Windsor Park session Monday 6 am

[Lister Farrar]

A belated change to a more sensible day for cornering and sprinting than Thursday after the Wednesday evening race.

Today we had some riders new to the cornering session so the experienced riders warmed up while we covered line, weighting and speed. Then we did some fast laps with moderate accelerations out of corners to practice staying on a wheel at higher speed. Finished up with a warm-down riding two and three abreast to get that comfy-in-the-corners-in-a-bunch feeling. We can do the same Monday, and /or add some race pace leadouts.

I was asked about tactics and strategy, and I confess to focussing so far on basics and mistake avoidance: matching speed to the wheel in front, reacting quickly to accelerations, good line, avoiding late braking. Club members who are new to crit racing will find this is the bulk of their strategy for most of the race; ride smooth, safe, and save energy.

But probably the next stage of tactics and strategy would be staying closer to the front than the back, where less experienced riders tend to gather. You can sprint up the side of the bunch to gain places, but that can use a lot of energy. As we all know from group rides, there are harder bits and lulls. I try to use the lulls to work my way forward in the bunch, then maybe slide back a bit if it's really fast and I don't feel up to a break myself. Watch for riders that leave gaps and time your move to slide into one of those, so you don't have to hang out in the wind.

Next, think about trying a break. It's tempting to attack when you feel good, but often this is when the group feels good and will chase right away. A better time is to note when it's been fast, and then jump just as it eases, and hope the hurting legs will make the chase a bit delayed and you can get clear. Do it with partners too. Three is better than two. Jump from the back or the other side of the road so you don't present your wheel to the chasers like a free taxi at closing time.

Another option is to wait until someone else gets a gap, then sprint across as fast as you can to avoid taking everyone with you. Then when you get across, there's a wheel to rest on for a bit. Be sure to reassure the break partners you will work in a minute or so as you recover, or they'll give up and your effort will be for nought.

[shawnc]

I'm pumped to hear this is on Mondays now. I've wanted to come out on Thursdays but I'm just too shelled from Wednesday nights to get up quite that early.

[Lister Farrar]

Just a bump to remind all the Windsor park session is Monday instead of Thursday. See you at 6 at the pavilllion.

[watwin]

Great session this morning under coach Lister. We went over cornering technique one last time before the crit (my first!) next weekend, then some alternating fast and slow laps to put cornering into practice. Main focus was on coming out of the corner fast, on the front man's wheel and ready to jump to stay there (thanks to Ian for acting as the 'jumpy front man' for multiple laps to help save my knees). Finished off with some sprint lead-out simulations. Thanks for all the help Lister!

[Jeff George]

Hi everyone,

I made it to my second "Lister's Cornering Sessions" today, and really enjoyed it again. If you were thinking you're too slow, too fast, not advanced enough, or too advanced to attend, you would be wrong. Both times I've been there, there's been a nice range of experience, and a great chance for everyone to learn.

Thanks again to Lister for investing his time, effort, and (years and years and years of . . . ) experience and knowledge to improve our riding skills.

The more people who come to these session, the less time we'll each need to spend watching traffic at the corners (to keep us all safe), and the better (and safer) we'll all get at this critical bike-handling skill - whether for racing or simply for our group rides.

. . . and it's very close to Discovery Coffee in Oak Bay.

jg

[Ian]

Alec, I didn't think I was 'jumpy'. I thought I was pretty calm for the most part, aside from the adrenaline kick when my back wheel hopped sideways on turn 1...

At the risk of being repetitive, great session this morning! I had the chance to pull through a lot of the turns, allowing me to figure out the speed to carry into the corners. HUGE confidence-builder for me today, which is perfect timing before the race this weekend.

Lister, are these sessions continuing after this weekend, even though the windsor park crit will be past? I for one would definitely be interested.

[Lister Farrar]

Thanks guys. This am was fun. (Full disclosure: I asked the guys this morning to post their impressions so others would get more than just my spiel.)

Ian, I think Alec meant that you lead-out the accelerations we did out of the corners, not that you were erratic. We were trying to take it easy on Alec's knees by letting him follow instead of pull.

For others, the idea was to progress from steady laps in a pace line, to fast 1-lappers with one of the stronger riders accelerating moderately out of the corners for the others to try to match, then with a rest lap at walking pace so the fast laps were high quality but also clear-headed for safe learning.

We finished up with 2 fast laps with leadouts into a sprint finish, the idea being staying on a wheel until the elusive right time (and right gear) to come around in the last straight.

I will continue these on Monday mornings starting again August 9 (I'm away now until then) if there is interest.

Good luck to all on Sunday. Post detailed reports, ok?