Tues hares and hounds game, final sprint

[Lister Farrar]

We tried a game in the b group today that seemed to work for most in the b's. After re-grouping at the top of King George, four riders started with with a 30 second lead, then the rest of us chased. Two of the break riders dropped off before Beacon Hill, but Mark and Norm managed to hold us off until the last of the three laps. Mark and Norm seemed to like the incentive to stay away; we certainly had to work hard to catch them.

For next time, the 'break' should be riders that can continue to the end, ie three laps of Beacon Hill. Marcus and Paul peeling off early compromised Mark and Norm's chances to stay away.

Also, there was some discussion about whether we sprint more than once at Beacon. I'd like to suggest there only be one sprint at the end. Anyone can attack any time they want, if they're trying to bridge a gap or get away before the end, but I suggest there there be no 'primes' with one or two to go.

I think the value in the Beacon laps is to work in whatever group you're with as hard as you can, so you can figure out the balance between how hard to pull, while leaving something to get on the back. In the A's, some guys take flyers and try to stay away, which is great when you need a test like that. But in B, most of us are still figuring out the pull-hard-but-leave-a-bit-to-get-on thing. It's also better for anyone sitting on the back to have it steadier; they're gone pretty fast when it starts to get jumpy.

[Plawless]

I agree with Lister. Beacon Hill has ONE sprint - at the end of however many laps the group is doing. If people start doing their own mid point sprints it just opens gaps and confuses things.

If we move back to Ring Road on Tuesdays (which I am in favour of once we know the bunnies are not going to be a problem) then I think we can add more sprints depending on the group (I like a sprint every 2nd lap) but at Beacon Hill its one sprint at the end.

Peter

[steve]

Hey Lister,

Really enjoyed the chase this morning, I think that type of training is great preparation for racing and stretches us all to our limits for extended time periods.

I don't exactly know how we could have done an extra sprint, we were all at max for the three laps, another sprint would have just taken away from the intensity as we recovered.

Steve

[Lister Farrar]

Cool. People saying thanks for the pain.

A couple of people thought we sprinted more than once in Beacon Hill park, so I was just seeking clarification.