Road Bike Racing Basics

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by Chris Fischer Contents Excerpt Delivery

$10.95 eBook RBR Publishing Company 21 pages PDF file size: 247 KB

Wanna race? Avoid rookie mistakes!

This info-packed eBook is your head start in road races, criteriums and time trials.

Each page of Road Bike Racing Basics is jammed with Coach Chris Fischer's best advice for riders who are entering their first competitions, whether they be sanctioned races or unlicensed club events. The knowledge he shares will help you perform better in spirited local group rides too.

Fischer has more than two decades of racing know-how and has coached the Ohio State University cycling team since 2002. Many of his tips come from his personal racing experiences or those of his athletes. 

A special chapter is dedicated to time trials, the safe race against the clock that's an ideal way to sample competition. Other chapters pertain to mass-start road races and criteriums.

In this excerpt from chapter 1, Fischer discusses the key tactic in pack racing -- staying on a wheel and out of the wind.
 

EXCERPT: Drafting

Objective No. 1: Stay on a wheel whenever possible.

These are the only times you should put your face in the wind

• when attacking – making a strong, decisive move to try to separate yourself from the rest of the group.
   

• when sprinting to the finish line, hopefully with your face in the wind only for the last 100-200 meters.
   

• when working with a breakaway. When you are with a small group that has separated itself from the pack, it is normally (but not always) to your benefit to share the work with the other riders in the break.
   

• when pulling through at the front of the pack. To keep the pace, take a short pull at the front (5-10 seconds max) and swing off. If no one else will pull through sit up and stare. Gradually slow your pedaling. Even stop pedaling, if necessary.  Be prepared to accelerate hard when the group comes around you.
   

• when advancing your position. If you are too far back in the pack and need to move up, you may need to do so by putting your face in the wind. It is better to watch for someone else who is moving up and draft off them as they go by.
   

• when chasing after getting behind for any reason you must catch the pack.  Remember to look for other people in the same situation close behind you. Work with them.

Avoid hanging at the side of the pack with your face in the wind for no purpose.

TOC: Road Bike Racing Basics

Introduction 1. HOW A RACE WORKS    Race Pace    Race Strategy    Conserving Energy    Drafting    Pulling    Avoiding Unnecessary Accelerations    Pack Surfing    Attacking    Sprint Finishes    Mishaps    Basic Team Tactics   2. RIDING YOUR FIRST ROAD RACE    The Day Before    Race Day    The Start    During the Race    The Finish    Aftermath    Perspective   3. TIME TRIALING    Before the TT    TT Racing Tactics    Team Time Trials   4. GEAR AND CLOTHING    What to Look for in a Racing Bike    Race Clothing    Clothing for Cool/Cold Weather Excerpt