carpediemracing 

Not sure how the Cushman guys race together but they lined up 3 guys. Something like that usually piques my interest.

The coming off wheels to get on another, if you're dying then I understand. However if you feel like you have something left then you should wait and see if the wheel goes forward. Jump onto wheels moving up, abandon those not doing so.

Finally, depending on your jump (or lack thereof) you should go early or late. I didn't see you jump so you were either redlined or couldn't jump. If that's the case then you need to go with the earliest possible move, follow mercilessly, then go on your own.

On the other hand the headwind favors a late jump for those with a sprint. I have yet to publish my next clip (Limerock) but I jump very late in a headwind sprint. I checked, my sprint was only 9 seconds long - I was waiting until then. However I pass a number of riders - 8? 10? - in those 9 seconds. I didn't jump earlier because I was waiting, but I wouldn't have jumped more than 4-6 seconds earlier even if things were clear. I knew the guys in the wind would just wither in the last 50 meters and they did.

canuckbelle

I had my first experience with this in Sunday's RR when I went for the QOM sprint (on a ~400m hill). We were in the break of four and one girl went really long, from about 600m out. I immediately jumped on her wheel and just waited. I saw what power numbers we were doing and figured there was *no way* she could keep this up to the line. So I just sat in and sure enough she slowed big time. I waited another five seconds or so and jumped with about 10-12s left and by the time I hit the line had a 10+ bike length gap.

So...all that to say that if you have an idea of what power numbers you can do over different lengths of time, you can start to get a better sense of when to expect *others* to blow up in a sprint. It's extremely useful information.

wens

It's hard to express how opposed to looking at power numbers, or even glancing at a garmin/pc7 in a sprint. Maybe a bit less opposed when it's out of a break, but still opposed.

carpediemracing 

I don't look and in fact the few times when I've looked (sprint experimenting, solo) I was super disappointed with the numbers. Then when I downloaded I saw peaks like I expected. Therefore my power number experiments are like driving a blimp - I try different things (cadences for example), finish ride, download, analyze, and figure out what worked best. I'll use my helmet cam as reference sometimes (call out a gear when I start, for example, or shake my head on a bad sprint, etc). Now I have something to work on.

I did most of my sprint analysis in SoCal as I had all day to think about things and I had a lot of riding time on my own.

When I have an Ant+ powermeter I hope to use my Sportsiiiis simple heads up display to remind me of stuff. It's LED light based so it works sort of like the shift LED lights on the top of a race car steering wheel.

mattm

I don't totally disagree, but I will say that you also don't want to limit yourself; best way to find a new limit is to push the old ones you thought you had.

globecanvas

I think it's totally legitimate to look at the numbers while sitting on a wheel to try to assess how feasible the move you are following is.

carpediemracing 

True. Not in a full on sprint though.

I've looked down a couple times in races, been shocked at how high the number was (400-500w, about 200-250% of my FTP), and quickly looked away. Like if I don't look then it's not real.

globecanvas

I figured that was a given. How could you possibly look at a screen in a full on sprint? If you can look, you're not going full on. Which is what everyone is saying.

mattm

Hmm. My legs usually tell me that.. ymmv

canuckbelle

When I feel like it, I'll edit together a video of the road race. It'll be pretty boring except for establishing the break (it was my going with a solo break that caused the other two to come), the QOM sprint, and then getting my ass dropped 15km later

I looked down because there was a lull. I was comfortably following her. When we got to 250m to go I had a chance to glance down...then she slowed...at 100m to go (or so) I jumped around.

I've never looked down in a full on sprint. That would be way too dangerous, and not useful. But since it was a hill sprint, she went from 600m, and it was only the two of us contesting, there was plenty of time to look down at the numbers.

Doge

The kids at SoCal ITT championship
.be

collin2985

Cat 4 crit, highlights with narration

carpediemracing 

I like it. You went into the sprint in about as good position as possible and you held it to the line. I think I'd mentioned something about this a while back, but it's good to see you execute it.

collin2985

I'm happy with the result. I do think I could have won though. I think if I swung out more and started pedaling sooner, I may have caught his draft and been able to pass him. I didn't realize how much speed you lose by making sharp turns but it makes sense now that I think about it. I lost a lot of momentum yanking the bike over instead of pedaling hard while gently sliding to the left side of the road like he did.

carpediemracing 

Limerock race, @globecanvas, @theKillerPenguin, others. Came down to a field sprint, was a fun one for me, a bit gassed going into the finale but definitely a good race for me.

View from the finish (Alan Atwood) which makes it seem a little more insane:

globecanvas

Great video. The openness of the course makes it good for situational awareness, which is nicer than the usual helmet cam view of some guy's butt. I love how at 7:45 coming over the hill you see the field strung out forever.

furiousferret

Good videos cdr & collin

the close call @ 6 minutes in cdr's video was more the others guys fault, there was no reason he should have had his front wheel in that spot (not that randomly moving is good either).

rideaz

Great videos CDR and cool to see some BF celeb appearances :-)

TexMac

Good video man! It's so hard to stay patient with a few laps to finish.

TheKillerPenguin

I am glad I did that race, if only to be included in the video thumbnail.

carpediemracing 

The few times I've raced in the current direction the fields were so small that I never saw that strung out thing. It was pretty shocking and immediately made me think that I had to be way up front in the last lap, else I'd have a lot of ground to make up.

You could see how I moved left and was craning my head to see the field in that whole break-chase-field bit. Sooo relieved when I saw the field reaching out. Well, relieved for me. You and TKP were up there so I also knew that was also happening.

I chose that thumbnail specifically for that reason. YouTube gives you three random to choose from, or I can upload an image. I usually (always?) choose one of their picks.

Edonis13

This is the first race video I've made. It's the last 2 laps from my race on Saturday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BPO...ature=youtu.be

Don't hesitate to give me pointers. I'm new at this.

UmneyDurak

Memorial Day Crit. Combined 4/5 fields. I think they said 81 riders.
I need to learn to push through mental barriers. I think I could have pushed a bit harder on final stretch and not loose those wheels.
Also two riders in Orange Jerseys at the end is the team I just joined. Should have been on that particular train. Ooops.
Clip is of beginning and last two laps.

hack

Congrats on the new team ... you and aaron can pull off more bike forums greatness.

UmneyDurak

If I ever get out of 4's.