Originally Posted by
AzTallRider
Okay... let's suppose I'm off the front with one other cooperative fellow. What's a reasonable pull length? 10s? 30s? 60s? I'm thinking that making them very long really sets you up for the attack as you get near the end.
Same as a TTT to start with...pull off before you start to fade. If you wait till you think you need to pull off you've burned a match. Good rotation I'd say 15-18 seconds. I usually look at who I'm in the break with and how I stack up. If I know I can burn them off my wheel I'll take longer pulls to get the break established, then try to keep things even.
I've taken longer pulls just to give guys some rest and keep them in the break knowing that if they pop, their teams will start chasing.
But I'm not going to be a hero and blow myself out of the break either. At Gila one year I wasn't having a great day and ended up in a break with a guy who had done 4 grand tours, one 2x olympian, 2 national champs, and one world champ. Of the six of us I was the weakest. I told the guys I was down on GC, and that I'd give them everything I had but I didn't have a full tank and wouldn't contest the finish. I stayed true to my word and kept the pace high, and sat out once in a while when I needed to recover. Nothing kills a break faster than one guy who drops the speed 3 MPH whenever he goes to the front.
Interesting in that one of the guys was deliberately surging when I pulled off. I finally stuck him out in the wind and matched him pedal stroke for pedal stroke. He took the hint and we were dead smooth after that. Which is really another key point to making a break work.
Smooooooooth.