"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Motor paced workouts

I've seen reference to this kind of workout here and there, but not much on the specifics, except that it involves drafting behind a car or motorcycle. So I'm a bit curious...

What is it meant to accomplish? How is it done? Where does it fit into an overall training plan? Does anyone here have experience with this?

Thanks!

It simulates riding at race pace, which you can't do alone. Also improves your spin a good bit. Most pros have somebody come motorpace them after doing 3-4 hours solo already.

Typical Motor pace workout: After a warm up, Motorpace at 30mph or so for 5 minutes: then attack and pass the Motor. Drop back recover behind the Motor, repreat.

Best training outside of race conditions

More accepted in Europe than elsewhere.....you might run into to problems with the johnny hoppers.

anyone know how important it is to have a roller on the back of the scooter? The owner of the shop has a really fast scooter but thinks we should add a roller to the back.

anyone know how important it is to have a roller on the back of the scooter? The owner of the shop has a really fast scooter but thinks we should add a roller to the back.
I have never seen one on a bike but I do think its a good idea.

Intervals make you strong, motor pacing makes you fast!

I gotta ask: who here actually does motor pacing?
Does anyone in the Twin Cities need a motorcycle to do it (I can help with that)?

from: http://www.delaunecc.org/classic%20bike%20article.htm

http://www.delaunecc.org/images/cb4a.jpg

the track version of motor pacing

I gotta ask: who here actually does motor pacing?
Does anyone in the Twin Cities need a motorcycle to do it (I can help with that)?

I've done it a couple times. It's wicked fun even just goofing around.

High speeds + danger = fun

Intervals make you strong, motor pacing makes you fast!

And how would it do that? Is it the spinning at a high speed, or the fact that to pass a motorcycle at 30mph you really need to get moving (something you might not always do training on your own)?

I've done it (on the track) a number of times, behind a scooter with no bumper. We tend to do it with a 4 or 5 man paceline; every other lap the guy behind the motor sprints around the motor and then has to come around and get back onto the line. Then the speed picks up once everyone's rotated through. I'd like to do more of it.

The idea is you're working at cadences and speeds that you can't acheive on your own; practice that and you'll be able to do those things in race situations.

I gotta ask: who here actually does motor pacing?
Does anyone in the Twin Cities need a motorcycle to do it (I can help with that)?

I do it on the track.

we did it a bit a few years ago, on some new roads etc.. good times, and helps your top end speed for sure.

If you're smooth enough (and have a good driver), you don't need a roller, but it sure does add a certain degree of safety if you have one on the bumper.

There is nothing better than attacking the bike at 30+, stay out there for a minute or so, and then get back in when it comes past you again. You really find out where the bottom of your tank is.

This thread inspired me to phone up my fat, old, motorbike-owning friend to go for a ride tonight. After the little warm-up ride to his place he managed to hurt me bad in only 35min. Funny how that is when the other guy has a real motor…

The workout we did was he would accelerate moderately from a stop to 42-45km/h. I would jump from the stop with him up to that speed, recover for a touch in the draft then go around him between 53-55km/h. I then went back into the draft for ~30s (he would hold his ~43km/h the whole time), I cried mercy, we slowed for a min or so, turned around, stopped and repeated that 5 times. The guy was so sketchy at first the ride had to improve my handling too. :)

While I’m sure that was not the ideal workout it was tons of fun! Thanks OP for the reminder! My motored buddy had fun making me suffer too (rare chance for him).

Funny thing, 5 or 6 people had gathered to watch by the 4th time we went by the only occupied area (a park). I admit for that round the group became the finish line where I went around him… I know I suck, but they were impressed. Posering it up made me feel good; bite me. ;)

+1 merlin. one of the pro's i know was known to motopace with gravel trucks. frickin nuts.

This thread inspired me to phone up my fat, old, motorbike-owning friend to go for a ride tonight. After the little warm-up ride to his place he managed to hurt me bad in only 35min. Funny how that is when the other guy has a real motor…

The workout we did was he would accelerate moderately from a stop to 42-45km/h. I would jump from the stop with him up to that speed, recover for a touch in the draft then go around him between 53-55km/h. I then went back into the draft for ~30s (he would hold his ~43km/h the whole time), I cried mercy, we slowed for a min or so, turned around, stopped and repeated that 5 times. The guy was so sketchy at first the ride had to improve my handling too. :)

While I’m sure that is was not the ideal workout it was tons of fun! Thanks OP for the reminder! My motored buddy had fun making me suffer too (rare chance for him).

Funny thing, 5 or 6 people had gathered to watch by the 4th time we went by the only occupied area (a park). I admit for that round the group became the finish line where I went around him… I know I suck, but they were impressed. Posering it up made me feel good; bite me. ;)


Glad to hear you had fun with it, sounds like a pretty intense workout. Too bad I don't have a freind with motorbike... I'd be willing to give it a shot with a car if i could find a relatively un-trafficked road with a wide shoulder. One of these days...

And how would it do that? Is it the spinning at a high speed, or the fact that to pass a motorcycle at 30mph you really need to get moving (something you might not always do training on your own)?

To go fast consistently, you have to ride at high speed. Its not that you are spinning any faster, although that might be a training technique some use, its that you are getting your body and your handling skills used to going at race pace. You can get a similar work out if you ride in a group, but with motor pacing its more controlled, you can push it so that you are going even a little faster than race pace.

while i've motorpaced off of vespas and motorcycles, a canta lx is my favorite thing to motorpace off of. it's the perfect hight.

'http://www.waaijenberg.com/nl/gastenboek/canta_onthaast.jpg

I do it on the track.

Haven't done it myself, but I watched juniors motorpacing at T-town for a bit last Sunday before my race across the street.

One of the motorcycles had a roller on the back, the other did not.

Roler is good....you can get a bit closer. but not imperative. Bike or scooter needs to be pretty low power, low torque. Torquey bikes jerk around under throttle.

VIS used to do 200km every week on the Mornington Peninsula behind the bike, Dave Sanders as pilote.

Big day.

Years ago,owned a VW Squareback. Used to pop open the rear hatch and have clubmembers draft/pace . . . even to the point they would be riding under the hatch . . .
On communte home one day, drafted a housetrailer being hauled by a truck . . . fun . . . then spotted cop, who spotted me and he put on lights/siren.
Got a written warning for following another vehicle too closely! Cop ended up laughing and shaking my hand, saying: "I've always wanted to do this!"

I had a Motobecane moped decades ago, and my friend and I would take turns motorpacing each other. We did a 40 mile loop that was fairly flat. The moped was just strong enough to make it a real fight for the final sprint .... It was a great workout !!

VIS used to do 200km every week on the Mornington Peninsula behind the bike, Dave Sanders as pilote.

Big day.

I'm personally acquainted with the torture instrument known as Davo's motorbike. It sucked, especially with J Stewart and G Clively assisting with the pwnage of my good self.

I'm personally acquainted with the torture instrument known as Davo's motorbike. It sucked, especially with J Stewart and G Clively assisting with the pwnage of my good self.


Jeff "The Dog" Stewart. Legend!!

Brokered a deal for me to buy Henk's wheels @ a Sun Tour once.

Top bloke. There was a big photo of me in the Herald-Sun once cornerning in a crit with him in 2nd wheel....all you could see was one Time shoe and a glove. Geez he was dark on that for ages. :D

Jeff "The Dog" Stewart. Legend!!

Brokered a deal for me to buy Henk's wheels @ a Sun Tour once.

Top bloke. There was a big photo of me in the Herald-Sun once cornerning in a crit with him in 2nd wheel....all you could see was one Time shoe and a glove. Geez he was dark on that for ages. :D

LOL. He's probably still sh1tty. :p Haven't seen him for years. I think last time I saw him was at the Sun Tour, a few weeks before he burned a hole in the beaker. ASDA may have picked up on the two-week total form reversal.;)

Clively was an animal, super classy on the bike. Weird guy though. At least when I was getting pwned it was by a dude wearing the old 'bottle green with stripes' Aussie Champ jersey who'd finished top 10 in a GT, not by turkey's like happens now.:)

I rode the 1994 Mazda Alpine Tour when the Dog got busted....he was ab-so-lu-te-ly flying. Untouchable.....was telling me he was doing Melb-Kinglake return (280km) return a cupla times a week in training.

He saw me rolling through Camberwell junction once in an Aussie team strip I got form Sunderland at the Sun Tour....ragged on me for about 3 weeks that I was dreaming I was in the national team. :D

I motorpace on the track 1-2 nights a week, and occasionally on the weekend (see the link in my sig for the schedule if you're in LA).

We do a "motor game" where everyone (20 to 40 people) lines up on the motor at the blue line halfway up the track. Once the game starts, you can try to gain laps (250 m). Usually people take laps in groups, but sometimes solo, and sometimes there are other variations. Some time about 20-30 laps to go the speed gets high enough that even taking a lap in a group is not likely, and you start to hang on the motor, which gets faster and faster until there are ~5 or so people for the sprint finish.

Occasionally, depending on the interval workout, we might do as much as a 40 minute motor game, but it's usually shorter lately. Sometimes on the weekend, depending on who's training, I get to hop on for some pretty long (~hour) motor pacing, sometimes as a motorpaced madison.

It's especially useful on the track because it trains you to spin at speeds that you can't go solo, but have to go in a race (no shifters...), and you also have to learn how to sit a wheel really tight when the speed gets high, and move to the back of a paceline (limit 2 laps directly behind the motor) at speeds high enough that if you miss by a few inches you're out the back. Taking laps is also good practice for races-- it gets you used to being out there killing yourself and then getting back in and recovering.