Thoughts on the final jam
Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:17 am
Josh made a comment today that got me thinking about the way our ride is developing, and I had a half-formed idea to toss out for discussion.
He commented that once the initial acccelaration over/after King George happens, lately there is a hesitation in the pace (or words to that effect). I think it's probably the effect of people learning that they can't pull like a mad man and contest the final sprint against others who aren't pulling like mad men. This is a good thing, because it means many more of us are learning the subtleties of pacing in bike racing and group rides.
But if the intention is to have fun testing ourselves (in a blow-your-brains-out, involuntary-regurg., can't-raise-the-ceiling-unless-you-touch-it sorta way), we may find our match sprint chess game getting in the way of that.
So, I wondered if we might consider a variation on the earlier fox and hounds game we played. Let's say we designate three riders, who feel like jamming more than normal, and let them get 30 seconds ahead over King George. The rest then chase as a group. Both groups would have an incentive to go hard, but the result would be in doubt. Three is big enough to succeed, but small enough to organize in an anaerobic haze. The chase group would be large enough that the newly graduated B's (and others not so interested in the taste of blood) could sit on, while the remaining hammer heads could try to reel in the break. And if they succeed, they contest the sprint. If not, the break gets to play match sprint chess among themselves, and the chase group gets it's own sprint.
Of course the alternative is that we continue to evolve in a free market George Bush era pre-recession sorta way, and the attacks go randomly until someone gets away. The problem with that is that a very jumpy, aggressive 'selection' (as the pros call it in their understated way) also shells folks out the back. Which is not really our thing, despite the jamming we already do. And you can already get that at other rides in town.
Thoughts?
He commented that once the initial acccelaration over/after King George happens, lately there is a hesitation in the pace (or words to that effect). I think it's probably the effect of people learning that they can't pull like a mad man and contest the final sprint against others who aren't pulling like mad men. This is a good thing, because it means many more of us are learning the subtleties of pacing in bike racing and group rides.
But if the intention is to have fun testing ourselves (in a blow-your-brains-out, involuntary-regurg., can't-raise-the-ceiling-unless-you-touch-it sorta way), we may find our match sprint chess game getting in the way of that.
So, I wondered if we might consider a variation on the earlier fox and hounds game we played. Let's say we designate three riders, who feel like jamming more than normal, and let them get 30 seconds ahead over King George. The rest then chase as a group. Both groups would have an incentive to go hard, but the result would be in doubt. Three is big enough to succeed, but small enough to organize in an anaerobic haze. The chase group would be large enough that the newly graduated B's (and others not so interested in the taste of blood) could sit on, while the remaining hammer heads could try to reel in the break. And if they succeed, they contest the sprint. If not, the break gets to play match sprint chess among themselves, and the chase group gets it's own sprint.
Of course the alternative is that we continue to evolve in a free market George Bush era pre-recession sorta way, and the attacks go randomly until someone gets away. The problem with that is that a very jumpy, aggressive 'selection' (as the pros call it in their understated way) also shells folks out the back. Which is not really our thing, despite the jamming we already do. And you can already get that at other rides in town.
Thoughts?
