How to improve sprint performance? - Page 2

Cool! Sounds a lot like what I do, except for the power meter.

BTW, I've noticed that there's a wide spread of power/strength generation going on in just the short time between 10-30 seconds. I can do 10s at 100% effort and need almost no immediate recovery, but those 30s sprints totally drain me for about 5 min. I would guess that's because we're burning, what is it called, "ATP" (?) for the first few seconds, then shift over to muscle glycogen (?). Whatever it is, I really need to breathe a lot more in those 30s sprints!

The on the bike training that I do is to develop bike specific neuromuscular power. The cadence range is kept low for the purpose of of training or in my case retraining my legs move in circles. Optimal cadence is not the goal becuase I am not doing a power test. Kind of like weights on the bike.....What track are you headed to?

The Hellyer Park velodrome in San Jose, CA. They have rentals and such. Just bring your own pedals and shoes.

sprinting

my only strength is sprinting.

what gear to use when jumping - if being led out (or sitting behind unwitting leadout riders), shift up one or two gears, i.e. instead of the 15T, use the 14T or 13T. Roadies are power sprinters and use their power to muscle the gear.

sprinting - once you start your sprint, you can shift any time you like. well, if your bike is in shape and you have your levers lower than a climber would. I regularly shift both up and down leading up to and in the actual sprint. Shifting under full gas is totally possible - just try it on your own before you unleash your secret weapon in a group.

A long time ago I read that a human body can sprint (max effort) for 40 pedal revolutions. But, in the long trainer sessions watching race tapes, I counted the revs the sprints did while in the wind. I found most of them did about 8-10 revs in the wind in the Tour stages I checked. The exception was the final stage when they inevitably went about 20 revs. I try and limit my sprints to 20 revs. if at a new race venue, I'll ride backwards from the finish in the gear I think I might use for 20 revs, find a landmark, and try and be in good position at that landmark.

my favorite recommendation for a jump/sprint workout is to find a slight (1-5%) downhill followed by a flat section the length you require for a sprint (say 200m). use the downhill as your "leadout" and jump as hard as possible at your start point (on the flat). try doing this in a cross/tail wind and keep track of your max speeds.

in the workout above, alternate gears - high and low. try say 53x13 and 53x16. it helps learn the difference between "pushing" and "spinning".

the best sprint workouts I ever got was a Tues night sprint ride at a local university on a 2 mile (3 km) loop (SUNY Purchase for those in the NYC area). approx 50-150 riders of all levels (up to Cat 1, national team riders) would show up for 2-3 hours. approx 1km-long committed leadouts (started by a 200 meter slight downhill followed by an undulated 800-1000 meters) by numerous leadout riders meant the leadout would typically hit 55-60 kph on a slow day and 65+ kph on a fast day. the top speeds I observed were typically 70-75 kph on the 200m slight downgrade to the line. 15-20 sprints really cooked your legs and I learned a lot of tactics and techniques on sprinting by doing that. I learned that if you have the power, you can jump really hard even if you're going really fast already.

I personally enjoy (but can only enjoy infrequently) sprinting with cars in city traffic. pick a loop that has all one-way traffic (or median'ed roads so there is no one driving towards you). I have a favorite 2 mile loop and the speed limit is 30 mph (50 kph) which means drivers go 35-40 mph (60-67 kph). this is perfect for motorpacing up to my jump point, 200 meters from a nice crosswalk. my sprint speed varies wildly with traffic and wind - it may be as low as 55 kph and as high as 80 kph (well, on one day). doing this workout with friends is more consistent since they're on bikes and it's easier to hold their wheels. but doing it alone is fine. trucks are a rare treat so they receive the most magnetic drafting attention possible. when I worked in NYC going up and down the large Avenues was a real treat. synchronized lights, some semblence of awareness of cyclists, and everyone driving 55 kph or so.

btw I'm a lowly Cat 3 (1 being national level and 5 being beginner) and although I can sprint reasonably well, there are a lot of guys who sprint better than I do. I mention the speeds because in Cat 3 races, although they may average 40-45 kph for an hour, typically contain short bursts at 65 kph to bridge to a break, attacks at up to 70 kph, and generally things are going fast only after we're going over 50 kph. I've been led out on relatively large group rides and once jumped super early because the guy leading out the sprint (a Cat 1 or 2) was "only" going 37 mph (60+ kph). I jumped past him, sat up when I had a big gap, and didn't contest when one guy caught me at the "line". the leadout guy told me I could have won if I'd waited. I pointed out I was more concerned with the positioning and the jump and that he was going too slow and I was getting swamped. "But I was going 37 mph". "Exactly.. too slow!". We laughed. I told him if he'd been holding 40 mph, I would have felt comfortable waiting.

hm now I want to do a nice night ride on my fave 2 mile city loop!

I usually get up to just 55 kph... I suck! Well, it is slightly uphill and I don't draft anything. :-)

Your a lucky guy. The level of riders there and the instruction available is awsome. Try to take a class with Kevin Worley. Your just getting started you dont suck. Listen to the guys there and keep going back. You will find the event or events that you are good at. The rental bikes will more than likely have a small gear so youll have to spin to go fast. Again dont decide that your bad or good, at this or that yet. just keep going back.

So, my first track session went well! Pretty exciting to be out there on the banked oval on a fixed-gear bike for the first time ever! We were taught the basics, and spent a couple of hours pace-lining, learning jumps, doing flying 200ms. I got a mediocre 13.8 sec or so; timing is everything though, and the 79" gearing was too low, so I know I can go faster than that.

As a treat we had "Mark" of Alto Velo as our instructor...

"2004 Master National 500 meter ITT, Match Sprint, and Points Race Champion; Masters World Match Sprint Champion (track) - Mark Rodamaker"

That's pretty special! I noticed the rainbows on his jersey, but wasn't sure if they were for real... they were!

Now I just have to work on those 200ms. My legs were sore the next day, which is almost unheard of for me, so I know the track sessions work me better than my usual sprints training.

Good for you, I was a regular for Saturday mornings, Wednesday and Friday night races at Hellyer Park back in the late '80s and '90s. It's a great program and a sure way to learn to go fast and handle a bike at speed. Stick with it and your sprint will improve as should speed during attacks and bridges.

Some of that is getting used to riding hard in a fixed gear which is unrelentless both while accelerating and decelerating. No coasting really takes its toll, especially when you max out during flying 200s or fast laps. But no doubt you also got a killer leg workout.

A lot of talk about max power and intervals designed to improve it in this thread and that sure helps, but the 1100 Watts peak power mentioned in the original post is a lot unless you're racing at a very high level. Don't underestimate the value of good sprinting technique. I've seen a lot of roadies that could stand up and climb all day but didn't get the whole concept of explosive power you need for a sucessful sprint. You've got to use your whole body and you've got to explode into a hard sprint. I tell folks getting started to be like a cat in a sprint, jump hard and make it all happen right at the start.... then spin your brains out or even double jump to try to hold it to the line.

There's no room for working your way up to speed in a sprint and if you've got a kilowatt to throw at it your focus should be technique. Learn to not only stabilize your upper body with your arms, but use them for power beyond what you can get with your legs and body weight alone. And work on riding a straight line to the finish while making a max effort. Don't be one of those sprinters that snakes towards the finish waggling the bike all over the place causing big pilups in the Cat V crits.

Get to a track if you can, if not sprint with similarly motivated friends, do some sprints with a downhill start to build speed and snap and do some uphill to build peak force (not necessarily the same as peak power)

Anyway that's my nickel's worth.

-Dave

I like these guys alot, I sprint a 53x16 initially, I usually have big gap before they know what hit them, then I either can stay in that gear until the finish or click through the gears, that's what STI is about, years ago you had to pre pick the gear & hope that was the right one. I don't understand why, with STI nowadays, guys are still dropping into the 11tooth so soon, especially in a crit. This tactic works great in "crits", out of the last corner, when they slow to 25mph & especially when its a short distance to the line.

It takes a while to wind up that big gear & alot more energy, that's why its basically good for only 200meters, where I can go 400-500 meters out. So play that high cadence where it counts. By the way RR finishes that are real long & require the 53x12,11 from 1k out & we're already rolling at 30-32mph, I don't do well in since I don't have the big gear power, yet, but I found ways around that also.

I come from 15 years of BMX so the small gear, high rpm snap is where I'm coming from.

Like I said before, your lucky to be around those guys. Not to add any confusion, but the 200 might not be your best event once you have it all sorted out.( it also might be) You could be a good persuiter/points racer. In fact there are more races for that skill set than for a pure "match sprinter" Most of the races on a given night will be a mass start races that will need other abilities. The important thing is that your on the track , learning and having fun.