I also thought about titling this new series of articles “Or what you don’t know is what hurts the most.” Thought that the alternative title wouldn’t appeal to cyclists or would scare away some our newly minted racers.

We amateur competitive cyclists spend a considerable amount of time and money on all things training and gear, hours on the bike and flashy wheels. These things can help you reach your goal(s) that is for certain. However many of us fail to use our most powerful weapon. Our brain and its ability to reason deduct and recognize patterns.

We are a very focused and dedicated bunch and often ask our selves how can I get better at this or how can I do this smarter. We sometimes lack the experience or the incite to answer our own questions about the matters beyond training and riding. While I am not an expert, elite or a Pro racer I am a researcher by trade. I have been paid well to ask questions, lots of questions. I have tried to apply this to my racing and coaching efforts and sometimes I am rewarded for my inquisitive habits.

The next time you get ready for a race ask yourself the following questions:

• Who are my/our competitors – Know thy enemy
• What route does the course take – Learning the ups and downs

These two very simple questions if researched thoroughly will result in a wealth of information that might just give you the upper hand.

Know thy enemy!

Most of the sites you register to race in the United States will contain a list of the other competitors you will be racing against and the team(s) they race for. If you do not know whom you are racing against you better get to it and do some research. Go to USA Cycling and look up the athlete in question and take look at their race record. Get on Google and search for and book mark all of your local and regional teams. Many teams will publicly release race reports for sponsors and fans.

• What races have they been in and how often do they race?
• What team do they race for?
• How large is the team they are on?
• How many of they’re teammates have registered for this race?
• Have you ridden with any of these athletes in other races or training rides?
• What are there strengths, weaknesses and how can you exploit them in a race?

Learning the ups and downs

There has been a nasty trend I have noticed in my region and that is the exclusion of course maps or even course descriptions for posted races! My favorite course description is “Gently Rolling Terrain”. One athlete’s course description is another athlete’s nightmare.

It is critical in Road Racing events to know the course you will be racing on. Even though races that are in far away locations or on city streets that may not be accessible until they are closed for a given race you can still learn about the course. All sanctioned races must have race director or promoter email associated with the race. Race directors or promoters are obliged to share with you a map of the course.

• If you cannot get a map or you get a vague course description from the race director/promoter try these tips the next time.
• Check out your local race web forum or email listserv and ask others if they can shed some light on the course
• Go to web sites like http://bikely.com, http://mapMyFitness.com and search for the title of the race. Someone may have already posted the course.
• Contact the bike shop(s) near the community you will be racing. Many times the bike shops maybe race or team sponsors.

Once you have found the course you need to ask yourself “Do I need to pre-ride the course?” The short answer is yes. However if this is not a priority race or you do not have the time to visit another state or county to pre-ride a course ask your self the following questions.

• How long is the course?
• Is this course rural, urban, or a hybrid?
• Where are will I shine on the course?
• Where will I struggle on the course?
• Are there any road surfaces I need to worry about?
• What does the elevation profile look like for the course?

So how does one answer these questions and use the answers to apply tactics to a given race?

More to come in the next post!

Until then have a great long weekend, hit it hard and keep the shiny side up.

Part 2, Part 3

Capital City State Championship Criterium (Frankfort KY):

I have really been looking forward to this race since last year. I didn’t have any delusions of a top finish like last year but I wanted to hang in. Had an OK warm up and a great start. The course in the 4/5 race was no different from last year with the exception of some cold patch, newly painted stripes and the removal of the horrendous cross walk tape from last year. The other thing that was different from last year is we actually had some wind coming through the start finish. We didn’t realize until watching the 1/2 race that there was shelter from the wind on the inside.

I managed to hold on and move up some in the first few laps and then it got hot. More surges than I remember from last year but for the most part considerably smoother race than last years. By lap 3/4 I and several others including a teammate got spit off the back. We quickly grouped together in a pace line of about 8. We kept the pace up and rotated some but by the time the others were getting the hang of the rotation we lost time and speed.

About this time another teammate is in site along with another rider. My teammate offers to pull me back to the main group right when we got lapped. I thought OK why not. We dropped the pace line and climbed back into the group and I managed to move up pretty quickly and even saw the top 10/14 for a lap or two. Then the bell lap hit and all hell broke loose and I was off again. Finished 31st in the end due to being lapped.

Warning and lesson learned: It helped my ego big time to get back in the group after being lapped but this is frowned upon by the officials because it makes it difficult to score a race. Next time I need to warm up  bit longer and may bring a trainer. To ride conservatively ride to the right of the course to set up for the corners. To finish fast and remain on the front take some risks and hold the inside line. I must keep reminding myself that I am still build fitness right now and that it will come, soon

Shelby County Road Race (Waddy KY):

A great morning for a race in my home town! Still warmer than I have acclimated to but at this point its a training race for me. I have had to much time down between late last summer and this spring to be a threat to anyone right now. THIS WILL CHANGE.

A teammate and I warmed up and decided we needed to make a contribution to the team in the 4/5 race. We decided that he and I would ride the front all the way to the first climb and keep the pace sane unlike last year’s first lap. At the whistle I flipped my damn pedal twice and lost my spot on the front but did not fall back far. When I looked up and got over the embarrassment of it I saw the coolest thing I have ever seen. All of my teammate riding in a double pace line and looking very organized determined and proud. I actually choked.

About the time I shake off the awe I have over how well things are going I see another teammate and get him in front of me. Its a good thing too as he is the one of several designated sprinters. At least 3 times before the beginning of the climb I had my rear tire buzzed. Not a fun feeling in that large of a pack. We progressed in a descent manner and only had one hiccup in the peleton before the first climb with someone not paying attention to the pace.

We got through all the corners unscathed and I looked up every time to see my teammates pulling on the front and setting a very smooth and confident pace. We get to the downhill section and I got to say I was bit nervous to see what would happen to those not familiar with the Waddy hill. We got through the downhill and did fine until we got the the first step of the climb when two separate issues popped up. First an older (larger) unattached rider flies right down the middle of the two up pace line and and doesn’t have his gearing sorted before the climb and almost comes to a complete stop when he tries to climb! Then the other issue at first sounded like a wreck. I witness a guy stopped in the middle of the hill hear whats sounds like rending metal and a rear end collision. What it turned out to be was a really bad shift and rear derailleur exploding!

At this time I pray that I can drift back and hang on to the peleton. I putt down 600 watts and blew sky high then missed the back at the kicker. Oh well that’s Road Racing.

Got in with a couple of decent rotating pace lines and finished the race. I managed 40 something out of what was suppose to be a field of almost 70 riders. Only 46 completed the race due to heat issues!

Lesson’s learned

Protect your teammates and remember to take everything you hear in the peleton with a grain of salt.

A friend that has a young daughter and races competitively asked me if I would write an article on how I manage to balance my training, racing and family. Oh lets not forget work.

This one is for you Diego.

The short answer to Diego’s question is sometimes the balancing act is smooth and other times not so much. The tools I use are time management, communication, sacrifice, flexibility, planning, goal setting, oh and did I mention communication?

Like my friend I have a daughter and a son. They both have very different likes and dislikes when it comes to activities. My daughter has taken great interest in sports of all kinds even cycling. While her first love is soccer she does like to get out and ride with me when our schedules permits it. She even wants to race juniors this summer! My son likes fishing when we have time and is learning to ride his bike now. It wont be much longer now, I can already see he wants to be out with us. To top it all off my wife is a cyclist as well.

Add school, training and the jobs of two professional parents you might think how is this lifestyle even possible. One simple answer, we choose to make it possible

Now here is the hard part, making sacrifices. I am an IT consultant by trade, which in itself at times can be an overwhelming job. It had become so stressful that I chose a job that is not as lucrative but allows me significantly more time away from a desk.

When I took the job I have now I noticed a huge hole in my life, fierce competition. So I talked with my wife about it and we knew I needed to do something that would allow me to be competitive but not be detrimental to my health like working 80 hours a week. We discussed racing a few times and after much time selling the idea and sharing how I could squeeze time in the big boss said OK.

In an effort to figure out how much I could train I decided to dissect my week Monday-Sunday 24/7. I did this by creating a spreadsheet that accounted for the following:

• Time sleeping
• Time driving to and from work
• Time at work
• Breaks and lunch at work
• Daily children activities
• Family activities
• Chores

Time left over is used for training, coaching and writing.

The above is not a fixed schedule, far from it. It’s an approximation. Things come up at work, home, injury, and illness…. So even if you find that you don’t have as much time as your favorite Pro to train you do have time to train.

There are workouts that can be done in 5-15 minutes a week that are off the bike and will prove beneficial over the long haul.

Keeping with thought of being flexible don’t forget about the family. If you start feeling like life is all about you and your training go ahead and miss a work out or whole day and spend time to reconnect.

As I wrote earlier, 5-15 minutes is all it can take to make an improvement in your training. Get up earlier in the morning even if its only 15 minutes. In that 15 minutes you can do a core, yoga or plyometric routine that I promise you will leave your muscles quivering.

If you get a break at work, use it. Go outside and stretch legs, back, shoulder and neck muscles. Desk jobs are hard on the posture. If you get a lunch hour pack your bike to work and ride. If you can’t ride at lunch go to the gym at lunch and hit the weights and a spin bike. Can’t get to the gym at lunch? Hike around where you work or better yet go climb some stairs.

Get home late from work and running out of daylight? Go hard, I mean really hard! Intensity is critical for competitive cyclists.

Done with your day and your veging’ out in front of the TV, why? Get on the floor stretch and massage your legs. Also invest in a foam roller and learn how to apply myofacial release, your legs and back will reward you with better performance. If you train hard you need to learn how to recover harder.

Now that your relaxed and its time for bed your still not done training. Practice relaxation techniques and visualization. Think over the day’s training, what went well what could have been better and what you’re going to squeeze in the tomorrow. Think over your goals, are you getting close to meeting one or more of them? Do you have a race coming up? Try to add as much detail as possible when visualizing meeting your goal in this race. I only recommend visualization before sleep as long as it doesn’t get you too excited.

Do I practice everything I have written every day? No. There will be days where a complete day away from training is beneficial.

Good luck to everyone with their training and remember there is always time to train.