You are reading a single comment by @Multi_Grooves and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@Multi_Grooves
Scott Mares of Sibex Sports has recently had his "The Complete Book of Cyclocross, Skill Training & Racing" published. Here's a small excerpt:
1 Minute Gain
If I told you that you could gain one minute in a race with the same engine and a little skill practice you would probably think I was crazy. Well, this next section will show you how to do just that.
Let’s say you have an identical twin with an identical VO2 max and LT (Lactate Threshold). You go to a cyclocross skill camp, but your twin does not. When you are there, you learn how to get on and off your bike efficiently and you continue to practice on a weekly basis after camp is over. Now let’s say that all that hard work and practice has gotten you only one second faster though the barriers than your identical twin. If the race is 10 laps long and has four barrier sections, after five laps you would be 20 seconds ahead of your twin. If we take into account fatigue and some mistakes your twin will make during the latter half of the race, you are probably now two seconds faster through the barriers than your twin. So, if my calculations are correct (and they should be after going through the first grade twice), in the final five laps you gain 40 seconds in addition to the 20 seconds you gained in the first half of the race. This means you would beat your identical twin by one whole minute. Go back through the results of your previous cyclocross races and see how close you were to your competition at the end. After some correct practice, you should be close to closing that margin on your competition.
Being efficient on and off the bike can make a vast difference in the long term of a race. A rider that is trying to stay with you though the barriers will most likely lose time or crash if they are not as efficient in dismounting and remounting as you are. That pressure will cause them to make a mistake and lose large amounts of time. If they back off, they will have to make extra efforts to catch back up to you, which will most likely result in them blowing up too soon. Smooth, controlled and efficient techniques will allow you put all of your energy in to going forward.
link