I suppose I am looking for a sanity check here but I have a dilemma with handicap road races.
I regularily race B grade in short criteriums and can generally place without too much of a problem but when it comes to road racing my climbing ability really lets me down. Recently I raced a road handicap race and due to my form in crits I was graded close to scratch but others that I normally beat in crits who kick my butt in road races were graded around 5 minutes (2-3 groups) in front. As such my race generally goes like this, ride with group until first climb, get dropped, keep riding until next group comes along and then get dropped on next climb, etc eventually having absolutely no chance of finishing.
What are peoples thoughts on the principals of handicaps for road races. Should I be handicapped based on my potential for flat races or should my climbing ability be taken into account so that I reach the finish around the same time as scratch - which I believe is correct.
I realise that handicapping is often difficult but wanted to get peoples thoughts before I raise the issue with my club handicapper.
All comments welcome
I regularily race B grade in short criteriums and can generally place without too much of a problem but when it comes to road racing my climbing ability really lets me down. Recently I raced a road handicap race and due to my form in crits I was graded close to scratch but others that I normally beat in crits who kick my butt in road races were graded around 5 minutes (2-3 groups) in front. As such my race generally goes like this, ride with group until first climb, get dropped, keep riding until next group comes along and then get dropped on next climb, etc eventually having absolutely no chance of finishing.
What are peoples thoughts on the principals of handicaps for road races. Should I be handicapped based on my potential for flat races or should my climbing ability be taken into account so that I reach the finish around the same time as scratch - which I believe is correct.
I realise that handicapping is often difficult but wanted to get peoples thoughts before I raise the issue with my club handicapper.
All comments welcome