Hey All,
Thanks to you who came to our discussion about tactics. For those of you who were not able to come, or want a keepsake to remind them of that exhilarating meeting, below is the info on the handout we discussed. It is partially borrowed, partially adapted from a list put together by Zak Dieringer. (I was too lazy to write up a full list myself) This is not a complete list of everything you need to know, but is a good starting point for discussion. If you have any questions about anything on here, or about race tactics in general, I will do my best to answer. -td

General Pack Rules (adapted from zak dieringer):

1. Be aware. I know this seems obvious, but knowing who is in the breakaway, who is still in the field you should be watching, and how many laps are left make a huge difference. Chasing down a break because you did not know you had a teammate in it or sprinting for a prime when you thought it was the finish really sucks. Know where the finish line is and how the run-in looks.

2. Ride near the front, first 10-15 riders, as much as possible. This is where the race is and anything behind is just a fast group ride. If you are too far back, you cannot see the moves going up the road and if you can, you waste too much energy trying to get up to them.

3. NEVER ride on the front unless you are actively chasing a break that has no teammates in it or actively screwing up the chase of a break with teammates in it. Riding tempo on the front of the field just wastes energy and points out that you are a novice that a more experienced rider can use and lose later. Attack or sit in!

4. Do not chase teammates in the break. Even if you think you would be helpful in the break, it is better to follow wheels and let someone else pull you across. If you end up following a small chase group that you feel you can beat, pull through and pull over so you are not discouraging the chase but also not killing yourself. The only time it makes sense to chase a teammate is if it is part of your strategy to have the field together at the finish.
Since we do not have a hot field sprinter, that will probably never be our strategy.

5. Follow wheels! There are a lot of Duke riders so we should be able to put someone in every break (every. break.), which makes a huge difference. Even with a teammate up the road, follow wheels of all chase attempts. Tag alongs discourage the chasers and if they make it across, you get a free ride.

6. Miss a move? CHASE! If a solid move goes up the road with no Duke riders in it, everyone to the front and organize a serious chase.

7. A warning about actively screwing up the chase of a breakaway with a teammate in it: this is generally considered bad form or negative racing. At a Tuesday crit it can get you yelled at, in a Cat. 1-2 race it can get you curbed. Of course I do it all time, but that’s me.

Rules for Attacking:

1. Follow stronger riders! A successful breakaway usually needs a few big guns in it, and they probably will not follow you. Watch the big guns and suck wheel.

2. Attack after a prime. The pace usually drops after a sprint and you can use that momentum to launch off of.

3. Counter attack after a breakaway gets reeled back. After a hard chase, nobody wants to start chasing again.

4. Tuesday night four to go rule: It is uncanny how successful the four laps to breakaway is in Westlake. Part of it has to do with the wind dying down at sunset, but also with the distance to the finish. Eight miles is just far enough away that people feel there is enough race left to not react immediately, but if you do get a gap, it is short enough to just kill it to the finish. [still applies for most crits]

5. Never attack when the pace is already high. 25 mph or slower, and the slower the better.

6. Never attack on a descent. It is to easy for a gravity assisted chase to reel you in.

7. Unless you are a stellar climber, never attack at the bottom of a climb. It is better to let the climb take it’s toll on the other riders and if you still feel good near the top, jump ‘em when they would rather be recovering from the hill than chasing you. You should not be dissuaded from attacking because you feel crappy. If you feel crappy, so does everyone else. It puts the fear of death in people if you take the initiative and go for it.

Breakaway Rules:

1. DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED. Just because some elite amateur asshole with a crappy job that allows him to train 500 miles a week is screaming at you to pull harder doesn’t mean you have to. This rule applies to any racing situation, especially if said asshole has ankle tattoos.

2. Assess the move. Two laps into a 30 lap crit and the break contains you, two guy from Snake Bite and some old dude in a Nashbar jersey who looks like he is about to puke, don’t waste your effort.

3. Never do more work than the other riders in the move, unless you are sure you can beat them and it is near the finish. Brian Batke wins more races than anyone who can’t sprint should because he always pulls one or two miles slower than anyone else in the break. That’s a good rule to live by. But, if the break is not going to stay away without more speed, you might have incentive to pull harder.

4. Stay in the break at all costs. If this means sitting in and doing nothing while some asshole screams at you, do it.

5. Attack a break that is not working well together. Hopefully, one or two riders who want to work will go with you while the others bitch at each other.

6. Assess who you CAN beat and focus on beating them. Remember, 2nd place to Paul Martin is the same as a win.

7. Meter your effort. 40 miles to go, pull through and pull over. 20 miles to go, take it up to 75-80%. Less than ten miles to go, KILL IT!

10. Pull off into the wind to shield the next rider coming through. This often means pulling off to one side on the front half of the course and the other side on the back half.
Pull off to the outside in a turn to give the other riders the fastest line.

11. Stay tight. Pull off just far enough to let the next rider through. Then pull in close behind the last rider. Try not to slow down too much so you are not chasing back on after every pull.

12. Signal with a flick of the elbow on the side you want the next rider to pull through on. You don’t need to point which way you are pulling off.

13. Remember to eat. Remember to drink. If you have to do something silly like remember to much on a clif bar every lap, or every turn, or to take a drink every time you pass a certain point or every time you rotate thru a break, then do it. Do what it takes to not forget to eat and drink. You want it to be automatic and regulated. Also, having multiple kinds of food is a good idea. Sometimes, when the race is on, you cannot chew on a bar without choking or you cant force something solid down. Have a gel. Other times, you want to save those gels for later. Munch on a bar when you can afford to do so when things are a little slower. Pre-open clif bars and similar before the race and put them in your pocket. This makes things a lot easier during the race.

Rules for Sprinting:

Other than don’t lead out the sprint, I really don’t know any because I really suck at sprinting. I think the most important rules is to be born with a lot of fast twitch muscle fibers. Good luck with that.