Alison Tetrik answered this brilliantly:

• Be realistic. There is nothing I hate more than someone telling me to be �realistic� with my goals. If I want to shoot for the moon, then I will shoot for the moon. If I fail, at least I had a lofty goal. If I succeed, I will take pride in that fact and then look for the next unconquerable goal that you tell me that I can achieve. Yet, realism does seem to be a handy tool to have at your disposal. Know what you are capable of. Know what your competition is capable of. Aim for higher than you could ever imagine, but give yourself a place to land if you fall short. There is no failure if you are giving it your best effort and you made an attainable goal. Your performance should not be measured by your result, but by the realistic assessment of your performance. Yet sometimes, throw realism to the wind and race outside of your mind. Surprise everyone, but mostly importantly, surprise yourself
• Don�t be afraid to lose. In order to win, you have to be willing to lose it all. You have to take a gamble. You have to call your opponent�s bluff. You have to call your own bluff. You have to attack too soon. You have to take a flyer. You have to be willing to finish dead last just in case you can finish first. You have to put your head down and leave nothing in the tank. You have to solo 100k. This is your move, and you will live and die by it. You will either win spectacularly or you will lose epically. Show no fear. Only show raw determination and calculated resolve. Take risk. Do not be afraid to lose.
• Don�t take risk. I am not very good at this, but I am told in order to win races you must be smart as well. You must conserve your energy. Take no risks. Wait for that moment to deliver the check-mate move. Be calm and collected and wait. Don�t take risk until it is time. Then win. Be smart.
• Know yourself. Imagine yourself as a superhero. You have your strengths and weaknesses. You know your kryptonite, and you know your super powers. Protect your weaknesses, and capitalize on your strengths. Know how you can win the race. If you aren�t a sprinter, then why try to get top 15 in a sprint finish? Is it satisfying to be pack fodder? Protect your inner superhero and use that jet propulsion power when you need it. Know yourself.
• Know someone else. You have heard the term that it is helpful knowing people in high places? The same thing occurs in bike racing, work, and life. If you have friends in the peloton, it helps. If you are always respectful of your opponents and purely race your bike, you will have friends to back you. You will have people that are eager to work with you because you are fair, you are motivated, you are strong, and you are determined. Respect your fellow racers, even if it is looking for a parking spot before the race, or staging for a crowded crit. Race your bike hard. Enjoy the sport for the camaraderie, the competition, and the RACE. What goes around comes around. You will win some, they will win some, but at the end of the day, you are friends with a common passion and love for the sport of cycling.
• Practice your salute. Practice winning. I have several victory salutes I would like to do. I practice them. I imagine myself crossing the line with plenty of room for a victorious salute. These are in my arsenal for that moment of the perfect win. These victory salutes are secret for the time being. Lady GaGa? Visualize your win. Visualize the defeat in your competition. Visualize your burning legs and that finish line that is approaching in slow motion. Visualize doing the best victory salute across the line. Practice your salute, then when it happens, you have been there before.
• Win. Sometimes it really is that simple. Be the first across the line with the fastest time, and you will win. It is just that simple.

Finished my first race today. Came In 7th... didn't expect the finish to come where it did and completely missed the sprint.

I did horrible job at Following most of your advice.

Another race tomorrow. Hope I can do a bit better at following your tips and knowing the course

I would love to hear more details on the race, if you are willing to share. I am in the same boat and considering an upcoming crit.


Edit: shit, sorry...didn't notice this post is 2 years old. never mind :)

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"i�m the one guy who says don�t force the stupid people to be quiet � i want to know who the morons are." -- mark cuban

Except these two seem to be mutually exclusive.

No

oh jack...

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

if by BS you mean Bike Snob NYC, then yes.

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

that is why we love bike racing

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

I've done 6 races since I posted this. I've been upgraded to cat 4.

I wish I would've tried a bike race sooner, I've had a blast.

A few thoughts that I would tell a first time rider (in addition to great advice above)
1 Your first goal in a bike race is to stay safe first. Then, to finish near the front. That means for 90% of the race you will do very little work and you'll do lots for a few sprints. For a triathlete, I had a hard time grasping this. I'm not used to finishing a race with doing very little work for such a big part of a race
2 be careful. There are lots of idiots in most races. Protect yourself first
3 be prepared for lots of surges. Really hard, then pretty easy.
4 try to take a day off before your first race. It's no fun to be sore and unable to push because you did a hard run that morning. I've done that
5 have a blast. Road racing is awesome.

Bike races are fun. Congrats on the upgrade...did my 3rd one today was a blast. Was out front with a friend til' I punctured about mile 46 (so goes the fickle nature of bike races and inopportune punctures). Will say Cat 5 races are crazy. Was doing Battenkill...watched a bike shoot about 25 ft in the air by my left ear as the guy in front of me fell hard on a 40+ mph descent on a dirt road when he got entrenched in some loose gravel. Was insane. Hope he's ok. Just wondering about where you think your races have been won? This one was definitely won on the big climb at mile 50 (steep about 1.5 miles, buddy I was with before flatting dropped the field there). Just wondering because I cant descend at all, I broke my back going too fast last year downhill. Do you find races are won on climbs or in the sprints or just the nature of the course? I will never win a sprint or a descent but the climbs i would surge from back of the lead group out front...

I would like to be somewhat competitive.

Best,
Nick

I'm bringing this post back. I have decided that I need to be a better sprinter ... my power profile below agrees with me. I don't get too many opportunities to practice flat / sustained 20 / 60 minute power so IMO those are artificially lower than they probably could be if I trained them. How much? Not sure.

I also know that running a bunch impacts my top end power (but doesn't seem to impact my ability to sustain long distance efforts) so it won't be as high as it could until I stop running.

Nonetheless. .. what types of workouts should I be doing to build <5 min power and ultimately help me win road races?

It's been said a million times, if you want <5min power, train <5m intervals. From my experience, CAT2 crit guy, 1 min sprint power is what wins the races. Think of the last minute of a race traditionally 1k out from the line (if you average 37mph). 1min wins races. Do 1min sprints at the end of hard 15min efforts 3 to 5 times per ride. You'll know when you're going hard enough, legs, fingers, even lips will tingle from the effort!

It may also be that your muscle composition isn't going to give you that <30s raw speed. So don't try to necessarily square peg-round hole yourself here, but it's definitely worth seeing if there are gains to be made. It may be the best sprint you ever have is the one you never make. :)

15s max power jumps from a fairly fast speed with a lot of rest in between is going to look fairly similar to a final sprint. Something kind of like a flying 200... (Edit: as Ernie writes above... fairly fast in the higher cats is going to mean "freaking fast")

(I'm in a similar boat--I'm a diesel so my best bet is going early and long. If I continue to cat up, I'm looking at a long and glorious career as an early lead out man and domestique...)

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The question of who is right and who is wrong has seemed to me always too small to be worth a moment's thought, while the question of what is right and what is wrong has seemed all-important.

-Albert J. Nock

If I'm on the trainer... do I just practice 1min sprints @ peak power targets, rest, and repeat until I can't do it anymore? I like your 1min sprints at the end of 15min interval idea. I'll try that next week.

I'm sure this is the same with me, but there's still room to improve. I know on my low mileage running weeks my <5 min power numbers are always higher than other weeks. I also know I never practice <5 min intervals except a few times on a single weekly ride.

I had never heard of a Flying 200 before,. Just watched a couple youtube videos, jeesh they fast!