Jerry Powell
Dan, and all the others that have contributed to this thread. Crits
can be the most technical of the spring and summer races. There were
challenges in the LO Crit, but believe me, there are Crit courses
that are far more technically challenging than that one. So how do
you learn the skills and gain the experience? Well, part of the
answer is to ride crits... Delta Park, and the Mt Tabor races are
really "circuit races" not crits. They are valuable to experience in
their own right, and you can learn a lot from them, but they are not
particularly technical. Crit clinics have in the distant past been a
club affair where twenty or thirty riders put on a lot of extra
clothes and find an empty parking lot.
There is, as many who have attended know, a wintertime cycling
conference. This next year will be the fourth edition. Last year I
scheduled an "on the bike" session on the Sunday morning following
the day of classes. As only about four people showed up for that
session, I didn't schedule one like it this spring. Perhaps I
shouldn't give up so easily on the idea.
I can't speak for the other coaches without talking to them... but it
seems to me that there are several of us that could do a two or three
hour session with handling drills, survival tactics, training
strategies, positioning tips... etc.
The last thing that I'd like to point out is that there is no "right
way" to ride a corner. There are lots of ways, and the best way
through is the one that gives you the most advantage. (That's NOT a
license to go out there messing with people) And by the way,
thinking in terms of "inside" and "outside" is a lot less useful than
thinking in terms of turning "early" and "late". Think about it.
And, I agree with Mike, everyone deserves some credit for riding a
generally safe race, slightly larger packs, and/or a bit more
aggressive riding could have yielded a lot more crashes.
Jerry Powell (USAC Elite Coach)
At 10:52 AM -0700 5/14/02, Dan Rohlf wrote:
I'd also like to say something about learning racing skills. I last
raced many years ago in as a cat 3 in Fairbanks, Alaska, where the pack
size is small to say the least. When I moved to Portland and tried PIR,
I suffered a major crash which left me somewhat skittish about racing. I
would like to try the sport again, but I've also found it difficult to
figure out how to start. I'm glad to hear that some teams offer some
instruction on their rides, but it is sort of intimidating to just show
up for team rides, particularly later in the season. I would also be
interested in a "learn to race" sort of clinic, or even just in having
access to additional information (e.g. on the OBRA web site) about which
teams welcome new riders for training rides and when.
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