thanx for the constructive comments. good to know i'm not alone in some of the opinions. only in my second season on the road. i go for the front from time to time but still feel like i've got alot to learn so i hang in the back alot to see how it's done. unlike most areas of my life, i do appreciate being called out if doing something stupid.
Old school track coach says to improve sprint efficiency, practice sprinting with hands open so you can't pull on the handlebar. Try it.
----- Original Message -----
From: john
To: dacrizzow
Cc: obra@list.obra.org
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 10:52 PM
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] PIR crashes
nope you are not off course. Definitely something to think about ! Crashing is not racing. If one thinks so, IMHO they need to leave the sport.
There seem to be a general trend of increased crashing. And what i think is the reason is something i also noticed immediately when watching this year's Giro (full of crashes btw). ( which was great to have on broadcast tv). Obviously they are pros (pros at crashing?..), but even so, many of their riding styles leave much to be desired. I have never seen so much un-smoothness, so much flailing back in forth in my life as these young "pros" sit and push big gears. All those crashes aren't due to, as the racers or announcers would have you believe, road furniture, rain or nerves or whatever, it's because a good number of racers don't seem to know how to hold a straight line ! well its hard to when your pushing a huge gear. The super stiff road bikes do allow racers to get away with this without as much efficiency penalty as the old days.
I remember days of old when watching a pro warm up on rollers. His tires wouldn't move even a half millimeter side to side, he was so rock solid smooth, even when spinning it up! I thought my god thats a pro. Even to this day i constantly work on my pedal stroke, my smoothness, etc..
People do need to spin more (myself included! i have lost much). Learn to Spin- save your A$$, and/or your obra buddies. Obvioiusly there are many more things people can do as well, but this is the main one!
Back in the old days a racer on the flats would never be under say 105 - 110 rpm. A young supple racer, springtime, or a beginner was reccomended to keep it above that ! (to avoid overstressing something yet not developed like a knee tendon, etc....) other Things are, never swerving, never any sudden moves, (even if that means hitting a pothole, waterbottle or whatever, don't ever swerve when other cyclist are on your wheel or around), relaxing the upper body, keeping your head up, no brakes, etc...
Imho, If you care, learn to spin, learn be smooth.
On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 8:36 PM, dacrizzow wrote:
something to think about. i race in the mstr 4/5's. sometimes i take my shot out front, sometimes (more often than not) i'm hanging on for dear life in the back. i appreciate the pace, competition, al that every week. i'm not a sprinter so when that sprint finish starts, i get out of the way. i see these crashes happening and they are not at the front. they are in the middle to back. WTF! most of us are 40+ yrs old racing in the 4/5's. i know i'm gonna get my inbox flooded with guys telling me 'crashing is racing' whatever that means. i don't know, am i off course with this or are we in the back expected to sprint for 30th as well?
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nope you are not off course. Definitely something to think about !
Crashing is not racing. If one thinks so, IMHO they need to leave the
sport.
There seem to be a general trend of increased crashing. And what i think is
the reason is something i also noticed immediately when watching this year's
Giro (full of crashes btw). ( which was great to have on broadcast
tv). Obviously they are pros (pros at crashing?..), but even so, many of
their riding styles leave much to be desired. I have never seen so
much un-smoothness, so much flailing back in forth in my life as these young
"pros" sit and push big gears. All those crashes aren't due to, as the
racers or announcers would have you believe, road furniture, rain or nerves
or whatever, it's because a good number of racers don't seem to know how to
hold a straight line ! well its hard to when your pushing a huge gear.
The super stiff road bikes do allow racers to get away with this without as
much efficiency penalty as the old days.
I remember days of old when watching a pro warm up on rollers. His tires
wouldn't move even a half millimeter side to side, he was so rock solid
smooth, even when spinning it up! I thought my god thats a pro. Even to
this day i constantly work on my pedal stroke, my smoothness, etc..
People do need to spin more (myself included! i have lost much). Learn to
Spin- save your A$$, and/or your obra buddies. Obvioiusly there are many
more things people can do as well, but this is the main one!
Back in the old days a racer on the flats would never be under say 105 - 110
rpm. A young supple racer, springtime, or a beginner was reccomended to
keep it above that ! (to avoid overstressing something yet not developed
like a knee tendon, etc....) other Things are, never swerving, never any
sudden moves, (even if that means hitting a pothole, waterbottle or
whatever, don't ever swerve when other cyclist are on your wheel or around),
relaxing the upper body, keeping your head up, no brakes, etc...
Imho, If you care, learn to spin, learn be smooth.
On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 8:36 PM, dacrizzow wrote:
> something to think about. i race in the mstr 4/5's. sometimes i take my
> shot out front, sometimes (more often than not) i'm hanging on for dear life
> in the back. i appreciate the pace, competition, al that every week. i'm not
> a sprinter so when that sprint finish starts, i get out of the way. i see
> these crashes happening and they are not at the front. they are in the
> middle to back. WTF! most of us are 40+ yrs old racing in the 4/5's. i know
> i'm gonna get my inbox flooded with guys telling me 'crashing is racing'
> whatever that means. i don't know, am i off course with this or are we in
> the back expected to sprint for 30th as well?
> _______________________________________________
> OBRA mailing list
> obra@list.obra.org
> http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra
> Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org
>
Sounds like Mark Cavendish!
-----Original Message-----
From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On
Behalf Of list@monovich.com
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 10:16 PM
To: dacrizzow
Cc: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] PIR crashes
the guy who caused the crash in the 4/5s blindly swerved into the guy next
to him. he didn't have his head up and wasn't looking where he was going.
the problem isn't people sprinting for 30th, its people not piloting their
bikes correctly.
I myself cannot sprint well, but almost always sprint at the end of a race
because I want to do as well as I can. That's what racing is about to me.
People who mock others for sprinting outside of the top ten (not you, but
I've read others doing it here) are pretty arrogant. In the end very few
people contest for a win in any given race. The rest of us are just trying
to feel good about our effort at the end of the day, and thats okay.
On Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:36:53 -0700, dacrizzow wrote:
> something to think about. i race in the mstr 4/5's. sometimes i take my
> shot out front, sometimes (more often than not) i'm hanging on for dear
> life in the back. i appreciate the pace, competition, al that every week.
> i'm not a sprinter so when that sprint finish starts, i get out of the
way.
> i see these crashes happening and they are not at the front. they are in
> the middle to back. WTF! most of us are 40+ yrs old racing in the 4/5's.
i
> know i'm gonna get my inbox flooded with guys telling me 'crashing is
> racing' whatever that means. i don't know, am i off course with this or
are
> we in the back expected to sprint for 30th as well?
> _______________________________________________
> OBRA mailing list
> obra@list.obra.org
> http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra
> Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org
_______________________________________________
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Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org
On Jun 15, 2010, at 10:16 PM, wrote:
> the guy who caused the crash in the 4/5s blindly swerved into the guy next
> to him. he didn't have his head up and wasn't looking where he was going.
> the problem isn't people sprinting for 30th, its people not piloting their
> bikes correctly.
>
You mean like Cavendish?
Watch the video at the bottom to see how to crash a sprint. (Not for the squeamish!)
http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2010/06/tour-de-swisse-carnage/
Ouch.
the guy who caused the crash in the 4/5s blindly swerved into the guy next
to him. he didn't have his head up and wasn't looking where he was going.
the problem isn't people sprinting for 30th, its people not piloting their
bikes correctly.
I myself cannot sprint well, but almost always sprint at the end of a race
because I want to do as well as I can. That's what racing is about to me.
People who mock others for sprinting outside of the top ten (not you, but
I've read others doing it here) are pretty arrogant. In the end very few
people contest for a win in any given race. The rest of us are just trying
to feel good about our effort at the end of the day, and thats okay.
On Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:36:53 -0700, dacrizzow wrote:
> something to think about. i race in the mstr 4/5's. sometimes i take my
> shot out front, sometimes (more often than not) i'm hanging on for dear
> life in the back. i appreciate the pace, competition, al that every week.
> i'm not a sprinter so when that sprint finish starts, i get out of the
way.
> i see these crashes happening and they are not at the front. they are in
> the middle to back. WTF! most of us are 40+ yrs old racing in the 4/5's.
i
> know i'm gonna get my inbox flooded with guys telling me 'crashing is
> racing' whatever that means. i don't know, am i off course with this or
are
> we in the back expected to sprint for 30th as well?
> _______________________________________________
> OBRA mailing list
> obra@list.obra.org
> http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra
> Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org
something to think about. i race in the mstr 4/5's. sometimes i take my shot out front, sometimes (more often than not) i'm hanging on for dear life in the back. i appreciate the pace, competition, al that every week. i'm not a sprinter so when that sprint finish starts, i get out of the way. i see these crashes happening and they are not at the front. they are in the middle to back. WTF! most of us are 40+ yrs old racing in the 4/5's. i know i'm gonna get my inbox flooded with guys telling me 'crashing is racing' whatever that means. i don't know, am i off course with this or are we in the back expected to sprint for 30th as well?
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