Herzog
Swinglish Mountain Goat
- Location
- Bern, Switzerland
Well done. It's not alway the strongest who wins, but often the smartest (though if you don't have the legs to back up you brain, then you're in trouble).
'Handicap' road racing
- Thread starter Sittingduck
- Start date
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OP
OP
Sittingduck
Legendary Member
- Location
- Somewhere flat
Yep cheers - I was definitely one of the dumbest 
T.M.H.N.E.T
Rainbows aren't just for world champions
- Location
- Northern Ireland
Graded groups start at intervals.
OP
OP
Sittingduck
Legendary Member
- Location
- Somewhere flat
As Netty has said - Handicap means the lower graded guys go first and after a minute or two the next group go who are in theory stronger, and so on. I got put in the second group and there were cat 3's in group one, last night so I think there was some randomness when they picked the groups. Our group worked really well together once we got organised which took perhaps half of the first lap. One guy got dropped within the first 500m and we caught a few stragglers from the first group somewhere on the second lap. By the end of lap 3 we still hadn't managed to catch group one and we got caught by the 3rd and 4th groups, which is where I got shelled out, as they smashed through us up the hill. Three of us worked together on the last lap but we couldn't quite get back to the main bunch. Caught a few going up the hill, which was just before the finish but really had nothing left in the legs by that point. Next time I will try to spend less time at the front during the early laps and hope I get put into the first group on the road, instead of group 2
Andrew_P
In between here and there
Nosing through some of the other riders Strava accounts (one appears quite frequently on some of my segments) most of them were running with power meters
Also you were not that far off the average pace of the winner, well he was 25mph avg, but by his fastest lap was the last.
Also you were not that far off the average pace of the winner, well he was 25mph avg, but by his fastest lap was the last.
Handicap races are a bit of a strange beast, in as much that while it's in everyone's interest in all the groups to work together to either stay away, or catch up, what actually happens is that the less experienced groups, i.e. the early ones, do not work well together as everyone is trying to save their energy to be able to absorb the surge when the faster guys catch up. Which means that they always get caught 
Well done on your first race, i'd say it has gonne as well as you could have hoped for
Well done on your first race, i'd say it has gonne as well as you could have hoped for
OP
OP
Sittingduck
Legendary Member
- Location
- Somewhere flat
Results are in. I came 45th out of 60 
OP
OP
Sittingduck
Legendary Member
- Location
- Somewhere flat
Well... we were spread all over the place because they didn't segregate 4th Cat's into the correct groups. For example Gp1 had 3rd Cats & 4th Cats in it and Gp2 (the one I was in) had at least one Cat 2, with God knows who else. Nevertheless, I came 9th out of 18 4th Cats on overall standings.
oldroadman
Veteran
- Location
- Ubique
Where you finish in a category is only for your own interest, which is useful to place your progress/ability, but it's where you are in overall places that matters. As a first race to get round and placed anywhere is not bad. Regarding the comments about ending up off the front of your group early on, you were simply going through too hard. The idea is that the front rider pulls over and does a revolution or two 9at most) relaxing the pedal pressure, so slides back into the "down line and second rider in "up" line moves to the front, keeping a steady high speed. If it needs strong accelaration to go through, don't. The bloke who will not ease will soon get bored with front riding!
It's all part of the learning process. Ignore averages, road racing is a series of steady efforts, relaxed moments, flat out for a short period. Strava segment mean nothing in a race context. Head and legs must combine, then eventually you get better an results come.
Best of luck,keep trying, racing, and most of all, learning from the experienced guys. If anyone says they don't need or take notice of advice, or know it all, they are wrong. Even world champions have coaches, soigneurs, doctors, managers, and team mates, and the take notice and evaluate of every scrap of information that comes their way. Which is how the best stay the best.
It's all part of the learning process. Ignore averages, road racing is a series of steady efforts, relaxed moments, flat out for a short period. Strava segment mean nothing in a race context. Head and legs must combine, then eventually you get better an results come.
Best of luck,keep trying, racing, and most of all, learning from the experienced guys. If anyone says they don't need or take notice of advice, or know it all, they are wrong. Even world champions have coaches, soigneurs, doctors, managers, and team mates, and the take notice and evaluate of every scrap of information that comes their way. Which is how the best stay the best.
Andrew_P
In between here and there
How long should you take the workload at the front, and do other riders actively try and avoid ever leading the group?
OP
OP
Sittingduck
Legendary Member
- Location
- Somewhere flat
I think it just depends and I am quite new to it but it seems that ideally the next guy will be coming through to the front as soon as you have slotted into the front and begun easing off, so only a few seconds. It depends a lot on the situation though and I'm clearly no expert! Practice makes perfect and all that...
themosquitoking
Guru
- Location
- Spain
From what i've seen of the racing there is two ways they do it. What i call defensively, where the lead rider drops off and joins the back of the group or what i see as the more offensive option where the back rider accelerates to the front of the group to take their turn. I might have it all wrong but if i haven't good work on taking the harder option. Rule 5 compliant.
