The last thing you want when you start your first criterium is to get dropped at the whistle because you could not get your pedal clicked in.  I have seen this with Cat 5, and seen Cat 1s screwing it up.  You must practice doing this quickly and then sprinting up to speed.  Don’t think just because you can do this when you start your ride or start at stop light, that you will not screw it up at the start of your first crit.  If you have Speedplay pedals then it will be the easier for you, but if you pretty much any other pedal system, you need to make sure that you have if dialed in.

Here is what I do.

1. As you roll up to the line, make sure you are in a lower gear.  I typically start in a 53×19.  This is low enough to get one rev as I clip in.  Then I am able to spin up to speed, and shift as necessary.
2. As I am listening to the race announcements, I position my right pedal at about two o’clock.  My left leg is on the ground.
3. When the race starts, I push off with my left leg and spin a half rotation with my right leg in order to get some speed.  As my left pedal comes to the top, I place my shoe on it and clip in at the bottom.
4. With both pedals clipped in, I then crank up to speed or move around people that are still screwing around with their pedals.

In the video, I show a montage of crits starts that I have filmed.  Watch the dudes in front of me and you will be able to see what I am talking about above.  These are all Master Cat 123 racers, so these guys should be able to this well.  Watch how they have their pedal set at the start, they push off and then clip in.  It is not hard, but can be if you don’t have it nailed.

Ride Hard,

Steve

Here is a short video of the finish for this weeks Practice criterium.  It was under 40F so there were not a lot of people and it was freezing cold.  I was leading out Dan for the finish, and I was trying out my rear mounted Replay Xd camera.  The rear mount and the front mount make for the full geek experience.

Check it out the video:

Play Video

Here is my powerfile for the leadout.

Here is another short video about attacking the field in a Criterium.  Get a Gap!

Play Video

Ride Hard

Steve

I am going to keep this short since I hope to be able to post a new race video tomorrow.

It is that time of the year.  Many people are preparing for their first criterium race ever, and this advice is for those newbies. YOU MUST STAY ON THE WHEEL IN FRONT OF YOU.  Completing your first criterium requires that you learn the first rule of racing…conserving energy.  You might have done some group rides but riding in a pack in a criterium can be a complete different experience.  Until you get your first race under your belt, you need learn how draft in a pack while cornering shoulder to shoulder at full speed.  Many new racers are not sure what to concentrate on during the race so they are watching everything around them and soon find themselves having to sprint to keep up because they soft pedaled or braked.  You need to watch the wheel in front of you and concentrate on your pedaling so that you are sticking about one foot off of the wheel in front of you.  You need to learn how to anticpate what they will be doing so that you stay right on their wheel.  You need to start sprinting out of the corner right when they do, you need to coast into the corner right when they do, and you need to adjust your pedaling to stay right on their wheel on the straights.  Obviously, you should move around the wheel in front of you if they are getting dropped, but otherwise, you should just focus on staying on the wheel in front of you for a few laps.  Once you get your first half of the race completed, you will be ready to practice moving around in the pack and getting ready to sprint for the WIN!

Ride Hard

Steve

In Criterium racing (and bike racing in general) crashes happen.  I was watching Gent-Wevelgem (http://www.cycling.tv  is great) while I was riding the trainer Sunday morning.  Sean Kelly was commenting how far back Mark Cavendish was in the back, and then like fate, there was a crash right in front of Mark.  Nothing to bad, but just enough to take Mark out of the race when someone took out his back wheel.  Mark had already had some bad luck with a few flats, and he worked his ass off to get back into the main pack.  You can see Mark’s comments about the race here:  http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/video-cavendish-ruled-out-of-gent-wevelgem-sprint-after-crash

Besides, the according effect and how to make a criterium easy, staying up front is critical to avoid crashes.

Ride Hard,

Steve

I thought I should share this from USA Cycling:  My First Bike Race.  I discussed the same topic for criteriums last year.  

Please join Kristin Dieffenbach, PhD and USA Cycling Level 1 coach as she helps you begin the road to success as a bike racer.  Join us for a Webinar on April 19

The aim of this FREE webinar is to give guidance to the racer entering his/her first road or mountain bike race.  Kristin will cover it all–if we do not, there will be time for questions!

A first of anything can be nerve racking and a first bike race is no exception.  USA Cycling knows that the less nervous you are the more fun you are going to have.  In addition it is no fun to show up at an event and not know what is going on or to forget something very important.  Ideally, you would have an experience rider with you to help navigate this new world you have entered, but that is not always possible.

Title: My First Bike Race

Date:Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Time:4:00 PM – 5:30 PM MDT

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/984267521

To finish a criterium, a racers needs to have a high fitness level that is specialized around repeated high intensity, but to be great a criterium racer you need have a fighter mentality.  You must take be willing to take risks that such that you will do whatever is necessary to win.  The drive to win the race needs to take over the desire for your personal safety.  The last few laps of a criterium are an adrenaline rush!  The fight or flight reflex will kick in at the end of a race.  Great criterium racers fight. 

Two things always happen in criteriums.  First, racers try to get a breakaway started so that they can improve their chances for the finish.  If you get away with 5 guys, then you are going to at least get 5th.  Second, the race will end in a sprint whether you are in the breakaway or not!  The making of a great criterium racer is having the ability to get into position for the final corner.  Getting into position requires a heads up ability to realize the situation in the race and start your positioning with 4-5 laps to go. 

The last few laps are always completely hectic because everyone is trying to move up.  Racers will be taking risks and lines that were not taken the first 99% of the race.  Guys will bump you off of a wheel, ride in the gutter to move up, elbow you around a corner, the slightest opening will be taken, etc…  The speed will be faster and racers are taking risks, which can set off your fight or flight reaction.  The last few laps for me always set off an adrenaline rush because of the excitement for the finish and the highend awareness. 

Being able to sprint is important, but being able to have the guts and nerve to fight for position is what makes a great criterium racer.  I have seen plenty of racers who can sprint, but when the pressure is on during the last few laps then get scared.  Their flight instincts kick in, and they start thinking about crashing.  You need to be mentally prepared for the intensity during the last few laps so that you fight.  The great criterium racers fight for the finish!

Ride Hard,

Steve

Criteriums can be risky.  There is one rule in bike racing and even more so in criterium racing:  You race, you crash.  It is more of a matter of when and how often.  Lance Armstrong crashes even though he is a highly protected, experienced, and valuable bike racer.

 What causes crashes?  Here is an incomplete list:

• People in front of you crash.  Many times the crash has nothing to do with you at all.  There was something that happened in front of you, so you end up on a pile, sliding, etc…  I look at this as a probability situation.  The more people in front of you: the higher the probability that there will be a crash.  Each rider in front of you multiplies the risk factor.  In fact the probability goes up faster the further back you go in the pack because the skill of the riders goes down the further back you go in the pack.  In addition, one of the key factors in crashes is fatigue, and the further you go back in the pack, the higher the fatigue level.  Stay up FRONT!
• Doing something sudden or unexpected, braking or moving left or right.  Riding safety in the pack requires everyone to follow a basic rule:  Don’t do something sudden or unexpected.  You can cause a crash that takes you down or riders around you down by breaking the rule of expectation. 
• Not protecting your front wheel.  Your job in the pack is to protect your front wheel.  One of the quickest ways to go down is to allow someone to overlap your front wheel.  On a straightaway this can be very sudden and violent. 
• Flat/blowout.  If you have ever had a front tire blowout quickly, then you can imagine how bad this might be if you had a front tire blowout around a corner or in the middle of a pack.  Slow leaks can be just a bad around a corners if you don’t notice it until it is too late.
• Mechanical.  Crit racing is hard on bikes since most of the courses are held on city streets which are not maintained like a velodrome.   I have seen the following stuff break in races: Spokes, handlebars, stems, forks, frames, shoe cleats. 
• Cornering too fast.  Going to fast around dry pavement is hard to do.  It can be done but this is not main cause of crashes, but it is the biggest fear among new crit racers.  It is much more of an issue for wet pavement.
• Road conditions.  There are all sorts of bad pavement situations that can cause crashes.  Concrete and black top roads in the north are greatly affected by the winter salt, the tar strips get very soft in hot sun, crosswalk paint is slippery, manhole covers,  buses drip oil at the bus stops, etc… 

You Crashed now what?

1. When you crash, the adrenaline immediately hits your body.  You will feel no pain and will instantly want to get back up and start racing.  Your heart was pumping hard already, but now it will be in overdrive.  RELAX and Breathe.  With a free lap in a criterium, you have time.  However, most crits have a limit on the free lap towards the end of the race.  This is usually announced at the start of the race, but typically it is something like:  the pits close with 5 laps to go.
2. Stay still for second.  Sense and feel your body.
   1. Don’t get mad, don’t fight, worry about your body
   2. Don’t check your bike first
   3. Did you just wake up on the ground?
   4. Does anything not feel right?  Anything broken or damaged?  Wrists, collarbone, hips, head, etc….
   5. Look at your skin and look for blood
   6. Did you break your helmet
   7. If you are hurt don’t move, just stay still and wait for medical attention.  Don’t let people move you if you are hurt!

1. If you are okay, now you can check your bike.
   1. Do your wheels spin?
   2. Are your handlebars and seat straight?

1. Get to the pits by the start finish.  If your wheels are damaged, you might need to go cyclocross.
   1. Tell the officials that you were in a crash.
   1. Minor mechanical problems can be sometimes fixed in the pits. 
   2. Most races are wheels in/wheels out, which means if you put your own wheels into the pits before the race then you can use them if you get a flat or damaged a wheel during the race.  Some larger races will have neutral  support so you might be able to get a wheel if you did not put wheels into the pits.  Sometimes you can share wheels with teammates, but work this out ahead of time.
   3. Many times a free laps becomes 2 laps because of where a crash might have happened on the course or time necessary to fix a mechanical. 

1. Get back in the race!
   1. If your bike and you are okay, then you can rejoin the race about where you where in the pack.  If you were in the break, you can rejoin with the break, etc….
   2. The officials control where and when you can rejoin the pack. 
   3. Before the pack comes by, get ready to sprint and rejoin the pack safety.

 Crashing sucks but it happens.  You need to be prepared mentally for the situation so that you can react.

Ride Hard

Steve

Criteriumcoaching.com

@criteriumcoach

Like all skills in bike racing and criterium racing, sprinting requires practice!   If you have positioned yourself correctly for the final corner, then you  are ready to sprint for the win!

Timing

• KEY:  Jump hard when you start your sprint.  You need to get a gap….separation is critical.  You want to make it harder for the other racers to come around you.  If they have to chase you down, then they might not be able to.
•  If the line is close to the corner, downhill or tailwind, go early.  In this case you want to be 1st or 2nd into the corner.  Hold your speed and pedal through the corner.  Jump as early as you can out of the corner.   You need to use your position through the corner to multiply your gap when you start sprinting.  If you start sprinting while everyone else is still going through the corner you have multiplied your gap, and other racers might not have enough time to close the gap.
• If the line is far from the corner, uphill, or headwind, go later.  In this case you want to be 3rd or 4th into the corner.  Hold your speed and pedal through the corner.  Stay  super tight on the wheel in front of you.  Anticipate their jump and hold their wheel so that you are in their draft.  Be patient, wait until the line is closer.  Then pick the side with the best wind or path to the line.  Jump HARD.  There will be a line of guys on your wheel waiting to jump also, so you need to get separation from them and you need to go around the guy in front of you in order to win. 

Technique

• Keep your head up and eyes forward.  Take a straight line.
• Use your entire body to deliver power to your legs.  Crank on the bars and spin your legs as fast as you can.  Keep you bike moving in a straight line.  If your bike is moving all over the place you are going slower not faster.
• As you enter the corner, you need to know what gear you want to be in when you stand up to sprint.  You will need to pedal through the corner, so you need to know as you exit the corner are you going to sprint in this gear, down shifting or up shifting.  Your gearing needs to be such that you can spin up the pedals fast and then shift as you accelerate.  
• Practice shifting while you’re sprinting. This means positioning your right hand on the drops so you can shift as you spin out your gears.
•  Once you have a gap and are gaining speed you need to focus on keeping the keeping the pedals spinning all of the way past the line.  Don’t stop until you have passed the line.

You need to practice jumping out of the corners, knowing when to stand up, picking the right gear, and sprinting to the line.  Sprinting in bicycle and criterium racing is about getting and holding separation to the line.   

Ride Hard,

Steve

Knowing the situation

One thing for sure in a Crit:  There will be a sprint (unless you have soloed in for the win).  The finishing sprint should never be a surprise if you have been paying attention.  Most races are either a fixed number of laps or fixed time plus X number of laps.  Then with one to go the officials ring a bell.  When you are at the starting line, you need to listen to the officials/announcer to clearly understand how the races will be counted or timed.  You need to understand what the lap cards will be showing, i.e. counting up in minutes and then down in laps, or counting down laps.  Then you need to pay attention during the race to monitor how many minutes or laps are left.

Thinking and Mentally Preparing

During the race, you need to thinking about how you are going win.  You win by focusing on the last corner.  You need to study the wind direction and strength on the finishing straightaway, how far away is the finish from the last corner, how fast can the last corner be taken (critical for the rain or tight corners), what is the best line through the last corner, is the finish flat or uphill, where is the finish line, etc…  It is helpful to watch the finish from the race before yours from the last corner to see what happens in the sprint.

Preparing for the Sprint

As the race nears around 10 minutes to go, you need to get into the top 10.  It is important to get into position early so that you are rested and ready to go.  As the race gets closer to the end, many racers will be attempting to move up, so you need to make sure that you don’t get boxed in and end up 20 places back.  You will need to be fighting for positions and working hard to maintain your position.  It is much less effort if you are holding your position rather than having to sprint to get up front.

Last few laps

If there is going to be a lead out, the sprinter teams will be attempting to keep the pace high so that there sprinter stays in position for the last corner.  The faster the leadout train, the hard it will be for people to move up and take over the key spots for the last corner.  If there is not a leadout train, then there will be guys attacking for a solo win which will make for a frantic and changing pace.  It will also happen, that pace slows as the race hits two to go.  Clearly the race will be a sprint, and everyone is up front, but they don’t want to go yet, then the surges can happen.  You must remember that you are racing for the last corner positioning . 

Last lap

During the last lap, the pace will be higher then it was for the whole race.  Everyone will be fighting to hang on or move up.  The race for you is for fight for your key position around the last corner.  You need to be in position a few laps ago to set up your fight for the last corner.  The fight will happen with the second to last corner, i.e. fighting for position does not mean that you pull the field around for the last lap.

Last corner

You should know and be in position for the last corner going into the corner.  Did you want to be in first place around the last corner or some other place?  If the sprint is long or there is headwind, you will want to be 3-4 around the last corner.  If the finish line is close to the last corner or there is a tailwind, you will want to be one or two at the last corner.

If you have raced the last lap well and you are in a good position for the last corner, then you need to get out of the saddle and sprint!!! 

Ride Hard,

Steve

Next Post:  How to Sprint