First Race in 2 Weeks. Seeking Advice.

I'm doing my first race on 10/3. It's a short cat 5 crit.
I'm unattached. No teammates. Riding an entry lever Trek
road bike.

I've been training and feel strong. I've read a little
about strategy and tactics. I've been eating well
and pretty much doing everything I "know" is correct.

Can anyone share advice on how to approach the race
from start to finish? Any advice on nutrition the
night before and the morning of?

Thanks.

KA

From: (Keith Alexander)

Can anyone share advice on how to approach the race
from start to finish? Any advice on nutrition the
night before and the morning of?

Thanks.

KA

Make sure your hydrated, warm up really well, line up early and near the
front, stay in the front half of the pack if you can.
Bill C

On 09 Sep 2004 14:48:10 GMT, TritonRider wrote:
warm up really well

I hate warming up. I perform better when not warming up. If I warm up
"really well", I get tired before the race.

stay in the front half of the pack if you can.

Or take the "overview from behind" approach. Most fields inevitably stay
together until the end, with some futile escapes. Start your race in the
penultimate lap.

Ewoud Dronkert wrote:

I hate warming up. I perform better when not warming up. If I warm up
"really well", I get tired before the race.

Ask LANCE about warming up for ITTs.

stay in the front half of the pack if you can.

Or take the "overview from behind" approach. Most fields inevitably stay
together until the end, with some futile escapes. Start your race in the
penultimate lap.

Spoken like a true Hollander. In other parts of the world we have things
called hills which go up and require that you overcome a mysterious
universal force called gravity that tends to split up fields. :-)

Seriously though, don't you sometimes have cross winds in Holland that can
break up the field if the leaders ride in the gutter ?

"Keith Alexander" wrote in message
om...
I'm doing my first race on 10/3. It's a short cat 5 crit.
I'm unattached. No teammates. Riding an entry lever Trek
road bike.

I've been training and feel strong. I've read a little
about strategy and tactics. I've been eating well
and pretty much doing everything I "know" is correct.

Can anyone share advice on how to approach the race
from start to finish? Any advice on nutrition the
night before and the morning of?

Thanks.

Get your drugs sorted out well beforehand. They won't be testing so don't
stress yourself about that. You might want to do speed. You'll feel super
and ride with rockets.

As Bill said, try to stay in the front 1/2 of the field. If there are hills
and you think you may not climb well, get to the front at the start of the
hill and let yourself drift down the pack on the climb. With luck you won't
be off the back by the end of the climb.

Do try not to cross wheels with anyone ahead of you. Don't be afraid to put
a hand out and gently touch a riders side to let him know you are near and
overlapping in the peloton. Make no sudden moves. Try to take everything
with calm, deliberate actions.

Try to have fun. And if you're dropped, finish the race anyway. You'll make
Bob Roll proud of you.


KA

In article ,
says...

I'm doing my first race on 10/3. It's a short cat 5 crit.
I'm unattached. No teammates. Riding an entry lever Trek
road bike.

I've been training and feel strong. I've read a little
about strategy and tactics. I've been eating well
and pretty much doing everything I "know" is correct.

Can anyone share advice on how to approach the race
from start to finish? Any advice on nutrition the
night before and the morning of?

Have you practiced riding in a group?
-------------
Alex

On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 17:30:22 +0200, Donald Munro wrote:
Seriously though, don't you sometimes have cross winds in Holland that can
break up the field if the leaders ride in the gutter ?

Sure, if you know there's a long stretch of crosswind coming up, try and
get in the first echelon (by being in the first, say, 25 before it
starts). But that's in so-called "classics" (one loop or line), not in
the more prevalent circuit races (multiple loops). Then either there are
no gaps, or they are small enough that some dumbass will bridge and you
can take his wheel.

Keith Alexander wrote:
I'm doing my first race on 10/3. It's a short cat 5 crit.
I'm unattached. No teammates. Riding an entry lever Trek
road bike.
Can anyone share advice on how to approach the race
from start to finish? Any advice on nutrition the
night before and the morning of?

B. Lafferty wrote:
Get your drugs sorted out well beforehand. They won't be testing so don't
stress yourself about that. You might want to do speed. You'll feel super
and ride with rockets.

You might also get some free orange juice if you sign on at
http://www.53x12.com, although its probably better to use the orange juice
in the weeks preceding the race under medical supervision.

"Donald Munro" wrote in message
news
Keith Alexander wrote:
I'm doing my first race on 10/3. It's a short cat 5 crit.
I'm unattached. No teammates. Riding an entry lever Trek
road bike.
Can anyone share advice on how to approach the race
from start to finish? Any advice on nutrition the
night before and the morning of?

B. Lafferty wrote:
Get your drugs sorted out well beforehand. They won't be testing so
don't
stress yourself about that. You might want to do speed. You'll feel
super
and ride with rockets.

You might also get some free orange juice if you sign on at
http://www.53x12.com, although its probably better to use the orange juice
in the weeks preceding the race under medical supervision.

Ferrari should really name the site 53x11. IIRC, Armstrong said that Landis
would be a good rider once he learned how to turn the 53x11. That 53x11
takes a lot of orange juice if you want to turn it steadily off the front
for 2 hours in a classic, as any Belgian or Italian classics rider and their
attending veterinarians know. ;-)

From: Ewoud Dronkert

Or take the "overview from behind" approach. Most fields inevitably stay
together until the end, with some futile escapes. Start your race in the
penultimate lap.



The accordion effect kills me when I inevitably end up at the back. Having to
sprint my ass off out of every corner to get back to speed kills me in a hurry.
At least when I'm near the front this isn't anywhere near as bad.
If this is a short crit with a tight course this should be even worse.
Just my $.02
Bill C