Once again I face the prospect of 6 straight 90 minute criteriums in 3 weeks. I am a climber and TT specialist and about 10 kilos lighter than the average rider here in Holland. I have a crappy sprint (never been able to get above 60km/h) and my bike handling is not as good as it could be. Plus criterium racing is just what's done here in Holland....it's dead flat and racing around a dangerous technical circuit in a village brings the Cloggies out to watch, and that's what matters to the organisers....so most guys here have been doing them for years.
I know all the stuff about starting and staying near the front, I know (from cruel experience) about the accordion effect and I know how one should go around corners at speed. I also don't really need to hear unrealistic guff about how I should ride off the front from the start to be able to avoid sprinting out every corner. Seeing as at this level the average lap speed is usually at least 48km/h for the first 15 minutes I think it is understandable that I have not seen anyone go solo off the front before half an hour is gone in 3 years.
I also know that riding club races is great for race conditioning, but if the club races are 40% easier than the main event and pretty much raced for fun it doesn't help much.
What I could do with hearing is a weekly training strategy to work on the speed and power, and a way of effectively simulating the stresses of a crit. I don't have a power meter, so I use a speedometer to measure intensity (unreliable I know). At the moment I am trying (wind permitting) to ride on the flat at 40km/h, then every 60 seconds or so I slow it down to 30 (as if taking a corner) and then try and sprint to 50+. I do this until it hurts bad twice a week, with some recovery, endurance rides and some intervals. I'm also guzzling protein shakes. I'm worried about either not training enough, or pushing too hard and being tired on race day, and unsure of how much I should rest before a crit at this level.
Does anyone know a better plan? I need to finish a few of these crits to keep my cat 1 license.
I know all the stuff about starting and staying near the front, I know (from cruel experience) about the accordion effect and I know how one should go around corners at speed. I also don't really need to hear unrealistic guff about how I should ride off the front from the start to be able to avoid sprinting out every corner. Seeing as at this level the average lap speed is usually at least 48km/h for the first 15 minutes I think it is understandable that I have not seen anyone go solo off the front before half an hour is gone in 3 years.
I also know that riding club races is great for race conditioning, but if the club races are 40% easier than the main event and pretty much raced for fun it doesn't help much.
What I could do with hearing is a weekly training strategy to work on the speed and power, and a way of effectively simulating the stresses of a crit. I don't have a power meter, so I use a speedometer to measure intensity (unreliable I know). At the moment I am trying (wind permitting) to ride on the flat at 40km/h, then every 60 seconds or so I slow it down to 30 (as if taking a corner) and then try and sprint to 50+. I do this until it hurts bad twice a week, with some recovery, endurance rides and some intervals. I'm also guzzling protein shakes. I'm worried about either not training enough, or pushing too hard and being tired on race day, and unsure of how much I should rest before a crit at this level.
Does anyone know a better plan? I need to finish a few of these crits to keep my cat 1 license.