Tripleshot Cycling

I really respected our club member who spoke to the issue of keeping Right during our sprints when we stopped at Maddocks Farm today. I'd like to here more peoples opinoins on this topic.

Rooks

Not an exciting topic I know, but as a new rider, I am trying to get all the info I can as to what is expected of me and where I should be positioned when riding.

As a former driving instructor, I am attracted to the discipline this group has and the respect that is shown for all that is out there on public roads. For example, I like to see good left turns with no cutting the corner. If we always position ourselves on the right side of the center line, whether real or imaginary, then we can be more predictable and therefore safer when execututing this move. Statistically, for drivers, the left turn is one of the most dangerous manouvers on the road.

Lets keep it safe. Based on Rolfs latest post, it looks like it could be tricky out there tomorrow morning. Wishing you a quick recovery buddy

Rooks

I'm no expert, but generally the most important thing when sprinting is to hold your line. Don't make sudden moves left or right unless you know there's a safe place to move to. Not only does this force those buggers behind you (who have a better view of where there might be a gap) to come around if they want to beat you, it ensures that you don't pull into someone roaring up from behind. I've failed to do this a few times and gotten an earful – quite rightly.

This topic was also covered here. Oh, waitaminute, you started that thread too! Good for you for asking lots of questions!

I guess the difference on Sundays is that the jam to Mattick's is on a fairly busy, narrow, serpentine road and it takes place later in the morning, unlike Cedar Hill X Rd. at 6:30 on a Tuesday. Cordova Bay Road also features reduced visibility, a greater likelihood of car traffic, a shoulder/sidewalk that is highly inconsistent and features plenty of driveways. It's probably a good idea to stay right and only pass on the left on that stretch. Where passing on the right becomes quite difficult to avoid is when the first guys/gals take off from the front and riders on the inside want to accelerate but are trapped. The disorderly nature of the sprints on Cordova Bay – sometimes starting as far back as Mt. Doug Park – and Interurban (also a narrow, busy, twisting road) is partly what drove me from regular Sunday TS rides this past Spring.

On Tuesdays, there's plenty of room, fewer unknown variables (driveways etc.) and it's a lot safer. There are usually a few sprint columns gunning it at the end and things get very amoebic as people jockey for position, usually right around the tennis courts. "Pass left, stay right" is likely unreasonable and unnecessary on Cedar Hill X.

That was me. Sorry for the aggro attitude and profanity. It's not really the sprint itself that's the issue, it's us spread all over the road for the whole Cordova Bay Road jam. Things I think need to be observed:

- Don't ride four abreast.
- It's a long stretch. Find a wheel and stick to it.
- If someone takes off early, you're probably best to work together to catch him.
- Ride on the right side of the road. Don't cut corners.
- On this jam, If you year "car back" do two things: pass it up and move right. You can assume that, when we are jamming at 40+ km/h, if you hear "car back" it means that a car is passing us and doing so at speed. It's our job to make ourselves small. If you're in line, make a space for others to get in. If you're outside, point and make it clear that you're coming in.
- There's a bunch of people who I never see except on Sundays. There are others who never read the forums. Communicate with them so they know what to do.

It's gotten so this jam is pretty dangerous and it's up to us to change that. If you have to give up a wheel or back off and sacrifice your sprint, it's probably worth it long term. And Andrew's gonna beat you in the sprint anyway.

Feel free to ignore me since I seldom get to do the Sunday ride, but I still don't get why we have a jam in the first quarter of a sunday ride. It's like a novice race; everyone sprints off the line until it blows apart, and then its a death march home for all the early aggressors.

I think it got started because someone wanted to go fast down the hill from mt Doug parkway and blenkinsop, and some were not so careful about holding a wheel, and lo and behold folks are jumping gaps.

Besides the fact that it shreds newbies at the beginning of the ride and discourages them from going further than they might if it stayed together, it's also an upside down habit for racing; typically you have to control your ego (and energy) in the first half of a race and then make it count in the second. (Except cyclocross which is the opposite: sprint all out, then hang on as long as you can and explode right at the line.)

Oohhh, I just got it. You guys are all training for 'cross!! Excellent!! Got it. Carry on. Anything for the mudcult.