Bad Performance and Overtaking

[SPyX]

I went in the Division 1 interschools XC at thredbo a month ago. It was my first ever race, and first time riding that particular track. I did around 17:50 minutes in my first lap, and 20 second and 21 third and like 22 or something in the fourth.

That was in sunny conditions, warm conditions. Yesterday it was much much colder, and I did 19:30 first, 21ish second and was lapped just before my third.

Why was my performance so bad more recently? I know it was cold, but it was a big gap in the first lap! I also didn't get off my bike nearly at all this time (only once for gear tissue issue).

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I also have a question about overtaking people. Now, I always make sure I atleast stay on my bike, even if it means I'm in granny gear, no matter how steep the hill is! I thought that would help me overtake the walkers in front, but they would either jump back on, or run when I came next to them. I found it really hard to overtake in those situations.

Does anyone have any advice?

Cheers

[stooge]

Well, there could be a couple of factors

1. Could do with the type of foods you ate, eg, if you say have a coke and a chocalate bar before your race you will go out hard for a few minutes then completely burn out.

2. The first race you might of being REALLY pushing your self. I find if i get in behind say an 'expert' or 'elite' rider i will keep up with their pace for a while then they usually get ahead of you after a while.

Well thats a couple of things i could think of that i have experianced.

Also, it may seem obvious, but when you out there riding or racing try and think about riding smooth and not fast, just say to your self, 'smooth, be smooth' :lol:

I have found when i go out there and pedal my butt off and try and go fast I usually go off line and pedal fairly roughly(you dont notice it at the time) and end up burning out and going slow, instead just try and setup a nice comfortable yet agressive pace and try and think about being smooth, nice circular pedaling(push down with one foot and pull up with the other at the same time).

Being cold you might not have drank as much as you thort you needed even though your body still got dehydrated!? :?

Hope this helped, I proberly answered more than you were even asking :wink:

/Long 2 cents
Stooge

*Edit: About the over taking thing, i find yelling out "RIDER!!!" helps, or "ON YOUR LEFT!!" (thats if your overtaking on the left of them :wink: ). Sure some people dont like being passed, but most people have the common-sense/Courtesy to let you pass.

[karri]

Page 22 of MTBA rule Book:

"Racers on bicycles have right of way over racers pushing bicycles. When practical riders pushing should stay on the least rideable portion of the path when being pased. A racer pushing or carrying his bike can overtake a racer riding his bike provided he does not interfere with the riders progress. Laped riders must yeild to leaders."

So just call out track but remember the leading rider owns the track if they are not walking.

in reply to why your preformance suffered a lot can hapen in a month if you didnt train enough you could easly lose a lot of form. Also you may have over trained the weak before. It is realy hard to say without knowing what you did in the weeks/days leading up to the race.

Also your warm up is important especialy on a cold day. Put some warm cloths on for a deasent warm before the race. Again it is hard to say without knowing specifics.

[SPyX]

Thanks guys.

Yeah I didn't have a chance to ride the course the day before due to the weather, and I think my performance was worse because I was feeling slightly sick on the first lap (I had a V 20 minutes before gun :S).

I also should have bolted at the start, I dragged behind people.

[Disco]

DONT CALL TRACK!!! call rider.
i had someone behind me on singletrack yelling TRACK and i thaught they were trying to spook me and yell out STACK! so i dint let em pass! n e ways yeah yelling RIDER then wait for them to pull over when it is suitible for THEM as well as YOU

2c

Little Mike

[Gonzo]

I also should have bolted at the start, I dragged behind people.

Thats not always bad. It can be helpful when you are all psyched up cos it makes you go slow to start with till you settle into the race rather than going out way too hard and blowing up.

[DEVLIN]

95% of riders on the east coast use 'track'. It doesn't matter really. Just make sure it is clear and then give them time to move out of the way. Don't hussle them along they could be passing you the next time and you will want the same consideration. Also if you are being passed and hear the call don't panic just look for the first spot where the track widens or there is a gap big enough in thr trees and pull over. When your the rider doing the passing say thanks as you go by, makes evryone feel better.

As far as you performance there are a hundred variables that could have affected your second ride from what you ate the night before, the morning of and during the race. Whether you got enough sleep in the previous couple of days. Whether you had been doing to much riding the couple of days before. As you can see lots of things. As far as having a V, piss that shit off. Go for VERY LOW sugar drinks if your thirsty before hand and have a drink bottle full of flat coke for the last lap. Chug a couple of big mouthfulls as you start the last lap then sip a couple more after 5 mins and ride the suger/caffeine hit home. Its not massive but will help a little. For the first laps just use a sports drink of some sort. Races longer than an hour you will start to want to use one of the many gels available. As a rough guide if you are racing for 90mins have one at about 60mins. Hope that helps, they are pretty basic ideas. You will need to experiment to find what works for you. Good luck.

[SPyX]

Thankyou very much DEVLIN, that helped alot!

Yeah, about the "Rider" calling, it was really stupid how one rider called out when people stopped at 2 steps, and he didn't make it, and just made others slower.

[BrumbyJack]

Yep, there are some hell narrow places on that track where it would be pretty hard to pass, especially on the track from the bottom of the stairs from Pipeline Path, around the pond, back to the road.

I know from my kids that there were plenty of traffic jams as they both started from the back and made their way through the field.

I reckon I could run and push my bike up those hills faster than some people could ride, so I wouldn't be too offended if they didn't want you to pass them when they were walking, just as long as they weren't trying to block your way. I sure wouldn't want someone passing me if possible if I was racing (without blocking them, just me going faster).

[miko]

I've just started racing and have been having the same "whats the best way to pass?" thoughts? Watch the Elite guys, they are very agressive passing and also seem to call track. Personally I think it might even be better to call "on your right" or left to indicate which way the person should yield. I try to be courteous as well.