54 days to Race Day

[Nishiki09]

I need some training tips that will help me gain a ton in fitness to keep up in a criterium. This is my first race and I dont want to "totally" humiliate myself. Iv heard soem training tips before but i wanna see wut u guys have to say.

 

[AussieRob]

The key to keeping up in a crit is bike handling and sprinting. If your crit is tight, it will be sprint corner, sprint corner, sprint … sprint sprint finish.



So how do you prepare? Try some of these sprint drills:



HighSpeedSprints (HSS)

Goal: Develop top-end power and speed.
Terrain: Slight downhill
Cadence: 110+RPM
The Workout: Roll at 25-30mph in a big gear; jump, out of the saddle and accelerate. When you top out the gear, return to the saddle and focus on maintaining high cadence and good form for the whole sprint.
Do: 1-3 (beginner riders) or 4-6 (advanced) efforts of 8-12 seconds each. 8-12 minutes recovery between sprints.

FlatSprints (FS)

Goal: Develop acceleration, body's use of ATP energy system
Terrain: flat road
Cadence: high (using a relatively light gear at approximately 20 mph)
The Workout: Spin along at about 15-22 mph and jump out of the saddle, accelerating the entire time, then return to the saddle after a few seconds, and focus on maintaining a high cadence and smooth form over the sprint.
Do: 2-3 (beginner) or 4-6 (advanced) sprints of 8-10 seconds in length. Recover 5-10 minutes between sprints.

PowerStarts (PS)

Goal: Increase muscular power and transfer to the bike
Terrain: flat section of road
Cadence: N/A, use a large gear
The Workout: Begin at near a standstill. Jump hard on the pedals, out of the saddle for between 8-12 seconds. Ride as hard as you can.
Do: 2-3 (beginners), 4-8 (advanced) with 5 minutes recovery between sprints.



Bike handling is a bit more difficult, and the best way to practice this skill is by racing.



Good luck, and you can do a lot of work in 50 days.

 

[Nishiki09]

i can do the last 2 of those drills but in florida we dont have downhill really except for bridges but theyre to short and not steep enough to hold 30 mph. In fact the fastest iv actually ever been on my bike was 30 mph. I just hope i dont cause a crash in the race so im just gonna take it easy and try to stay towards the back but still in the peleton. also do i need to register with USCF or wutever to enter a Cat 5? Thanks

 

[dhk]

i can do the last 2 of those drills but in florida we dont have downhill really except for bridges but theyre to short and not steep enough to hold 30 mph. In fact the fastest iv actually ever been on my bike was 30 mph. I just hope i dont cause a crash in the race so im just gonna take it easy and try to stay towards the back but still in the peleton. also do i need to register with USCF or wutever to enter a Cat 5? Thanks

Suggest you check out or join a local race club. Nothing better than a weekly race training session to get you up to speed and used to riding in a crit pack. You probably won't be able to hang with the pack for more than a few minutes at first, but if you don't get discouraged, you can make real progress before your first race.

 

[AussieRob]

i can do the last 2 of those drills but in florida we dont have downhill really except for bridges but theyre to short and not steep enough to hold 30 mph. In fact the fastest iv actually ever been on my bike was 30 mph. I just hope i dont cause a crash in the race so im just gonna take it easy and try to stay towards the back but still in the peleton. also do i need to register with USCF or wutever to enter a Cat 5? Thanks

Yeah, just go to http://www.usacycling.org/ and follow the links to get a licence. I don't want to scare you but Cat 5 Crits can be pretty rough and tumble especially as people start to get tired.

Just go and have some fun.

 

[Nishiki09]

Iv decided to just enter the juniors for now and next year enter the cat 5 of the same race.