Originally Posted by
MONGO!
Shift down to the gear you'll need coming out of an obstacle or off camber, BEFORE you need it, you can pass by guys that are struggling to get their cadence up.
Oh hells yes!
Even in my first race I understood that the whole point of the pre-ride was to determine where to "pre-shift" so that I could be in the right combos coming out of stuff.
Then I found myself shouting to another rider in front of me telling him when to shift because his lack of pre-shifting was annoying me. "DUDE! Shift into your big ring BEFORE we get to the paved section so that you can actually USE the paved section to race instead of to shift."