What to do when crit is too slow?
buckles
Posts: 694
When you are bored because the race is too slow and nobody is attacking, what should you do?
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You're missing an option.... you get to the front - it's slow people will let you, and you see how few watts you can pedal at before an attack happens, generally if gets much below 150w someone will attack - which will speed things up, and you'll have the legs to immediately counter when it's pulled back 'cos everyone is fresh. If you're caught, ride slow again.
It works well in 3rd and 4th cat races where normally there's some muppet diesel on the front riding around hard enough to discourage attacks for no reason.Jibbering Sports Stuff: http://jibbering.com/sports/0 -
Hmm... its a tricky one. Sometimes rather than an all out hard attack from the bunch something a bit more subtle may work. For example, you might be able to tease out some of the stronger riders if you ride a few bike lengths ahead of the bunch for a short spell. The ones that are quite frisky and jump to close the gap quickly might be the ones you can persade to join you in a breakway when you really do attack. I won a race at Goodwood like that many moons ago
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Depends on your race tactics surely?0
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ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK!!!!
It's amateur racing, a bit of fun, no pro contracts to be won or lost. If you blow up then so what. If you can sustain your attack then you just took a solo victory and can tell all your friends.0 -
Grab a team mate then go for option 1. There's no such thing as too slow though.0
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Enjoy the fresh air, chat to someone, wait for the sprint?0
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displacedaussie wrote:Enjoy the fresh air, chat to someone, wait for the sprint?
That's going to be my option if I'm ever lucky enough to find a race is too slow! The only time I've ridden a slow race (so slow the comms warned they would cancel the race if we didn't speed up!) I found myself acciddently in a two man break having tried to keep near the front on the prime hill (although there was a small group away). I took a few turns and then couldn't keep it going :oops:0 -
Attacking when everyone is likely to be recovered is the least likely time an attack will succeed. Patience is key.0
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edten wrote:Attacking when everyone is likely to be recovered is the least likely time an attack will succeed. Patience is key.
True but if a 3/4 race is genuinely slow then one person attacking will usually liven it up. As long as you don't ruin your legs on your attack you'll boost the average speed long past when you're caught. Just don't attack just in time to be caught with 3 miles to go...0 -
attack, but don't just sit up in nobody comes with you, keep driving it, when a few of the stronger riders see you are capable of holding the gap they will bridge across and you will form a 3/4 man break that will stay away. Well that is at least what happened in the two Hillingdon crits i did last year where i won one and came second to a team mate in the other0
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racingcondor wrote:edten wrote:Attacking when everyone is likely to be recovered is the least likely time an attack will succeed. Patience is key.
True but if a 3/4 race is genuinely slow then one person attacking will usually liven it up. As long as you don't ruin your legs on your attack you'll boost the average speed long past when you're caught. Just don't attack just in time to be caught with 3 miles to go...
Yes but why be that person? There's 40-80 riders probably - trust me when I say someone else will attack. I attack to win a race, not to liven things up - let someone else burn a match and keep the percrntages0 -
Also, try letting an attack or two go without chasing. Then either bridge up or let others chase if they get a gap and then jump when they're caught.
That's one of the biggest differences I've noticed between 3/4 and E12 races - not every attack gets chased down immediately. It makes for much more interesting racing.0 -
@ Edten - I'd go with being that person because that way it's your choice when the attack happens and you can make sure that you have 20-30 minutes left to sit in and recover (and that you're not in a poor position when it goes). Done right it needn't cost you much.
Guess it's the question is how confident you are of your fitness, ability to recover etc and the type of rider you are, if you're a sprinter type with one huge match to burn then definitely don't attack. If you're an 18 year old TT specialist who recovers in 30 seconds then you're probably best off attacking several times (and getting a reputation for it), if you're strong enough then people will want to come with you and at worst you'll cause a few people who can't respond to get shelled.
Mostly though I say attack because if you've paid money to race and you're bored you're not getting your moneys worth.
I also agree with displacedaussie. It's actually quite funny sitting on the front of a 3/4 crit and slowing it to cause an attack then letting it go, you can be sure someone behind you will panic and start swearing at you for not giving chase. Riding tempo on the front isn't stupid racing (early on at least), riding yourself into the ground chasing every move is.0 -
racingcondor wrote:It's actually quite funny sitting on the front of a 3/4 crit and slowing it to cause an attack then letting it go, you can be sure someone behind you will panic and start swearing at you for not giving chase. Riding tempo on the front isn't stupid racing (early on at least), riding yourself into the ground chasing every move is.
Now I like this idea never thought of it like that! It's like the opposite of attacking, slow it down and see what happens. Let everyone panic and burn themselves out.
I might give this a go
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