Originally Posted by
Inquisitor.
I was one of the front 5 riders virtually the entire race, and there wasn't much I could do to be positioned better.
If you're strong enough to be up there the whole race then I'd practice moving around in the field. Drift back to the back or even start at the back. Move up without going up the sides. Go into a corner where you can't see the front of the field because of all the riders in front of you, and have riders on both sides of you. Play games. In one race I was hanging out at the back and after the bell the guy next to me said something like, "I guess you're not contesting this race?" I replied that I'd try to make a miracle happen. I got 2nd. I didn't go sprinting up the side because I can't do that and still sprint. I had to move up decisively within the field and get into position in about half a mile without killing myself so that I could contest the sprint. You can play that game too, even if it's not intentional sometimes.
One of the things that prompted the clinic petition is that there are some extremely strong riders that can get up to Cat 3 or Cat 2 without learning the appropriate bike handling skills for those categories. In fact I'd consider myself an adequate Cat 2 bike handler - Cat 3s is fine, Cat 2s I back off in certain situations or I leave subtle openings that I don't realize are there until someone pops through it.
Sitting in the top 5 for most of any race requires
incredible strength, no matter what you read here on BF or wherever (some of the guys posting here are phenoms and simply don't represent the regular people racing bikes). Therefore you have incredible fitness and strength and at some level you have some good talent. Hell, I wish I had a better FTP but it just isn't happening. If I'm near the front of a race (5th-10th wheel) for more than a couple minutes I'm totally cooked. Use your strength and talent to help learn race craft so that you feel comfortable following wheels instead of letting them go, so that you automatically protect the side where some guy just blasted by you (because others will follow), etc. Then when you've upgraded into the categories where pure strength doesn't give you anything (because everyone is really strong) you'll have your race craft in reserve.