[SIZE= medium]I did my first real crit yesterday against B grade elite women’s (Brisbane race), for some reason i thought they may not be too strong but they were pretty damn fast and the A grade women were on at the same time and our laps times were just as fast as theirs. I held on the whole time, my average heart rate was 179 for the 35 minutes... so pretty high as I am used to triathlon and would normally aim for around 174 average for say a 40k time trial. The average speed was 38.6kph. [/SIZE]
[SIZE= medium]The main problem I has was that i just didn’t know what to do in the race. I just sat on the back pretty much the whole time (even out in the wind quite a lot), it seemed really hard to get in the middle or at the front (i did one turn on the front) and i couldn’t tell what was really going on. I was a bit fearful of being aggressive and just grabbing wheels because I didn’t want to crash or seem like i was riding like an idiot. I am absolutely fine riding in a fast bunch, but a race is completely different. I am doing another one in two weeks and now i know how hard it is i know what to be prepared for but i need some basic help on even just how to sit in the pack more and whether or not i should deliberately avoid turns on the front. I really don’t want to just sit on again, and i was also putting myself out in the wind, i know now that these girls are strong but it was still totally manageable for me, they didn’t have the extra speed that they guys i ride with have that can often cause me to get dropped. Are there some rally basic tactics i could use right from the start just to get me in the bunch. I couldn’t tell if they were swapping turns or what, but it definitely seemed like a few of them were in control. [/SIZE]
[SIZE= medium]Also, i was also wondering about this: My boyfriend (stowy) did the male B grade race which was also really full on for him, and we had very similar average heart rates (his was 181 though, mine 179) but he was getting his up over 190! It even hit 197 in the sprint, i seem to get mine to 186-188 max, i have had it at 194 from running but on the bike it doesn’t seem to get that high, am i just being soft or is it because he has stronger legs so he can keep pushing for longer, whereas my legs die before my heart rate reaches 190? It seems that getting to a really high heart rate will make me more able to get into the middle of the sprint and not at the back. I also had a compact cassette so i think i didn’t really have enough gears, but i’m not sure because it all happens so quick. [/SIZE]
[SIZE= medium]So it seems like the two things i needed for that race were A) getting myself in some kind of position for the whole race, not at the back and B) being able to get my heart rate up really high for the accelerations and sprinting. [/SIZE]
[SIZE= medium]We were shown this sprint circuit for training where we sprint up small hills (its a circular course with a series of rises) is that a good idea or should i just practice winding up on the flat? The hill seems good because it forces you to suffer.[/SIZE]
[SIZE= medium]Also, when sprinting, do i need to practice doing it starting at a heart rate of 180 (to emulate the race) or is it ok to do it from say 160bpm?[/SIZE]
[SIZE= medium]Any help on race tactics/ sprinting and how hard i should go would be much appreciated, at the moment all the race is for me is a training session but if i am going to do them i may as well do them properly, and i obviously have the fitness and strength just no race experience. [/SIZE]
[SIZE= medium]Lara [/SIZE]
[SIZE= medium]The main problem I has was that i just didn’t know what to do in the race. I just sat on the back pretty much the whole time (even out in the wind quite a lot), it seemed really hard to get in the middle or at the front (i did one turn on the front) and i couldn’t tell what was really going on. I was a bit fearful of being aggressive and just grabbing wheels because I didn’t want to crash or seem like i was riding like an idiot. I am absolutely fine riding in a fast bunch, but a race is completely different. I am doing another one in two weeks and now i know how hard it is i know what to be prepared for but i need some basic help on even just how to sit in the pack more and whether or not i should deliberately avoid turns on the front. I really don’t want to just sit on again, and i was also putting myself out in the wind, i know now that these girls are strong but it was still totally manageable for me, they didn’t have the extra speed that they guys i ride with have that can often cause me to get dropped. Are there some rally basic tactics i could use right from the start just to get me in the bunch. I couldn’t tell if they were swapping turns or what, but it definitely seemed like a few of them were in control. [/SIZE]
[SIZE= medium]Also, i was also wondering about this: My boyfriend (stowy) did the male B grade race which was also really full on for him, and we had very similar average heart rates (his was 181 though, mine 179) but he was getting his up over 190! It even hit 197 in the sprint, i seem to get mine to 186-188 max, i have had it at 194 from running but on the bike it doesn’t seem to get that high, am i just being soft or is it because he has stronger legs so he can keep pushing for longer, whereas my legs die before my heart rate reaches 190? It seems that getting to a really high heart rate will make me more able to get into the middle of the sprint and not at the back. I also had a compact cassette so i think i didn’t really have enough gears, but i’m not sure because it all happens so quick. [/SIZE]
[SIZE= medium]So it seems like the two things i needed for that race were A) getting myself in some kind of position for the whole race, not at the back and B) being able to get my heart rate up really high for the accelerations and sprinting. [/SIZE]
[SIZE= medium]We were shown this sprint circuit for training where we sprint up small hills (its a circular course with a series of rises) is that a good idea or should i just practice winding up on the flat? The hill seems good because it forces you to suffer.[/SIZE]
[SIZE= medium]Also, when sprinting, do i need to practice doing it starting at a heart rate of 180 (to emulate the race) or is it ok to do it from say 160bpm?[/SIZE]
[SIZE= medium]Any help on race tactics/ sprinting and how hard i should go would be much appreciated, at the moment all the race is for me is a training session but if i am going to do them i may as well do them properly, and i obviously have the fitness and strength just no race experience. [/SIZE]
[SIZE= medium]Lara [/SIZE]