it does sound like people have already identfied you as the guy they can get to do all their work for them... sounds like you want to sit in a bit more.
if your sprint is non-existant then you do have to be pretty smart or extremly strong to win races... to defeat a really stong guy with no sprint... all you have to do is sit on his wheel (you may even do the odd pull...) and if you have any kind of a sprint you just go around him on line... that is one of the most simplest strategies.
if you want to take a pull and don't want to have everyone benefit from your effort, ride on the side of the road opposite to where the wind is comming from. leave room for only about 1 or 2 guys to get a draft. at least about 1/2 of rest of the group will be suffering as much as you are behind you... the more of a cross wind the better... good technique to split a group too... hopefully only the stong ones that want to work will remain with you... but at least your odds of placing well will improve with less people in your group.
no sprint... you have no choice but to go early. but you need to get a gap so you aren't just draggin everyone with you... remember they aren't doing anywhere near as much work as you are... go just before a corner, on a slight incline or on or even just before a big hill... you want to go when it's going to be hard for people to follow you or people are not going to be too enthus'd to follow you and you are going to get your gap
only take a pull when you mean it... some other times you may want to test the people you are with or even yourself, but just don't be out there burning up energy let it be for some purpose.
just being strong isn't going to win you bike races... you need to be smart. being able to climb, sprint, timetrial etc well just mean you have more tactical options at your disposal in different situations, but those abilities in an of themself will ot win you bike races... mass start cycling is more like a game where you need alot of physical ability just to play and be competative... and team work can trump other with much greater phyical abilities. Road racing probably has more in common with BB ball and soccor than it does with something like running.
Last edited by doctorSpoc; 03-29-05 at 09:50 AM.