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Race strategies

3K views 25 replies 21 participants last post by  Whambat 
#1 · (Edited)
Thought I'd share some of what I have learned in the past season and a half and encourage others to contribute some race strategies:

To holeshot or not to holeshot. I continue to ease into my races rather than fly out of the gate. This has worked very well in Novice & sport class races that have enough passing zones - not sure about the expert class - but we'll find out soon enough.

Downhill to uphill. Many of us are onto this move, but its worth repeating - if you approach a relatively short uphill with a flat or downhill ahead of it, put the hammer down in advance and blast past your opponents creeping up in their granny gear.

Get to know your most compatible fellow riders. This is big - two of my best finishes were largely due to pacing with guys that have very similar performance "curves" - we'd push each other and end up leading the entire class.

Announce definatively before passing. I have been too quiet and paid the price: Major wreck at high speed - ruined a 1st place finish.

Tailgating - great on the flats to save energy -stupid through the technical sections. You'd think common sense would prevail, but I have proven otherwise. See "announce definatively before passing" and do it more often. If you approach someone pretty quickly, that's means you should just get around them. As nice as it is to sit and relax on a wheel - it costs time.

Get aero dude!! It's not just for roadies. Saves alot of energy when cruising on flat high speed sections.

Alternate climbing position (between sitting and standing)

Feel free to add more.
 
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#2 ·
definitively*
it's drafting, not tailgating

Flying our of the gate is almost mandatory in the higher classes. I think it was LMN who once posted that a good start would consist of 15 or so secs of out of the line sprinting, followed by a bit of coasting (turns etc), and then settling into race pace.

That downhill to uphill thing you mentioned is a killer move.
 
#3 ·
I started racing last year and got some great advice from a friend. Go as hard as you can out of the gate and get in the woods in the front of the pack. I've had excellent results charging hard out of the gate getting a gap and then settling in for a 90 min time trial. I also really love the climing challenge and I aggressively attack all the hills. I'm not the world's greatest descender (too conservative) so I try to make hay on the hills.
 
#4 ·
Race strategy for me if I'm in with a chance is to always go for the holeshot. Singletrack then becomes recovery, and gets everyone else frustrated and as a result off-guard. It also gives you that first opportunity to decide when to pick up the pace again.

Back in the 07/08 state series it was always me and one other kid who would be the first two to the singletrack, just because we could sprint; the two rounds he beat me to the singletrack he binned it right in front of all of us. Similar thing happened at the Mt Buller Nationals 08/09 round, got outsprinted by the current series leader, but he binned it on about the third corner. He still recovered to win though, with me in third.
On the other hand, at the Illinbah 08/09 Nationals round, I had probably an easy 150 meters after the first short singletrack climb, only to lose most of it buggering up the first little rocky descent I had trouble riding. That however made me sit in fifth until the climbs as there was nowhere to pass.
The state champs in 07/08 I got second to the singletrack from the third row, but if you can't ride the track then no amount of getting to the singletrack first is going to help.

So yeah, clear track can make a lot of difference. But sometimes it won't help you either.
 
#5 ·
I've found that at our Sport races in this area you need to go out hard at the start which equals 1 minute sprint followed by 10-15 minutes of max heart rate with no recovery. After that everyone seems to settle into a time trial sort of pace. If you don't go out hard then your lucky to hang onto mid or back 1/3 of the pack as the top 5 are long gone. As for drafting, I'll sometimes slow down to let someone go by me thinking they can go faster and then I suck up on the back of their wheel.
 
#6 ·
Strategies I've used successfully this year:
1) Hole shot is crucial. Ride hard the first few minutes, making sure if anyone is in front of you they are at least as strong, if not better than you. Getting stuck behind someone that botches the climbs or technical sections right off the bat can be disheartening when you see the leaders race off into the distance. Be in the leader group.

2) Throw off the other racer's plans. I've spent races behind a rider that I knew was stronger than me almost everywhere except on small portions of trail. On those small portions (in my case rocky ledges, or short steep hills), I'd make sure to yell "Go, go, go!!! You got it man, come on you got this.... Go go go go go!!! Good job!!!!! That was a great line!!!" Even though I was dying and gasping for breath and barely hanging on (but pretended not to be), it makes the rider in front of you think that part is easy, you're fresh, and that you're just recovering behind them. After that you'll either see them try and pick up the pace and burn themselves out, or they'll pull over and let you by. Either way it usually gets them to run your race rather than you running theirs.

3) Change up the pace from the start. This one will probably only work once a season, but it will throw people off their game if they fall for it. For it to work, you need to practice it so you can recover, and will need to be consistently be near the front so the other racers will believe you are a threat... One of our races this year pretty much every fast guy / threat in my cat showed up (7) rather than the 3-4 that usually appear, so I had to contend with more guys. I decided to test them out and just sprint right off the bat. I went 99% for the first 5-7 minutes, thus forcing the pack to follow. No one was used to that pace right off the start and it caused at least 3 of the guys to blow up early, so I didn't have to deal with them later. The trick of it is that I knew it was coming and the other guys assumed I just got faster. I slowed up later to recover (as I'd practiced) and continued riding as normal. Many of the guys I beat would probably have passe dme later had they paced themselves or knew what was coming.

4) Ride your own race. Don't fall into traps similar to the above.

5) Pass slower riders immediately. If the pace is significantly slower get around them asap. If the pace is similar to your own, I'll sometimes sit on their wheel to recover for a bit.

6) Pedal to the other side of the hill. Never pedal to the top. Recover on the down hill, not the peak.

7) Tubeless. Nuff sad.
 
#7 ·
As fast as you can sustain for as long as you can sustain right from the start is key in any class Cat. 1 or above. By the time anyone catches up, everyone is pretty much on the same wavelength as far as what they have left. If you don't go out fast, you'll never really be able to catch the top guys...even if you think your plan is to get faster as the race goes on.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Personally, I have found my strength comes later in the race so it is interesting to hear several of you run @ the redline from the start. Tried that once - and maintained 2nd place for awhile until flatting about 10 minutes into the race. So it might be worth another attempt.

I am concerned about wasting too much energy at the start - doesn't running full speed deplete alot of energy stores that you'll need later? Or is that the difference between twitch muscles and glycogen burn? Still learning the physiology aspects...
 
#10 ·
Self Motivated said:
Personally, I have found my strength comes in later in the race so it is interesting to hear several of you run @ the redline from the start. Tried that once - and maintained 2nd place for awhile until flatting about 10 minutes into the race. So it might be worth another attempt.

I am concerned about wasting too much energy at the start - doesn't running full speed deplete alot of energy stores that you'll need later? Or is that the difference between twitch muscles and glycogen burn? Still learning the physiology aspects...
EVERY open/cat1/expert race I've done this year was redline for most of the first hour at some points I've been 7 beats/min over my LT for up to 30 minutes, the ones that can recover or in actuallity slow down less than the others after that move to the front of the pack. My strategy has become - hang on to the lead group and wait for people to fall off as the race goes on and its been very successful.
 
#12 ·
Self Motivated said:
Personally, I have found my strength comes later in the race so it is interesting to hear several of you run @ the redline from the start. Tried that once - and maintained 2nd place for awhile until flatting about 10 minutes into the race. So it might be worth another attempt.

I am concerned about wasting too much energy at the start - doesn't running full speed deplete alot of energy stores that you'll need later? Or is that the difference between twitch muscles and glycogen burn? Still learning the physiology aspects...
I think "wasting energy" and using a lot of energy are two very different things. I use a lot of energy at the start to keep with the leaders, because I know if they get out of sight too far, I won't see them again unless they run out of juice. I almost always feel much better in the race once I can settle into a decent pace, but that usually won't happen until about half the way through it. I think the trick of it is to make sure to get used to going all out from the start, and then finding a way to recover in the tight and twisty areas to "recharge" enough to keep plowing along. Even though I usually start at a good clip, on courses with multiple laps, my lap times have been pretty consistent throughout each race. That's a great indicator that you're holding onto a steady pace.

Wasting energy implies putting forth a lot of effort compared to the amount of forward progress you're making, and that's ALWAYS a bad thing in a race.

That being said, what works for me, may not work for you and vice versa. If your current strategy is taking care of business, then why change it?
 
#14 ·
The hole shot is not the "be all end all". It depends on the course and the talents of the rider. Some riders can go hard at the start and recover better than others (largely depending on training and the time of season). Others may pop and never fully come back around. The course may have a LONG climb where a set of "fresher" legs can do serious damage to those who are still trying to recover from the brutal start. If the course is not loaded with climbs, catching a fast wheel can save tons of energy. If the course is long and loaded with climbs, a slow start and a strong split could be the ultimate strategy. Know the course, know the competition, and build a strategy.. then stick to it. Many of my best performances have been from slow starts and a pacing strategy that shoots for a negative split. Think about it, if you go hard at the start and create pain and fatigue, you will carry that with your for the rest of the event and likely have a slow 2nd half. If you start moderate and bury the hammer in the 2nd half, you carry that pain and fatigue for half as long. Do you want to hurt the entire race, or just half the race? Bottom line is you are only going to be able to expend x-amount of Kilojoules, so how do you want to spend it?

It may make sense to start hard, there may be a good reason for it. But its definitely not always going to be the case.
 
#16 ·
mtncampbell said:
As fast as you can sustain for as long as you can sustain right from the start is key in any class Cat. 1 or above. By the time anyone catches up, everyone is pretty much on the same wavelength as far as what they have left. If you don't go out fast, you'll never really be able to catch the top guys...even if you think your plan is to get faster as the race goes on.
I agree for short(er) races but not races over 4 hours.
 
#17 ·
jd1072 said:
Strategies I've used successfully this year:
1) Hole shot is crucial. Ride hard the first few minutes, making sure if anyone is in front of you they are at least as strong, if not better than you. Getting stuck behind someone that botches the climbs or technical sections right off the bat can be disheartening when you see the leaders race off into the distance. Be in the leader group.

2) Throw off the other racer's plans. I've spent races behind a rider that I knew was stronger than me almost everywhere except on small portions of trail. On those small portions (in my case rocky ledges, or short steep hills), I'd make sure to yell "Go, go, go!!! You got it man, come on you got this.... Go go go go go!!! Good job!!!!! That was a great line!!!" Even though I was dying and gasping for breath and barely hanging on (but pretended not to be), it makes the rider in front of you think that part is easy, you're fresh, and that you're just recovering behind them. After that you'll either see them try and pick up the pace and burn themselves out, or they'll pull over and let you by. Either way it usually gets them to run your race rather than you running theirs.

3) Change up the pace from the start. This one will probably only work once a season, but it will throw people off their game if they fall for it. For it to work, you need to practice it so you can recover, and will need to be consistently be near the front so the other racers will believe you are a threat... One of our races this year pretty much every fast guy / threat in my cat showed up (7) rather than the 3-4 that usually appear, so I had to contend with more guys. I decided to test them out and just sprint right off the bat. I went 99% for the first 5-7 minutes, thus forcing the pack to follow. No one was used to that pace right off the start and it caused at least 3 of the guys to blow up early, so I didn't have to deal with them later. The trick of it is that I knew it was coming and the other guys assumed I just got faster. I slowed up later to recover (as I'd practiced) and continued riding as normal. Many of the guys I beat would probably have passe dme later had they paced themselves or knew what was coming.

4) Ride your own race. Don't fall into traps similar to the above.

5) Pass slower riders immediately. If the pace is significantly slower get around them asap. If the pace is similar to your own, I'll sometimes sit on their wheel to recover for a bit.

6) Pedal to the other side of the hill. Never pedal to the top. Recover on the down hill, not the peak.

7) Tubeless. Nuff sad.
:) Machiavellian advice
 
#18 ·
Pacing is critical, both at a macro and micro level.

At a macro level your lap times should be slightly slower each lap. If you are dropping minutes then you are starting too hard, if you are negative splitting then you are starting too easy.

Micro pacing is chosing the correct pace for a climb from start too end. Too many riders hit the base of a climb like they are Absalon. Big time gaps are formed at the top of climbs not at the bottom. For each climb you should have pacing strategy that involves accelerating over the crest.
 
#19 ·
Got a new one...

Unless you have a bullet-proof system for preventing flats - ride as gently /cleanly as possible through rock gardens. I tried making up some time on a fairly technical descent during my last race and managed to pinch-flat. I thought I was doing just fine - basically launching across the tops of the rocks at a high rate of speed. Not so. Slower in this case, may have saved the race.
 
#25 ·
fsrftc said:
EVERY open/cat1/expert race I've done this year was redline for most of the first hour at some points I've been 7 beats/min over my LT for up to 30 minutes, the ones that can recover or in actuallity slow down less than the others after that move to the front of the pack. My strategy has become - hang on to the lead group and wait for people to fall off as the race goes on and its been very successful.
my best results have come from something similar, though it is important to also realize that there are for sure people that will blow, if you try to hang with the doomed then you yourself are probably also doomed. knowing your competition can help when deciding who to chase and where you belong.

my first race back this year i started from the back. it was very frustrating for the first two laps with all the traffic (i now realize i am significantly faster descending than most of the 35-39 guys that aren't on the top step of the podium) but when all was said and done i was 4th. had i gone hard from the start i might have blown and gone backwards farther (especially considering the heat). interesting to note, i think this was the first race EVER that I finished a complete bottle on every lap.
 
#26 ·
I've learned, even with tubeless, to carry more than 1 co2 and 1 tube on a long big loop race, maybe even a ultra-mini pump. A 2-mile run downhill to the 1st aid station while getting passed by everyone that you dropped on the previous climb gives you time to think like that.
Also, it's worth carrying a carrying a chain tool even in a shorter race (20 mile) with shorter laps (10 miles). I realized this one after breaking an xt rear der in half (which broke mid-shift cresting a climb, not from crashing) at the far point of the course and having to walk back to the start. It wouldn't have saved my race, but it would have let me do a ghetto singlespeed back to the start.
A good year for mechanicals for me.
 
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