Originally Posted by igknighted

Got to the start line late this evening and ended up starting towards the back of a 75 rider field. Very tight turns, 3 longish straights. One flat (with start/finish), one slight downhill with the wind dead ahead, and one slight uphill with wind from the side. The turns were very tight (2 over 90 degrees), so the field was yo-yoing like crazy. What is the best strategy to move up in a race like this? It was nearly impossible to pass more than a couple riders on the straights because everyone was sprinting, and the turns were so tight that it was hard to get a good line unless you fell in with everyone else. Is it OK to stay tighter than the field and not let them apex the turns quite as much, or would that be a no-no (almost no one attempted this).

On one hand, I know I wasn't one of the strongest in the race, so I may not have "deserved" to be up front, but I did consistently move up the pack as the race went on, I just ran out of time about 25-30 places back. Any tips on how to improve this "moving up through the field" to hopefully be more of a factor next time? And yes, next time I will make sure to show up on the line sooner and not start way in the back.