zherz
Granny Gear
Posts:39
Registered Users
l-ville
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| 04/02/2008 3:58 PM |
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| Question, to the experience racers. IYO,what is the best strategy for mountian bike racing? Pushing the treshold from the start until you blow, or maintianing a decent HR, even though it may put you back in the pack. This will be my 4th year racing, 3 year in sport and till now my stradegy has been the first. Hammer at 180+, which has kept me in the front few for the first lap, but starting the second I blowup and have to struggle through the second loosing mad time, usually getting passed by all the guys I tried to leave in the first lap pushing 180+. Thrid lap is spent trying to catch one or two of the guys that past me in the 2nd. |
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Duane
Big Ring
Posts:197
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| 04/02/2008 6:56 PM |
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Sounds like you either need to work on your fitness so you can keep it pegged to the end or you need to learn when to back it down and recover.
As one of the guys who has caught and passed you several times I can tell you that starting at the back of the pack and working up has it's downfalls as well......I'm pretty sure I'll never win a race that way so I don't recommend it. If you've got the ability to go all out from the start that's great.....don't stop, just learn when to back it down before you go off the deep end and have to limp home. Improving your fitness will help extend the time until you blow up, and learning how (and when) to hammer/recover will keep you in front of those guys you beat out for the holeshot. Maybe for your next race plan to go all out until a certain spot or distance (maybe the 2 mile mark) and then go at the maximum pace you think you can sustain for the rest of the race. This would be good to do at a place where you have raced before so you have an idea of what kind of time you've hit in the past and have something to compare to for judging the success of your plan.
Remember, this advice is worth what you paid for it. |
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russell g
Big Ring
Posts:239
Registered Users
Louisville, KY
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| 04/02/2008 7:22 PM |
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| R U eating and drinking enough during the race? I have to force myself to take gu's when I don't take in enough that's when I bonk. |
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Tonybob
Big Ring
Posts:223
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| 04/02/2008 8:15 PM |
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| Short and easy answer, buy the mtb traing bible. pretty easy to understand, solid principles. you dont have to get on some big training regimen, but it can answer most questions and give better guidance than any of us. i may have an extra copy i could let go for the cost of a 40oz of steele reserve, i'll check if youre interested |
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RIC0
Big Ring
Posts:218
Registered Users
sumwaresin, KY
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| 04/03/2008 7:44 AM |
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Posted By Tonybob on 04/02/2008 8:15 PM
Short and easy answer, buy the mtb traing bible. pretty easy to understand, solid principles. you dont have to get on some big training regimen, but it can answer most questions and give better guidance than any of us. i may have an extra copy i could let go for the cost of a 40oz of steele reserve, i'll check if youre interested I give ya 2 foteeez for da bible Ants.
This same question has crossed my mind many times also. This is my first year running sport and I have no idea what to expect. Running in the top 1/3 of the group from start to finish is my goal and if possible moving thru the pack in the last 1/3 of the race if I have enough gas in the tank. I'm no seasoned racer but I listen to my body and know it very well when I'm over doing it or not hammering down enough.
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zherz
Granny Gear
Posts:39
Registered Users
l-ville
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| 04/03/2008 9:03 AM |
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| tbob, i may be interested in that, unless Rico wants it. Looks like he's got first bid. I may take Duane advice in this first race (prob.youngers) and push it for a period in the beginning, then back it down. It's hard to watch those leaders pull away when you still feel like you've got some juice. Harder to watch all your hard work slip past you in round 3 though (duane, thinking of you here). I think in every race I see you push by me on the 3rd lap looking solid while i am creeping in granny. |
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RIC0
Big Ring
Posts:218
Registered Users
sumwaresin, KY
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| 04/03/2008 12:21 PM |
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| zherz we'll race for the book at youngers, winner takes all.. LOL |
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Rod
Little Ring
Posts:80
Registered Users
Morehead
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| 04/03/2008 6:22 PM |
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| That book is cheap. It's now selling for 14 dollars new on amazon.com. I picked it up over the winter and it has a lot of good information in it. I'm still working on trying to apply it. I've read almost half of the book, but I plan on finishing it after I graduate in May. It's an easy read and it's straight forward. Like tbob I definitely recommend it. It gave this new guy a plan instead of me just going out and riding. |
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Tonybob
Big Ring
Posts:223
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| 04/04/2008 8:44 AM |
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Just found the extra like new copy. Tell you girls what, I wanna see a drag race for it. And I mean a DRAG race - put on some skirts and do a 100 yard sprint. First one to finish (time bonus for lookin cute) wins. That or a six pack of BBC, Sam Adams, Goose Island or somethin like that will do just fine.
Z - since you started the thread and I made the offer, I figure you got the first right of refusal. If you two wanna race for it or whatever, thats fine too. I'll bring it to youngers, just hope the rain will stop for a day or so. |
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zherz
Granny Gear
Posts:39
Registered Users
l-ville
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| 04/04/2008 9:33 AM |
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Cool, i'll be at youngers. Unless an Arc is the only way to get there. We can race for it if Rico, wants. So what are Fo-tee's going for these days? |
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ricdix
Granny Gear
Posts:32
Registered Users
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| 04/04/2008 2:18 PM |
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| I've read the mtb traing bible book a couple of times now. Full of good stuff but I still don't have a clue what to do. But hey, that's just me...... I'm kind of stupid. |
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Rowbear
Big Ring
Posts:189
Registered Users
Lexington, KY
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| 04/04/2008 5:09 PM |
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| I thought mtb racing was 95% fitness, 3% strategy, 1% having an awesome bike and 1% having a cool last name |
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Brian in Etown
Granny Gear
Posts:28
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| 04/04/2008 7:21 PM |
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names are huge! I think that is why all the french hate armstrong,
if his last name had more vowels in it the french would love him. |
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Rod
Little Ring
Posts:80
Registered Users
Morehead
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| 04/04/2008 9:02 PM |
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Posted By Rowbear on 04/04/2008 5:09 PM
I thought mtb racing was 95% fitness, 3% strategy, 1% having an awesome bike and 1% having a cool last name
That's my philosophy as well. If I'm in better shape than the other riders I'll win. There's no way I'm going to get the 3% strategy, 1% awesome bike, my wheels don't even match, and I definitely don't have a cool last name. |
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Tonybob
Big Ring
Posts:223
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| 04/05/2008 9:37 AM |
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Gotta agree, last names like Turpin will get you in the TDF.
Also Z, I would suggest finding your LT, the highest heart rate you can sustain for a long period. One sorta scientific way of doing this is after a good race, look at the average on your HRM. After a couple times you'll generally start to see a pattern. For instance, I found when my avg HR was in the upper 150's to low 160's (I have a fairly low heart rate), I had a good race and I use that number for my long interval or steady-state workouts. These workouts are generally best done on the road where you can ride without interruption and in a fairly controlled environment for long periods.
As far as strategy, you absolutely have to peg it and get out front at the beginning to avoid pileups or any other 25 people getting into one lane of singletrack related delays if you want to win, but you also have to sustain. Once past the first couple miles and things start to thin out and calm down a bit, thats when you need to settle into that cruising pace. Sometimes that means letting some people go, but chances are, you may reel some of those back in the last lap if youre riding a good steady pace.
If youre doing the KY series, (or any other), you will generally start to get a sense of who youre racing with and against and can kinda pace yourself off that as well. |
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RIC0
Big Ring
Posts:218
Registered Users
sumwaresin, KY
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| 04/05/2008 1:59 PM |
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| Or hire a coach and learn all kinds of cool stuff but be prepared for pain. |
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corndogggy
Training Wheels
Posts:9
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| 05/01/2008 5:22 PM |
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I suck at racing but all I know is that the slower first lap guys always beat me. I do think it matters if you are mostly fast twitch or slow twitch muscles. Regardless, if you push the envelope, you will be going anaerobic alot, generating too much lactic acid and hydrogen ions (I'm not making this up), which builds up. Guys who have mostly fast twitch muscles and/or haven't trained enough to build the capillaries and have their muscles buffer the hydrogen ions will just get shut down sooner or later, and that's never a good strategy.
Complicating this problem is that depending on your course, you may have to kill it anyway to get towards the front at first so that you're not stuck behind tons of people on a course that has no room to pass, such as Chickasaw. |
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FireBallKY
Big Ring
Posts:116
Registered Users
Lexington, KY USA
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| 05/01/2008 7:04 PM |
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Posted By corndogggy on 05/01/2008 5:22 PM
I suck at racing but You're still one heck of a rider though. |
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I'm not fat. That's a fuel tank for the love machine!!! |
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StevenG
Coaster Brake
Posts:15
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| 05/01/2008 8:05 PM |
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| I start at the back try and pace myself early and hopefully pick a few off at the end. I'm a borderline expert racer, whenever I go all out at the start it becomes a little hard and painful at the end. Maybe sometime this year, I find the confidence to go all out for the full length. |
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