I have mentioned on this blog several times that I have gained much of my experience by reading and practicing. This year I have flirted with gaining more knowledge. One is nutrition and the other is sports psychology that I find very interesting. In college I was required as part of one of my courses in graphic design to participate in Creative Visualization. This is not a new concept and is taught by many coaches as the concept of self-fulfilling prophecies. Religions for years have also covered the same concepts, as what you put out in the universe will come back to you. OK I know this is all starting to sound very New Age.

One of my favorite regular blogs is called “Tool Box” and is authored by Josh Horowitz on the excellent web site PezCyclingNews.com. Today’s Tool Box post by Josh covers Self-Hypnosis. Josh has several CDs and MP3s that cover topics ranging from quitting smoking and athlete performance. I have listened to many of the samples and I am intrigued. I myself have tried several relaxation tapes like this after I was involved in a car accident when I was a teen to alleviate some of the symptoms I was having with a bad case of whiplash. It helped get me to sleep with out focusing on the pain. It was ultimately a doctor’s care that fixed my whiplash issues however I did gain confidence in self-hypnosis treatments.

Check out Josh’s article here.t

When competing in a large circuit or criterium its almost impossible to maintain your position if you aren’t at least in the top 10 of the peloton. It never fails in one lap you are able to move up a few spots only to loose 3 more on the next lap. While there are many tactics to help prevent this from happening often it’s sill going to happen.

I have found that once you are one of the top ten riders this problem lessens significantly. So how do you get in to the top 10 and better yet how do you maintain the position. I hate to tell you that you are going to have to work hard and use your brain to get into the top ten. Once you are there you have to be aggressive to keep it.

I am not talking about throwing punches but you are going to have to defend your front wheel like a wolverine and develop nerves of steel. When someone inevitably flies up the side of the peloton from the back they are trying to clear everyone who has worked hard to get there current spot. I do not have a problem with this but if I am one of the top 10 riders and this is not my teammate or a trusted competitor then I am going to close that door ASAP. Especially if believe they are a physical or competitive threat to my teammates or me.

I will do this one of a few ways. If its early in the race I will pull out of the pace line and get out in front of them and ever so slowly slow down with out losing sight of the top 10. I will also tighten up the line to ensure that I am riding no more than 2 inches off the back wheel of the rider in front of me. If I have learned anything, too many entry-level racers have club ride mentality and have not learned racing etiquette. I along with the other in the top ten unless some says shut this “a$$ h*13” down will let them blow by and take the front of the pace line where we will work him like the dog he is and we will sit in. When they come off the front we don’t let them back in. Even at the Cat 4/5 level of races there are some tactics. ☺

I have decided to break out tactics as a stand alone tips as they seem to garner more web traffic! With that said look for me to update the tips on the site that are tactics and the creation of brand new posts on tactics.