km? Then I would suggest building up your training (gradually!) so that you are doing at least one unbroken 30km ride, plus several smaller rides totalling an additional 60km, each and every week without undue effort. That's 90km each week. If you are comfortable with that amount of riding, and it may take 2 or 3 months for you to get to that point, you will have the miles in the legs to see you complete the race. Probably on your own, after being dropped before halfway. So, in fact you want to finish with the main field, the 'bunch' or 'peleton'. More research needed. Check the results, see how long it takes for those riders to finish their 30km race. Lower grades riding a 30km flat criterium would normally finish under the hour. Probably averaging 33 to 35km/h. So now I would say to you, keep up your 90km weekly routine but add some speed work. Set some targets – say, to complete your training week with an average of at least 25km/h; or to average 30km/h over a 10km course. When you have reached your average speed targets, raise the bar a little and push yourself. Don't forget that indoor training is valid, but it is easy to achieve higher averages when you choose lower resistance. So don't cheat yourself. If you are able to average around 25kmh for the week and have been reaching that 90km weekly total with relative ease, chances are that you will indeed 'survive' and stay with the bunch throughout the race. Several things are in your favour. Firstly, determination is paramount. You will not get dropped. You haven't done all this training just to get blown out the back of the race, have you? If you are not committed, you will be thinking how much easier it is just to slow down… 
Secondly, it's easier in a bunch to do some speed work. The lead riders will break the airflow first and you can shelter in their draft. One of the joys of cycling is the fact that the effort whilst drafting is as much as 30% less than riding on your own. On the other hand, you will earn displeasure from your fellow racers if you just sit in the draft all day. You'll get a reputation as a 'wheelsucker'. Instead, when you feel up to it, move forward with the natural flow of the bunch. If the wind is from the left you will find riders sheltering slightly to the right of the first rider, the next rider slightly to the right of that rider and so on. If the wind is from the right the riders will shelter to the left. If it's a headwind then just go with whatever everyone else is doing. The key thing is that the bunch is a dynamic situation. The lead rider will back off slightly as the second rider comes alongside, and drop back. The next rider will move forward and the new leader will do a short 'turn' before again dropping back. As the leaders drop back they shelter the previous leader, so you get a circular motion as the participants take turns moves up front, sheltering each other as they drop back as well as when moving forward. The overall effect is a higher speed for the bunch overall. Ah, in a perfect world! We'll discuss what goes wrong in the real world in a moment. For you, the beginner, the third most important thing in your favour is that you are a beginner and in all likelihood the bunch will let you wheelsuck, at least for now. And you will probably get lots of advice, some of it shouted at you in haste. Make a mental note to raise such issues as discussion topics after the race. f you like what we do at this site please show your support by buying a t-shirt, postcard or coffee mug, or perhaps an image. Or even simply search for a book from Amazon! They are good quality items from excellent providers that I use myself. Cheers, Rob. |
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Here's a tip! Train with riders a little bit better than you, in terms of fitness or skills. Remember, skills rub off, and you'll be pushed to go a bit harder, a bit further by more experienced/fitter riders. And the fourth thing in your favour is that we all tend to underestimate ourselves, such that at the end of the race you will look back in amazement that you covered such a distance at a speed you had never averaged before. That's racing for you. So, what if you still get dropped? Analyse why. Was the speed higher than expected? If so, reset your training goals. This may also be the time to ask the clubmembers whether there are group training rides. If so, join in, as they are certain to raise your pace. Or did the race surge at one point, where the pace lifted markedly? You probably got a surprise. Maybe in your next race you will be on the lookout for such such surges, or 'attacks'. As well, you can train for those higher level efforts by increasing the number and intensity of your intervals. So in your regular training, after warming up, you may try a maximum effort surge of your own, gradually increasing the length of such surges as your fitness improves. There is a training technique called 'fartlek', don't ask me why, although I think it was an Eastern European running-training concept, and it involves spontaneous high-level efforts at random moments. It can be that you commence an interval every time you see a telephone booth, or a bus stop, or whatever. My personal favorite used to be a sprint at every second power pole. It certainly gets the pulse rate up! If you implement at least most of these suggestions you will soon find that you are able to comfortably finish your race. You are still in "E" grade, and you still haven't won, but you are knocking on the door.
Racecraft for beginners Hopefully, with a bit of luck, training and commitment you have made that initial leap and are now racing with some confidence in a lower grade, improving with every race. Whilst no two races are ever the same, there are some common features that you may like to think about. And some tips that you need to know. Firstly, be it road or track, drafting (a.k.a 'sitting on a wheel' or 'wheelsucking') is the go. The closer you get, the better the advantage, but you have to be aware of the danger. You need to practice at every opportunity and get a feel for what is and isn't a reasonable risk. If you keep to the left or right and slightly behind the back wheel of the rider in front of you, the risk is minimised, for starters. You also need to judge the wind direction and peel off to the left or right as appropriate. The riders behind you will be sheltering (as you were) in the lee of the prevailing wind. So as you complete your time at the front you maintain that protection by drifting down the unprotected side of the bunch. Don't dive away, just ease off and allow the next rider to come up alongside as you drop back. In a well-organised group the next rider at the front will do as you did and you can then shelter on their wheel. The bunch takes on a circular flow as riders drift back whilst rested legs move forward, protected fropm the wind. Sometimes the bunch chooses to rotate in the wrong direction, particularly so in the lower grades, by mistake, or in criteriums where wind direction on one side of a course is (obviously) going to be the opposite on the other side. Don't panic – just go with the flow. If you get a chance to change the pattern, do so when it causes no breakdown to the flow of the group. This rotation of the lead rider ensures that legs stay fresh and the overall speed stays high. You will be expected to 'do your turn' (sometimes called 'bit and bit') and will risk displeasure if you refuse. Such refusals are to be expected later in the race, when legs are tired and tactics are sharpening prior to the sprint. If you get a reputation for not doing your share, expect to see elbows come out in the sprint, for wheels to move across your path and for other riders to 'back you off'. Backing people off It's a useful revenge tactic, and it gets rid of undesirables (likely winners are one example). It works like this: you have the wheelsucker (used in the pejorative sense) on your wheel and have drifted to the back of the bunch. Hopefully the bunch is hammering, ie going hard, so that the 'elastic band' is stretched. What you do is just let the elastic break, and you and the targeted rider fall off the bunch. If the target is alert they will try to get past you and back to the bunch. You may choose to bloke them, or just plan your move so that the target is almost alongside and pinned against the edge of the road. They must then either 'go bush' to get around you, or back right off and then pass behind you before chasing back to the bunch.Now, the backed-off rider won't like your tactics, but as long as you don't do something dangerous, like brake hard for no other apparent reason, then it's both safe and legal. In fact it happens by accident all the time. The rider in front has had enough and calls it quits without warning, leaving whoever is behind them cursing as they attempt to chase back to the peleton. So you could act innocent! (Innocence isn't an option if you back them off, then either block every move they make or, even more transparently, attack and drop them before rejoining the bunch. If you are that strong a rider you'll probably get away with it!) Bunch riding has to be predictable for it to be safe, and doing your turn in a safe manner is vital. If you accelerate too fiercely as you take your turn you risk breaking the (virtual) elastic band that binds the following rider to your wheel. Perhaps you are making a break, in which case, fine. Go and ride on your own, see if I care! However if you want to ride with the bunch, just draw alongside the leader and they will drop back. You do the same when it's your turn to drop back. All of this is relative, of course. If the bunch is hammering, trying to catch a breakaway, then the speed will be higher and you will need to adjust. When you pull off the front you won't ease off as much because you need the momentum. You also need to be aware of the end of the bunch. Look around, but don't wobble as you do so. Keep smooth. When you reach the last rider they may assist by saying something pertinent, like "last wheel!", but there's no guarantee. Just don't miss that last wheel or you'll have managed to drop yourself. |
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In fact it may be preferable to slide in after about the sixth rider, rather than go all the way to the back. Often the seventh rider wants you to do exactly that, to slip in front, as they are happy for the rest. Or it could be the tenth or the twentieth rider who wants to let you in; if you keep an eye open for the opportunity, just slide into the gap when it presents and take the wheel. Just don't barge in and expect the seas to part. Sometimes you'll get in just fine, other times it will be a clash of wills, elbows and curses. If you want to take a decisive part in a race, not just sit in and observe, the first six positions are prime positions. If you slip too far back you can easily miss the break when it happens. Whilst many attacks will fail, particularly if the bunch is fast and motivated, there's no guarantee. If the bunch hesitates before reacting to an attack you may find yourself kicking yourself for slacking off up the back. The elastic band that binds a fast moving bunch together can also snap. So any excursion you may make to the rear of the field risks the bunch splitting. Even if the elastic doesn't break, the stretching will wear you out. The pace is more even up at the front. Down the back there's a delay before news of the need for speed reaches you; they may be attacking up the front but you are still cruising down the blunt end. So you need to work really hard to match that pace plus a bit more to make up for the delay. And when the pace settles the opposite effect occurs, where the backoffice doesn't slow down in time and the riders in the middle have to compress, or get rear-ended. It's a dangerous time, when the rear catches up to the front. So it's safer at the front, it's smoother and you can see what's happening. Better still, if a fall happens, the chances are that it will be behind you. The rules of bunch riding vary according to the size of the pack. In a peleton of 100 riders you probably won't even see the front, let alone get up there and do a turn, so you just have to face facts and get used to that 'trapped' feeling. If you bump elbows, handlebars or legs. Don't panic. Keep it smooth. On the velodrome the safety-first policies of the bunch are even more important. With no brakes, the elastic band analogy is all too real. You need to exercise judgement when swinging off the front (always by going 'up' the track) and you have to consider the likelihood or otherwise of accelerations very carefully. Sure, you can put backpressure on the pedals and slow a bit, but bike racing is about the conservation of momentum, so let's not slow down unless we really have to! It's a game of second-guessing the next move… So when do you want to make the next move? Some riders never make the 'next move'. They may not be fit enough, or they may lack confidence, Or perhaps they just want to preserve themselves for later in the race. That's fine, but eventually you have to make a move, even if it's just in the sprint. The possibilities are endless, but there are some strategies for attacking during a criterium. 
The first lap Hit them hard, before they have warmed up. Of course, it helps if you have warmed up first! I have found that the older I get, the longer it takes to warm up. I need at least a few kilometres under my belt, and preferably about 10, before attempting an 80% effort. And I have found that warming up in the gear that you will race in gives best results. However you must be careful to start the warmup very gently, to avoid injury. Try starting in the small ring, get some heat into the legs, then get into a race gear and gradually build your pace. At the end of your warmup, do 2 or 3 short intervals at 75% effort, then ease down. You will lose the advantage if you wait too long at the startline, so be very aware of when the race starts and time it well.This early breakaway will give you confidence. It's unlikely to succeed, unless a small chase bunch comes after you and you jump on and it stays away. However the psychological edge may be all you need to get you thinking positively for the rest of the race. Of course, if the race is short and you are very fit, and if the course itself is twisty or wet and allows you to get out of sight, why not give it 100% and take advantage. It might work. The first third Attack after you are thoroughly warmed up and still fresh. It helps if the bunch is languid and easily surprised, but you can also plan your escape. Just get the strongest rider in front of you and the weakest behind. Start pushing the pace when doing your turn, so that the pace is quite high and the weaker riders are suffering. Let the strong rider do their hard turn and then watch them drop back for a rest. You have a weak rider on your wheel and you put pedal to the metal and snap the elastic. The weaker rider won't chase you immediately, instead they'll hesitate and give you a gap. You are away.Reality will soon strike you that there's a long way to go, so you need to be fit, the road wet and/or the course very twisty, or you'll just get mowed down by the bunch. Or, if a few hard riders break clear and join you – hey, you may have a breakaway! Alternatively, wait for someone else to make this sort of move. Then, using the 'weak rider on my wheel' theory, attack and bridge across. Wait until the initiator has a good break, so that the sprint across the gap is daunting but just achievable. The gap should be big enough to make others hesitate, yet short enough so that you can get across! The middle. All of the above will be just as applicable in the middle and the last third of the race, except that some riders will tire more noticeably. This gives you the chance to exploit the weak links and break the bunch up. If the bunch is split and a working group of 5 or 6 riders get together, they may well stay away.The sprint. If you have made the break and there's a small group, remember to save yourself a bit, whilst being super careful not to miss any last lap attacks. Someone down the back may 'go for the doctor' and you'll have to pin your ears back and hammer to make up the gap.Corners and hills are prime places to attack at the best of times, but at the end of the race they can make or break you. Some riders don't corner as well as others, and sharp corners can cause the back of the bunch to take avoiding action (even brake) as the speed comes off just before the corner. You must be near the front, or the lead riders will take advantage and go for it, leaving you behind the slower riders. Similarly, momentum can be lost on even the smallest hills, and as the finish approaches and the cat and mouse stuff starts… well, no-one wants to waste themselves with the last few turns at the front, after all. An opportunity will appear for someone to 'take a flyer' from the back and come past like a train, just as the front runners have stalled (even slightly) on the hill. Don't get caught! (Or, alternatively, you should be the one on that 'flyer'.) Chances are that the pace will come off and someone will have a go, but it will be neutralised. So the bunch will be intact. In which case you must keep up the front. And if you aren't, then sprint up the inside and get to the front. You will have to defend your position, because they all think they can sprint. The first 6 places are vital. Any further back and your chances are slim. With 500 metres to go you should be in position, waiting for the first rider to lose their self-control and go for it… If they go early then we all jump on. If they slow, we all slow. Or another one has a go. We go again. With 300 metres to go we see commitment, riders who believe they really can hold out all comers. Maybe they can. At 200 metres you must have sized up the best wheel to follow and keep with them, no matter what. Unless they fade. You can change horses in mid-sprint, if necessary. At 50 metres you launch yourself out from the draft of your lead rider. If you have chosen well, there's nothing they can do, except watch you win. At 20 metres you are powering, but there's a rider on your wheel and they now make their move. You went too early. They beat you by centimetres. Next time you will come out of the slipstream just a few metres later. You still won't win, because that rider has been doing extra sprint training and some weight training as well. They will hold you off and win by the width of a tyre. That's bike racing. |
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Your guide to the GTVeloce Bike Racing Pages Part 1 of 'A Guide to Bike Racing for the non-elite rider!' Part 2 - more general racing info, including tactics Part 3 - the track events and track tips Part 4 - Sydney's velodromes, past and present Part 5 - What do the lines mean? |
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If you like what we do at this site please show your support by buying a t-shirt, postcard or coffee mug, or perhaps an image. Or even simply search for a book from Amazon! They are good quality items from excellent providers that I use myself. Cheers, Rob.
The content of this site is assumed to be interesting, varied and to appeal to a general audience of (human-powered!) bike racing enthusiasts. Some parts are solely the work of the author and remain the author's property. You are free to use that content if you simply give credit. There may be some public domain images and content as well.
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