"James" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> For those of you who aren't pro's and are members of club "teams", what do you do for
> helping/developing your Citizens/Cat 5's?
>
> I'm trying to get some input and ideas for my club regarding what others
are
> doing to help develop their newer members into better racers.
>
> Thanks,
>
> James
There's a lot you can do, but we've had good luck doing early-season training crits, with everyone
from local pros to citizens in the same bunch. We use a wide, safe, easy course and tell everyone to
keep it low key, there being nothing on the line but minor swag from sponsors. We tell riders that
if they get lapped, they should stay out on the wide line and try to get back on until the
five-to-go sign comes out and then pull out. The experienced guys have been good about letting the
newer riders play a role in things until the speed goes too high for them, setting up mock teams,
letting them get in breaks and showing them how to work together in the bunch. The newbies
appreciate the experience of getting to work with the fast guys for a while and don't mind getting
shelled when the hammer goes down. They enjoy peeling off to watch the finishes and have seemed to
pick up pretty quickly on tactics. The difference in their calmness, confidence and pack skills over
a few races is definitely noticeable. Far from being the crash-fest you might imagine, they've been
pretty safe, with the only crashes happening in the last few laps when some strong, but
less-experienced riders let their enthusiasm get the best of them. But seeing someone get road rash
for no good reason is a useful learning tool for everyone, too. Good for guys to know they're not
indestructible and that pavement is a lot harder than dirt.
We also use Topica for a club email listserver and encourage less-experienced members to ask
questions and the rest to share anything they can that'll be of use to their mates. Works pretty
well for that, as long as everyone avoids politics and religion... ;-)
SB