Voodoo76

Smart move.

Lithuania

i wish you could choose classics specialist. i guess the closest to that is sprinter.

umd

I was a climber today... I'm coming back on form nicely and should hit a good peak for states next week

I'll probably still get dropped hard in the 30+ race though (1-4)

mollusk

You are at a crossroads, Mike. You could become a superb ITT guy or you could become a superb road racer because you are strong, smart, and are willing to suffer.

I'm not so sure about you becoming a great crit racer because you are actually a really nice person.

carpediemracing 

I like sprinting because it requires the most tactical racing, at least from what I can tell. TT - train well, prepare well, and ride fast. Climbing - ditto. Both those are more like running or doing tris - get to your threshold and hold it for a long time. I go so slow when I do that I am convinced I can go faster, but then I explode. Last week in an embarrassment of a crit, I was lapped like 5 times. One of those "between" laps I decided to actually time trial a bit after another dropped rider blew by me. I got to 21 mph, went about 100 meters, and exploded (granted it was windy, but still, that's horrible). I waited for the field.

Sprinting? Equipment is less critical (a good all-round bike works great). Fitness is kind of optional since a good jump is somewhat genetic (but you have to get to the jump point). But you have to be tactically astute.

Skillful riding technique and tactics makes it totally unnecessary to be anything but firm, polite, and considerate when setting up for a field sprint, at least at Cat 3 and below. I have never shoved or pushed on purpose, even when someone intrudes on my space, and I rarely say anything except "Up!" or "Right/Left!" (I can't, I'm almost out of breath).

Teamwork helps a lot in a sprint and that's also a good feeling, to work together successfully.

It's also fun going really fast. I like descending too, but that isn't a "rider type".

cdr

Hammertoe

^^^I agree...

That's why I am a pure climber...

Grumpy McTrumpy

I don't care.

I just want to figure out how to win races around here.

substructure

I'm a low end all-arounder. I would like to just keep improving everything I'm not so good at.

Grumpy McTrumpy

races in upstate NY are seldom won by a "pure" anything.

they are too hilly for pure sprinters, not mountainous enough for pure climbers. Pure TTers cannot shake people off so they become leadout men unless they are sandbaggers (lots of those).

So I guess I want to be an all-rounder but I have a climber's body type.

JoelS

First off, I don't race.

That said...

I suppose I'm in the "climber" category. I enjoy climbing and the suffering that can go with it. I'm not a fast climber, but I do ok, even with a standard crank. Downhills and flats and I suck. I have a hard time hanging with folks, but I do fine once the road pitches up.

I want to get better at climbing, but I don't think I want to lose much more weight to do it.

botto 

i have the least respect for sprinters.

Nate552

My e-wang says I'm an "all-arounder" but I tend to do well locally on the climbs due to my size (126 lbs). If I have my choice I'd be a Time Trialist. I don't know why but I love TT's.

dmotoguy

I am finally starting to like being a sprinter now that the crit season is upon us, its a nice feeling to crush guys at the end.

On the other hand, I have only made it through two road races with the group this season.. anything with steep climbs and I'm out the back quicker than lager turns to piss. Its not a fun thing.

grolby

Well, being a climber is almost as much a matter of build as anything else; you need to be light enough relative to your power output to have a good W/kg. I actually have an excellent jump, in terms of power/weight, but at 125 lbs, that doesn't amount to much. I climb well because of small size, not because of outstanding fitness. My training seems to get compromised every year, including this one. If I really follow through next season, I may well be able to combine fitness and light weight to really slay on climbs.

You've been 125, but you're something like 4" taller than I am. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that 5 lbs of additional muscle would do me more good than harm, but there's less of an incentive for me to gain weight (even if I could without eating an insane amount of calories).

carpediemracing 

On sprinting...

"I'm fascinated by the sprinters. They suffer so much during the race just to ge to the finish, they hang on for dear life in the climbs, but then in the final kilometers they are transformed and do amazing things. It's not their force per se that impresses me, but rather the renaissance they experience. Seeing them suffer throughout the race only to be reborn in the final is something for fascination."
- Miguel Indurain

When I first started riding, I was fascinated by climbers. I think this is the case with almost any serious non-racing cyclist. It's easiest to comprehend climbing. It's more difficult to comprehend fast TTs (averaging 28-30 mph), and virtually impossible to fathom field sprinting. Anyway, I started cycling with a focus on climbing. Everything I did was aimed at climbing - I based my gear ratios on what I thought I needed for climbs, I wanted a light bike for climbing, and I devoured all the articles on "how to climb". My cycling friend called me "Van Impe", I dreamed about repeated attacks on some insanely long climb (the longest in my area were under a mile long), etc etc.

Then, at some point, I realized that, oh, I can't climb, even at 100 lbs or so. I think it happened in the first road race, when we got lapped (!!!!) on a 5k course by a solo break guy. I couldn't climb comfortably at all.

However, I never thought of myself as a sprinter. I think part of the reason was one of my teammates had an insane jump, full of fury and aggression and power. I never matched his jump, ever, and so I figured, if that's what it takes, "I ain't done got it".

After my disillusionment with climbing (big guys climbed faster than me, including the sprinter teammate), I thought my only chance was to do a TT type of effort. I'd break away at the bell, get caught 3/4 lap later, and roll in after the field. Or I'd be in a break at the bell and get caught just as the sprint launched.

Then, at some race where I decided to just wait for the sprint, I ended up winning. Total disbelief, I thought I was sprinting on the wrong lap since it appeared no one else was sprinting.

At some point I realized that, yes, I can sprint pretty fast, but that I don't TT or climb as easily. Even at my best form, I'd get shelled in RRs and annihilated in TTs (disk wheel, funny bike, etc, on a 7 mile course, and guys were beating me by 1.5 minutes on "Eddy Merckx" bikes and 2.5 minutes on TT bikes... 2.5 MINUTES on a 7 mile course!).

But, man, if I could hang onto their wheels, I could get in a good sprint. Like Theo De Roy said in the CBS coverage of the Tour one year:

"I understand my limitations" (or something to that effect).

cdr

Voodoo76

As a sprinter I would consider that a compliment.

botto 

whatever floats your wheelsucking boat.

Voodoo76

cdr, I can really relate to this post. Especially the last line, understanding limitations is key to a good sprinter Can't tell you how many times I've felt like crap 5k or so from a finish line (can remember Event chewing my a** out in the field once trying to drag me up to the front ).

Voodoo76

Key word and proud of it.

grolby

Oh, how true. Before I started racing, I was very taken with climbing. It is certainly the most romantic of all disciplines. But then I started racing and lo and behold, racing up climbs really, really hurts[i]. Even if you're good at it. And, as you point out, it's actually very straightforward. There's not much in the way of clever tactics or schemes that you can use on a climb. There's no hiding. If you have it, you have it, if you don't, you get blown out the back. Doing races with lots of climbs when you're a bit low on fitness is incredibly demoralizing, even if you have no reason to expect to be up at the front. Crits and flat races are much more rewarding when fitness is low. And I say this as a climber - climbing represents my best potential chance at placing or winning in races when my fitness is good, but that doesn't mean I love climbing. Oh, I like it okay when I'm going well, but sometimes it just sucks.

mollusk

When I was young I wanted to be a "heart breaker". Now I'd rather be a "soul crusher". Too bad wanting and being are not the same.

As for my riding I would say that I am an "all-arounder". My sucking is spherically symmetric.

Creakyknees

The object of a bike race is to win. Sprinters win more races.

slim_77

I answered "sprinter, wannabe TT'er" but I don't care about doing actual TTs.

I'm only a 4, so in reality I guess I'm still "**********" but my natural talent lends itself to sprinting. which is good for lower cat stuff, but I'm seriously deficient in effective attacking and staying away. So, hey. I know what I've got to work on.

but I like what YMCA said.

procrit

All arounder... My time trialing is getting pretty decent and sprinting isn't too bad. Climbing may or may not be a weakness. On paper the numbers say it should pretty good, but that doesn't mean much.

Hida Yanra

No vote since I haven't been racing long enough to really develop as a racer, so I have no idea what I'll be good at once I get into the 'real' racing of higher cats.

That said, I excel at suffering and at 141lbs I'm light enough to stick it on the climbs pretty effectively.
I love nasty, cold, rainy weather- and I love punchy hills and small packs... looks like I'm a prime candidate for the classics, eh? My sprint is pretty laughable, but this probably has a lot more to do with my comfort level in large groups and setting myself up correctly.

My targeted races this year are all insisting that I run and swim or they won't count my bike results...stupid race organizers.

Seriously though, my TT is real decent and I can make others in a group fear me on short punchy hills. ...but realistically, I've been running and swimming too much this year to make much noise in 'real' bike races, maybe next year?