I'm set to do my first draft legal race this year. I'm wondering what the best way to prepare for them physically and mentally. Should I get out and do some of the local crits or road races or something completely different?
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Re: What is the best way to prepare for draft legal races/tactics? [BIke]
[ In reply to ]
Wow,
You better get going. I strongly suggest you get some bike racing in, pronto.
Did you ever watch a draft-legal race? The intensity, the speed and the tactical and physical demands are way higher compared to your average draft-free race. There is no time for goofing off. You will see that all that talk about just sitting in and "leasurly" drafting along on the bike are not true. You gotta get used to that first.
Oh yeah, if you are going to puke your heart out on the bike after you survived the swim, please stay clear of others!
adrialin
(BOMK, racing drug and supplement free since 1985)
You better get going. I strongly suggest you get some bike racing in, pronto.
Did you ever watch a draft-legal race? The intensity, the speed and the tactical and physical demands are way higher compared to your average draft-free race. There is no time for goofing off. You will see that all that talk about just sitting in and "leasurly" drafting along on the bike are not true. You gotta get used to that first.
Oh yeah, if you are going to puke your heart out on the bike after you survived the swim, please stay clear of others!
adrialin
(BOMK, racing drug and supplement free since 1985)
Re: What is the best way to prepare for draft legal races/tactics? [BIke]
[ In reply to ]
Before entering a crit or road race just find a good roadie group to ride with. Our Tues/Thurs night group rides are almost like a road race. I you can hang wheel to wheel with a bunch of good serious roadies, it's not a lot different from racing except for no crashes in the middle or trophies at the end.
Re: What is the best way to prepare for draft legal races/tactics? [BIke]
[ In reply to ]
If your not in the lead pack or two after the swim be prepared to ride your butt off to try and get up to the front. There was some research (her masters thesis) done by a Brit on ITU racing. Something like in 87% of the races the first three hundred meters of the swim avg 1:03 per hundred meters and settled into 1:11 or 1:12 pace for the rest. Do swim workouts that have you sprinting in the beginning such as 5x500 sprint the first 150 then swim fast for the rest on :20 rest. 8-20x100 sprint might be a good idea also.
Bike - similiar to a crit, with surges and attacks. Now you also see more teamwork in the races. be aware of who is around, you wearing the same singlet or who looks like they are working w/ others. Find a good wheel and follow it, don't be a hero early.
In about 75-80% of the runs, the person who ran the first 2k the fastest won. After riding if you can't go fast, then recover your placing not winning. Track workouts might be structured to resemble something like 4x1k w/ the first 600m extremely fast.
Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta
Bike - similiar to a crit, with surges and attacks. Now you also see more teamwork in the races. be aware of who is around, you wearing the same singlet or who looks like they are working w/ others. Find a good wheel and follow it, don't be a hero early.
In about 75-80% of the runs, the person who ran the first 2k the fastest won. After riding if you can't go fast, then recover your placing not winning. Track workouts might be structured to resemble something like 4x1k w/ the first 600m extremely fast.
Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta