by Dean Woods with Rupert Guiness
Road Cycling - Racing
How and Where to Start
So you want to race? Well, the most important first step is to join a cycling club. By doing this, not only will you get to race but you'll also find yourself amongst people who can advise you and expand your knowledge of almost every aspect of cycling.
To find out how to join a club, you could look in the telephone book for the nearest club or state or national cycling association number or ask at your local bike shop. (In some cases the proprietor may also be a club sponsor and offer special discounts to all club members.) Another way of finding out this information is to ask cyclists you see on the road.
To join a club you will have to pay a membership fee and register with the local state or regional cycling association. Once you have signed up, there is an abundance of varying competition open to you -time trials, criteriums and short -circuit races, one- day road races and even stage races. Even if you don't want to compete, it's enjoyable belonging to a club because there are daily and weekend club runs to participate in as well as racing events.
When you begin racing you will start at a level of competition which matches your ability. As your results improve, you'll be scoring enough points to go up a grade and race against a higher level of competition. If you have the talent, rest assured the system will act fairly. In Australia, standards are set from D to A grades, with A grade being the elite. Countries like the United States and Great Britain follow a similar system, although they call their levels categories 4 to 1.
The Disciplines
Stage Races [back to top]
These are events which consist of several races, from which the results are added together, the winner being the rider with the best time overall.
Stage races are also known as 'tours' and are designed to find the best all-rounder in the field. The winner does not necessarily win any section of the stage, but they must have the tactical awareness to realise when and where to make their biggest efforts, or when to conserve their energy.
A stage race usually pits riders against a variety of disciplines and terrain - sprints, mountains, time trials and flat stages. Most stage races include categories for the rider who excels in each discipline as well. So within the blue riband overall classification, there can be categories for best sprinter, climber and team.
The most famous of all stage races is the three-week Tour de France which usually consists of 21 or 22 stages. However, a stage race can also have as few as two or three stages.
One-day Mass Starts [back to top]
A one-day mass start is simply a road race held on one day alone where all the riders start together in one bunch. The winner is the rider first across the finish line after completing the set distance.
Distances vary, depending on the terrain, the status of the event and the standard of entries. The longest events are generally 290 kilometres (180 miles) long and reserved for only the world's top professionals.
In longer races where the field might have a tendency to slow down and save their energies for the crucial kilometres near the end, it is not uncommon for an organiser to include several incentives for a faster pace along the way. These can include intermediate sprints or climbs where points are awarded for placings at those obstacles. These categories create a race within a race. Prizes are also offered for the best performing rider in these sections alone.
One-day races can also go from one city or town to another, although usually one-day races start and finish in the same town, with the route encompassing surrounding regions.
Handicaps [back to top]
Handicap races are also held on one day, but with the field starting off at intervals, or waves, according to their ability. The least experienced riders start off first and the best riders start last, with a time handicap against them. They are called the 'scratchmen'.
Theoretically, the calculated time differences should see the field unite near the end. However, the variables in road racing -weather, terrain and tactics -often result in this not being the case.
Officially, the winner is the first rider across the line. However, most handicap races also include a category for the 'fastest' rider as well- i.e. the person who has covered the distance in the shortest elapsed time.
It is possible for a scratch rider to win outright. But they need to be incredibly strong and hope the riders they catch agree to work together in bunch formation to lessen the gap between the riders ahead of them.
Handicap racing is common in Australia, less so in the United States and Great Britain. While some people dislike it because it doesn't always see the best rider win, it is a great training opportunity for elite racers preparing for upcoming mass starts and stage races. It is also a way of having riders of varying standards compete against each other in one race.
Time Trials [back to top]
This form of cycle racing bears two apt monikers: the Race of Truth, or Race Against the Clock. Time-trialling can be an individual or a team event.
In an individual race riders start at set intervals apart, and their result is the time taken to complete a set distance and course.
Time-trialling is unique in cycle racing because the rider is totally alone. When passed by another rider -or upon catching one -a time-triallist is not permitted to draw on that opponent's assistance by cycling in their slipstream or vice versa. A set distance must remain behind and next to every rider.
The same rules apply to team time trials as well, although members of a competing team are allowed to ride in formation, with riders taking turns at the front before dropping back and into the assisting slipstream of their team-mates.
Most time-trial races permit a team car to follow behind a rider or team. This is in case they need a wheel change or suffer a mechanical breakdown. Riders are also allowed to receive intermediate information about times and places from their team support.
Individual and team time-trialling events are often part of stage races and form the decisive elements in those races. There are also many time-trial events which are prestigious in themselves. In Europe, for example, there are such time-trial classics as the Grand Prix des Nations and the Grand Prix of Eddy Merckx. And in 1994 for the first time the individual time trial was included in the world championships (previously only team time-trialling was admitted as a category).
In Great Britain there is even a time-trial association called the British Best All Rounder (BBAR) which has a popular nationwide series of events ranging from distances of between 16 and 160 kilometres (10 and l00 miles) and times of up to 24 hours. Time-trialling is, of course, the key cycling discipline in triathlons where bike leg distances range from 30 to 180 kilometres (18 to 112 miles).
Tactics
Climbing and Descending [back to top]
These are two of the most important disciplines of road racing. They are also feats which conjure up the most fear in riders, as well as causing exhaustion.
As a result, they are two of the most spectacular activities to watch in cycling events, especially in stage races like the Tour de France, where up to 250 000 fans will congregate on a mountain slope to see riders suffer.
Stage races don't offer categories for best descender. If they did, the risks and accidents would be numerous. However, the focus on climbing is so great that there is a category for best climber and it is one of the most prestigious to achieve in any race.
Most people are born with a certain amount of climbing ability. However, while some cyclists prove to be natural climbers, it is possible for a rider with less climbing prowess to improve on their climbing ability. Be warned, though- there aren't any short cuts: it takes a lot of hard work on both conditioning and cycling skills. It is also a technique heavily dependent on an intelligent use of gears.
Generally speaking, there are two efficient ways to climb. Some riders climb sitting towards the back of the saddle, their hands gripping the top of the handlebars and legs pushing a low gear. Others find it better to ride out of the saddle, utilising a rocking motion with their shoulders. This is often called 'dancing' on the pedals and means that you are pulling up on the same side of the handlebars on which you are pedalling down.
What the technique of descending lacks in power and strength it makes up for in the need for nerves of steel and competence in bike handling. While climbs are often the launch pad for attacks in a race, it is on the descents that a poor climber can make up the time they have lost on the ascent.
The best position for descending is to get as close to a skier's tuck position as possible, with your hands on the drops, shoulders down towards the handlebars and elbows and knees brought in towards the torso.
Cornering while descending often catches riders out, simply because many people brake too often, especially with the rear brake, which has a tendency to cause the back wheel to skid out on a turn when used too severely.
Cornering [back to top]
It can look dangerous but, with the right technique, cornering can be mastered -and it can even make the difference between winning and losing.
The basic principle to cornering downhill or on flat circuits is to take the most direct and straight line possible around a corner. The difference between cornering on a flat road and on a descent is that on a level surface you'll be going more slowly and will therefore have more time for correcting error.
Contrary to what a beginner may think, cornering is not about turning the handlebars around to the contours of the turn. Most beginners -and even some more experienced riders -make the mistake of racing towards a turn, braking at the last minute and then slowly negotiating a turn. Do that, and it will require a great amount of energy to accelerate to your previous speed again. Furthermore, it will give the bicycle a tendency to wobble out into the road and eventually leave you with lengths to catch up.
When approaching a turn, especially in a time trial, always look approximately 40 to 50 metres (44 to 55 yards) ahead -not directly in front. This helps you to pick a straight line to follow. On a descent, if it's possible, try to keep an eye out for the next couple of turns as well. This gives you more time to survey the road ahead for potential hazards like holes, loose debris, roadwork barriers or oncoming traffic.
When negotiating a turn, be prepared to drift out towards the side of the road opposite to the direction of that turn. Then, as the turn comes, lean the bike slowly, rather than abruptly, into the corner. When the corner is passed, allow the bike to roll out naturally in a straight line to the opposite side of the road again, rather than forcing it. Also be aware of others if you're cycling in a group.
Ideally, it's best not to brake on a turn. But if you do need to- for obvious reasons -begin the procedure before the actual corner arrives. Remember, though, never to slam on the brakes hard, as this will throw you off your bike (and probably bring down those following as well!). If you have to brake on the corner itself, try to use just the front brake -only squeezing it, so the deceleration is subtle, slow and under control.
In cycling generally, the less braking you do, the better. On a turn the greater the controlled speed, the greater the speed will be when you come out of it.
For uphill cornering, the shortest line theory is not always the best. Usually, on roads with a lot of hairpin bends and corners, the best place to ride is in the middle of the road. On the outside of an uphill hairpin, the gradient is always more gentle than on the inside. So you won't need to constantly get out of the saddle (which breaks up the rhythm); this technique can help a rider get to the top of the climb faster than any steeper 'short cuts' would.
Of course, if you're attacking on an uphill bend and you want to make a jump, you would want to take the inside of the turn, because that's the shortest way around it. Once you've got into the lead and settled into an even, attacking tempo, you would go back to the centre-road position.
Riding with experienced cyclists is a great way of learning the art of cornering. In time your 'feel' for cornering will develop, as too will a greater confidence in what can at first be a frightening and frustrating element of the sport.
Sprinting [back to top]
This is also a spectacular part of racing. It involves explosive power, speed, tactical cunning and nerves of raw steel.
As with climbers, there are also born sprinters. But while climbers generally win in their domain by relying on their talents alone, a sprinter is heavily reliant on the cohesiveness of team-mates, It is up to a sprinter's team-mates to muscle their way to the front of a speeding bunch, try to monopolise all the front positions and make sure he or she is tucked safely into their slipstream. Then, when the tempo speeds up under their acceleration, a sprinter will ride behind the front runners as they expend their energies for the finale.
Finally, the sprinter goes all out for the finishing burst with 100 to 150 metres (109 to 164 yards) to go, in the hope that he or she will be the winner. Because every team normally has a sprinter, the congestion of riders at the front of a pack in the last kilometres can be frightening. At speeds of up to 60 kilometres per hour (kph) (37 miles per hour (mph)), and with only a centimetre or two between wheels, it takes only the slightest miscalculation or hesitation for cyclists to touch each other's wheels and fall down like dominoes.
As can be imagined, the build-up to a sprint finale and its explosive outcome is a major crowd-pulling aspect to any race.
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