Animator said:
I've not heard this term before. What do you mean by slicing?
As others have pointed out, I referred to "slicing" as a description of moving up through the field. The key is "through" and not "around". Through saves energy. Around is for emergency use only - you kill your reserves and it's usually unnecessary.
There is a concept of "personal space" you need to respect - yours and the other riders'. If you violate this personal space, you endanger someone. I talk about it more
here.
Basically in all but the most tightly packed fields, there is room to move around. Learn to be comfortable close to others and you can take advantage of gaps that you may not feel comfortable filling now. I'm the one posting some of the helmet cam vids in another
thread. There are bits and pieces of "tight" field riding - you'll see that even in the last laps of a hotly contested race, there is room to move up (or back). In particular I'd check out the 2005 Nutmeg State Games tape and the end (7:00+) of the 2007 Criterium de Bethel clips. I felt that those were "tight" races in the final laps yet I never felt unsure or threatened safety wise.
A key concept I didn't mention is that you need to have some speed in order to fill gaps - if you can't move up at 35 mph in a 30 mph field, you can't fill gaps. The 2005 race we spent most of the time going 28-32 mph with bursts up to 35-37 mph. The 2007 race I mention we're going 28+ on the headwind side, 30-ish on the tailwind. 20-25 up the hill. In order to move up, you must have the speed to do so.
One team at a race I did one of the racers refers to my move up through the field:
"
(For some reason, I can't explain Aki can dice through a field with his eyes closed. Want to learn how to move up in a pack? follow him)"
Although I'd like to think it's a secret, I simply fill gaps and try and position myself to take advantage of natural group riding dynamics.
I'm not a strong racer (I've gotten totally dropped in the last two races I've done) but I manage to do well here and there by "slicing and dicing".
hope this helps,
cdr aka aki