Road Cycling - Criterium: How to?

Road race...check.
Time tiral...check.
Criterium... :eek:

I suck at taking corners. Every omnium event I get second. WHY? Because I suck at taking corners. So is it the tires or am I a wuss. I just got a gran prix 3000 but still, shouldn't I be able to take a corner on a "bald" tire. It just feels too sketchy to me. Maybe my wheels aren't stiff enough. Once again, maybe its time to just suck it up and go.

So what is the technique for staying with the pack. Physically, the race is a breeze, technically, it's and embarrasing nightmare.

Criterium courses are usually gone over quite well, with the gravel swept off the corners and potholes and other obstacles spraypainted, so you shouldn't have much to worry about - it's mostly a confidence issue. If you're going to race around those corners, you need to know them.

Head out to the course, and just start riding around. Start slowly, inspecting every corner, spotting out the best way to take them, trying different methods, etc. Keep it slow at first, and then gradually build up your speed. The more laps you can get in before the race, the more prepared you are.

So start riding it weeks or even months ahead of time, and on the race day warmup laps - you'll know every corner. And even more importantly, you will have taken those corners 50-100+ times, most likely without falling once. When the gun goes off, you won't be worried about slipping off or getting caught in the pack... you can focus on strategy and just pushing those pedals around.

The race itself is basically a road race, but at a much higher intensity with plenty of bursts. Things will start off fast, get faster, and then get faster again. Keep with the pack! I made the mistake of staying at the back, and got dropped by only 5 feet or so. But despite my effort, once I lost the draft and got caught offguard - I never caught up again. Try to stay somewhere in the middle if you can.

Enjoy!
Mike

There's a bunch of threads on cornering, search them, but basically it comes down to confidence in yourself and bike. You can put your bike into quite an angle without it going over and most people never come close even though they think they are, you need to be comfortable in that area. I learned by doing 90 degree turns out of a downhill, and a lot of them. Find a place where you can hit a turn with a lot of speed, and then practice. A lot. And if ou want a horror story, check out the "Sketchiest Crit Ever" thread in the racing forum.

Thank you!

Unless you are racing at the Elite level, just follow the guys in front of you, its doubtful that any of them are approaching the limits of traction and lean angle. If they can make it through, so can you.

I learned by doing 90 degree turns out of a downhill, and a lot of them. Find a place where you can hit a turn with a lot of speed, and then practice. A lot.

This is good advice.

I re-learned cornering after a 10-year absence from racing on a 2.2km, 6% hill I use for hill intervals. On the way down I worked on cornering. From the first few times to now I'm 10km/h faster through the hairpin and much faster through the other corners.

One other problem with criteriums with a large pack and lots of sharp turns is that
over time the pack stretches out more and more because somewhere people have
to start braking to get through the turn. The front riders-it will vary but the perhaps the first 10-15 will get through the turn at full speed, behind as things bunch up
brakes start getting applied and the pack slows, if you are well behind the front
you lose a lot of speed and have to sprint out of the turns to catch up. Over 30-40miles this takes its toll. If you have the basic power to stay in the front group
that does not have to brake going through the turns you will be better off in the long
run. You don't want to be pinched off on the inside either. Steve