The Workout Of The Day for Saturday, 10.27.12. “Race Smaht”
Howdy folks,
It’s a race day for almost everyone today, so the workout should be pretty darn obvious, eh?
Go Race!
Here’s the thing. Today, try to race smart.
Have a plan for your race.
When you pre-ride the course during your warm-up, try to visualize the race. How do you think it’s going to go?
– Will the course make the race? How?
Are there choke points on the course that you will need to be at the front for?
Are there technical sections of the course that will particularly suit you, or will give you fits?
– Where can you put the screws to the competition?
– Where will they try to put them to you?
– What advantages do you have over your competition? How can you race to maximize them…
Are you a good sprinter?
Sweet. Your job is to turn every race into a sprint.
Good sustained power?
OK. Get to the front. Drive the pace. Grind everybody else down.
Good recovery?
Nice. Attack. Make everybody respond to you. You’ll be able to recover, I’m betting the rest won’t be able to.
– What advantages do your competition have over you? How can you race to minimize them?
Just the opposite of the above, maybe?
Terrible sprint?
You got it. Make sure it never comes down to a sprint
Bad sustained power?
Get up front and slow things down.
Have trouble with your recovery?
OK. Keep the pace high enough that no one can attack, but low enough that you don’t overcook it and go over your redline.
Getting the picture?
– Will you need to change bikes? Can you gain an advantage while pitting when you don’t – strictly speaking – need to?
Always scope out the pit area. Know where it is, and figure out the best lines in and out if it’s at all tricky.
Over the years, I’ve been in several races where it was faster to go through the pit and change bikes than it was to ride (or run!) the adjacent “normal” part of the course.
Look for opportunities like this.
The pit area is just one of them. Look for that hidden line that no one is using, but will enable you to attack around the group when the timing is right.
Keep it in your back pocket, and use it when it will give you an advantage.
That’s just one example.
What you are trying to avoid is always being in reactive mode at the races.
You know what that looks like, right?
– Lining up for the start with absolutely no idea what’s going to happen.
– Spending the whole race looking at what everyone else is doing, and everything you do is triggered by someone else’s actions.
Passive.
Reactive not proactive.
Does that sound like you?
Take a look around at the race today, and I bet you’ll see that this describes almost everyone on the course.
So, work on it.
Stop playing defense.
Make the race happen for you, not to you.
It can’t hurt, right?
M
Crosssports's Weblog 