circuit race/road race

songbird

I did my first race on a closed circuit this weekend with a tight hairpin and got dropped pretty quickly, losing contact coming off the hairpin, but carried on to the end so got in a good training session.

Can someone tell me if racing on a circuit is hard than a road race.

Homer J

It's usually faster on a circuit, but out on the road you got bigger hills and there's more to think about as you are usually on a single lane road with traffic coming the other way.
And going by my race today lots of potholes!

I say give it ago, personally i think it's definatley more enjoyable .

ma123

Hi songbird was you at the Paramount CRT race at Shrewsbury, It was first race there aswell and the sprint coming out of the hair pin bend was tough, I lasted about 5 laps untill I got dropped but got back on when they came round but a pile up caused the field to split, but I still enjoyed and as you said its good training.

Next time I think better positioning in the bunch from the off might help as I started at the back from the line and struggled to move up but thats down to experience I suppose.

Bronzie

I'd say racing on a circuit with tight bends or a sharp climb is always going to be harder than on a longer road circuit. Each time you have to accelerate out of the corners, you are probably having to go into the red, which if you only get a minute or two to recover each lap is going to send you over the edge pretty quickly. Road circuits tend to be a lot smoother in terms of effort required.

Concentrate on your position in the bunch - the further back you get, the more of a "concertina" effect you get as the guys in front brake for the corner and then accelerate. If you are near the front and can corner well, you can keep a lot of your speed.

Some short hard interval training (eg 15 x 1-minute on / 1-minute off) will also improve your lactate tolerance so your legs don't turn to jelly so quickly.

shockedsoshocked

If there's a nasty cross wind on a circuit race too it means having to fight for a decent position each lap too, otherwise you'll more than likely go flying off the back!

dsmiff

Results here:
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/roa/EventReports2009/20090307_paramount_circuit_races.asp

My lad was racing there, spent 20 mins towing another rider along only to be beaten on the line, they had dropped the other riders from the start.

He has very little race experience and we've only been on the road bikes twice since summer so not too bad I guess, he slowed right down several times but the other rider stayed put - I think we need to learn race tactics!

dennisn

Bronzie wrote:

I'd say racing on a circuit with tight bends or a sharp climb is always going to be harder than on a longer road circuit. Each time you have to accelerate out of the corners, you are probably having to go into the red, which if you only get a minute or two to recover each lap is going to send you over the edge pretty quickly. Road circuits tend to be a lot smoother in terms of effort required.

Concentrate on your position in the bunch - the further back you get, the more of a "concertina" effect you get as the guys in front brake for the corner and then accelerate. If you are near the front and can corner well, you can keep a lot of your speed.

Some short hard interval training (eg 15 x 1-minute on / 1-minute off) will also improve your lactate tolerance so your legs don't turn to jelly so quickly.

That pretty much hits the nail on the head. Usually a lot more turns on a multi lap circuit
than a road course and if you can't keep up with the somewhat constant accelerations,
that seem to occur at each corner, well, you're toasted before you know it and it can be
over for you before you know it. However, even on a longer road course(with less turns)
you need to stay alert for the first hint of an acceleration coming out of any turn. Half the time it really isn't an acceleration, it's more the lead riders are able to go through the turn
quicker because the road ahead is clear, whereas you(middle or back of the group) have to contend with other riders(ahead) and more than likely you will have to ease off a bit, lose some speed, have to hammer just that little bit harder to stay on, while the front guys just have to maintain the pace to possibly drop a few at each turn. If you're really good at accelerations you can just sit back and suck wheel MOST of the race(only working at the corners) but if you're not a good sprinter you had better stay at or near the front or you'll be "gone".

Dennis Noward

oldwelshman

It is also wise to follow guys who corner well as they do not brake in corner and accelerate out, but brake a bit before, or freewheel to loose speed, then ride smooth through bend so not so much need to accelerate.
Of course you usually get a few who try to be clever and come up the inside of the correct line, making everyone else brake
Some times I do not panic if a gap opens a bit, just ride smooth and not exhurt too much energy closing, don't forget some one will probably come around you to close it, you do not have to close every gap, though you have to be carefull not to let it get so big you cannot get across.