First road race today...
neeb
Posts: 4,473
...and I was dropped.. :oops:
This was in Finland, where there aren't any categories as such (just elite and then everybody else, although there were a couple of elites in this race apparently, including the guy who eventually won from a late breakaway). Four laps of a 10.1km road circuit (about 25 miles total) out in the countryside, flattish with a few slight gradients but no hills to speak of. The bunch averaged 42+km/h over the course (over 26mph). Managed to keep in the group for the first lap, but always seemed to be near the back and blocked from getting nearer the front. Then I just got caught out by a turn of speed when I was right at the back and had just put in a big effort a few seconds previously, so lost contact while facing into a headwind... Impossible to bridge the gap once that happened, so slogged round the last three laps on my own to finish several minutes down...
Determined to give it another go in a couple of weeks time. Thing is, I felt that the reason I was dropped was as much to do with being hemmed in at the back of the bunch unable to move forward as it was with fitness. What's the deal with this? How do you move forward safely when you feel you have the legs but you are blocked? That said, I was at my limits for much of the time. Didn't help that it was a flat course and I know I can punch considerably above my weight when the gradient heads up. Everyone else seemed to be built like Thor Hushovd with thighs to match...
This was in Finland, where there aren't any categories as such (just elite and then everybody else, although there were a couple of elites in this race apparently, including the guy who eventually won from a late breakaway). Four laps of a 10.1km road circuit (about 25 miles total) out in the countryside, flattish with a few slight gradients but no hills to speak of. The bunch averaged 42+km/h over the course (over 26mph). Managed to keep in the group for the first lap, but always seemed to be near the back and blocked from getting nearer the front. Then I just got caught out by a turn of speed when I was right at the back and had just put in a big effort a few seconds previously, so lost contact while facing into a headwind... Impossible to bridge the gap once that happened, so slogged round the last three laps on my own to finish several minutes down...
Determined to give it another go in a couple of weeks time. Thing is, I felt that the reason I was dropped was as much to do with being hemmed in at the back of the bunch unable to move forward as it was with fitness. What's the deal with this? How do you move forward safely when you feel you have the legs but you are blocked? That said, I was at my limits for much of the time. Didn't help that it was a flat course and I know I can punch considerably above my weight when the gradient heads up. Everyone else seemed to be built like Thor Hushovd with thighs to match...
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Comments
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Positioning and being able to move up the bunch is as important as your fitness levels in bunch racing. Unfortunately explaining how to move up is something I can't do, you just sort of do it. You have to take any opportunity available without being dangerous and some people will let you through if you give them a polite shout. Hope you enjoyed it, you'll soon get into it and find the tactical side easier with experience.0
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Yup, the first lap was greatHope you enjoyed it,
The being dropped thing was a bit humiliating, but I'll have more incentive to avoid that next time.
What caught me out was how quickly my position could change - one second I'd be sure I was nicely in the middle of the bunch following a wheel, the next I'd suddenly realise I was right at the back... Need to anticipate more. Spent too much of the first lap with a big grin on my face not really paying attention...: The other thing I now realise I did wrong was wasting energy when I didn't need to, so that when the group accelerated I wasn't sufficiently recovered.0
