gsteinb

mattm

Vuelta: it's as if Garmin hasn't failed enough this year, so they're really pouring it on before the end of the season.

Do any training wheel companies sponsor bike race teams??

Creakyknees

I endorse this message... and it has prompted another rant. See next post.

Creakyknees

Haven't done as many weeknighter crits this year. Went and raced the Dallas Thursday nighter last night. Some observations, not that anyone in this thread would ever do any of these things:

- still seeing really strong riders who are unclear on the concept and execution of drafting. E.g. they ride along, comfortably, at 28 mph, _next to_ the group as opposed to _in_ the group... for a while. Later in the race they are nowhere to be seen. Seems to be a strong correlation with riders who say " I don't like crits" and "I prefer time trials" ... gee ya think? This observation applies to both the 3/4 cats as well as the p/1/2 race.

- the flip side is riders who are excellent wheelsuckers and therefore find themselves off the front with no ability to make any contribution to a break. Sour grapes, sure, there's no obligation to contribute etc. But at least try to stay out of the way instead of just slowing down the group.

- there's really no need for chopping / diving corners when we are 10 minutes into a 50 minute long race, is there?

What else.... oh yeah, the ever popular tactic of hiding 40 riders deep in the group and yelling criticism about the lack of speed at the front. I literally laughed out loud at that one.

MDcatV

we might move to DFW. I'm glad to see the racing scene there is exactly the same as it is here!

all joking aside, the chopping 10 minutes in thing is in my experience usually related to people being afraid they're going to get behind someone who is gapped off leading to them getting dropped during the ballistic opening scenes of a technical crit. i'm sure i'm guilty of it.

hack

Make sure to keep on with the glute. So much potential power for cycling and for overall body stability. What kind of exercises are they having you do to engage and strengthen the glute?

echappist

who else can jsut and I bother if you move away?

ovoleg

the clam exercise



Then this sitting ball squeeze thing



I'm also doing Chair Squats



Ontop of that I'm at the gym doing reverse leg curls, leg extensions, leg presses.

I'm open to any ideas.

Oh I'm also trying the standing glute squeeze!

Grumpy McTrumpy

straight-leg deadlift

hack

You look different than I thought...

Hip bridges? Might be tough at first to not use all hamstring, but you can check with your hands to make sure your glutes are enganged. Also, when doing the leg press, make sure they're controlled and that you can feel the muscle being used. Chair squats are good, make sure you're staying off the toes (quads...) and that you're engaging the glutes (with just body weight, it's easy to just use hamstrings). With your glutes only at 5%, once you start working them, they can and will get very sore (like, could hurt to walk sore), so don't rush.

I'm not a PT, so take all that with a grain of salt.

ovoleg

thanks for the advise. It seems like some of my other muscles are overpowering the glute and its hard to do some of the exercises wheere I can target the glute exclusively.

I'm trying all I can and will take any advice.

hack

hip bridges are good (there are all kinds of variations out there) and you could consider doing some step ups as well. just make sure you're engaging the muscle because you can easily over compensate with the hamstring (especially with a 100% vs 5% situation).

MDcatV

prob not happening anytime soon.

carpediemracing 

First bit, 100% agree. The strongest riders are the hardest to work with because they can get away with all their misconceptions/fears for a while.

On the second bit if a weaker rider gets in a break they don't have to slow it down, they just can't contribute. I'm in that boat so I'll tag along but the reality is that if I pull through I will slow things down and I'll get shelled after the effort. Therefore I don't pull, I stay out of the rotation, and no one needs to slow down. After a lap or four I'll realistically be off the back so it's moot for the others to worry about me.

Third I think chopping wheels is almost never necessary if both riders are using good judgment. I've let guys in that I shouldn't have because they endangered everyone with their move (typically sliding up the inside when there's no room). As a gatekeeper I failed my duty to the rest of the field. However it's usually easier to slide into gaps at the beginning of a race because everyone tends to be less on guard.

Creatre

I've been doing a whole bunch of that glute/hip stuff as well for my IT band. Gonna start incorporating it into my gym core work.

furiousferret

We had to make the tough decision to cancel our vacation next month. I'm still in shock about it. Just a few months ago we were fine than a few major incidents wiped us out financially. We do okay, and being broke is more of a worst case scenario assumption as opposed to only having $20 to last the week. In the end, I wasn't comfortable going on a vacation depending on plastic.

ovoleg

Yeah I put my hand on my butt to try and feel it. Man this is so frustrating...
So hows the IT band man? I know you said in the other thread that you think you might have figured it out?

Queue in my Girflriend: Thats because you buy too many "bike" things.

j/k you'll be fine man I havent had a vacation in like 3 years.

Creatre

Think I'm close. I feel a twinge every now and then, but it doesn't seem inflammed any more. I can do 1.5hr on the bike without it bothering me, just gradually increasing to make sure I don't re-injure it! Hoping to be back to normal in a week or two.

Ygduf

dead weight on a break slows it down, every time. Guys see the shadow and expect someone to pull through. Everytime someone doesn't pull through it's hurting the momentum.

ovoleg

so what? If I don't want to contribute and make the break super successful, I'll just sit in. I find it funny when guys freak out and want you to do work to make it successful. Sometimes I'm just there to make sure the break doesn't work :/

mattm

If they're smart, they'll punish you by trying to gap/drop you.

But if your goal is for the break to survive, then ****ing pull through! Even if you do a fake .5-second pull, it's worth way more than just sitting on.

mattm

And this is why a p1/2 race is always harder than a p/1/2/3 race.

Next year I hope to find out that a p/1 race is harder than a p/1/2 race, for the same reason!

ovoleg

true. I always try to make it work otherwise I don't waste energy jumping over to the break. I just don't get mad cause some dude can't pull his weight when the break is initiated.

EDIT: The only time I didn't care about pulling through is when I rolled off the front, a bunch of guys jumped over to me and started pushing the pace. I knew it wasn't going to work because everyone in the field was fresh and It was my second race of the day and I didn't want to hammer a break for 30mins so I just sat in to see how it would go. They got pissed that I wasn't doing any work in the break, or so I heard after we got absorbed in the field.

Ygduf

->

I guess I don't get the question. Just wrote a reply to the post where someone says they can harmlessly hang on the back of a break.

I too have killed breaks (more bridges, protecting a break) by being the anchor dragging at the back.

hack

My legs are tired. Just walking around the office and I'm feeling fatigued. I think I might take a week off after racing this weekend. In reality, I'll probably be back out riding on Tuesday though.