This is our weekly call out for volunteers to marshal a corner at the Criterium race on Tuesday. Please go to our Facebook page and comment that you can help if you can. The time we need you is 6:45 to 8ish. Thanks in advance!
We will have our regular Monday night Developmental ride tomorrow. But if you want to learn to sprint then there is that option as well. Patrick will take a group over to Maxey road and do some "match sprints". He will lead a how to clinic beforehand. Why not try it out?See you tomorrow.
Climbing hills is good for building strength. Riding in a group and pushing longer rides each time is good for building endurance. And sure, maybe you can push thirty km/h in your big ring at eighty rpm for a 100km ride, but eventually you'll blow your knees out. If you want to get faster and fitter without spending days on the road sprints or intervals is the way to go. Some of the ways sprinting will help you are;
Leg speed and cadence - you'll find your biggest gear isn't always your fastest gear.
Drafting and riding the wheel in front of you - In a group ride where you have to worry not just about the rider in front of you but also about everyone beside and behind you it can be a bit nerve wracking trying to keep your front wheel within inches of the wheel in front. In a sprint where its just you and one other rider it's easier to focus and comfortable riding close quarters.
Being aware of what's going on around you - When you're trying to out gun the other rider to the line, there are lots of little cues to watch and listen for that will help you; did they shift a gear, move their hands on the bars, stand up on the pedals, move off to the side so you can't see them attack, can you hear their freewheel spin behind you; all clues that now is the time to attack
Coaching and feedback from the other riders with you - You may notice something that they're doing that could help you that you never saw before while you were gasping and pushing to the top of the hill next to them.
All this and more at next Mondays sprint clinic on June 20. Again everyone is welcome to come out. Riders can pick their partners to sprint against, or if you're not sure who would be close to you we've set up a segment on Strava to help seed riders here.
Building on the idea surrounding our Monday night Development rides, on Monday June 20 we will be running a sprint clinic. Sprinting or Match sprinting is usually a track cycling event for between two to four riders over a short distance. For our purposes we will be using Maxey road where two riders will flip a coin to decide who leads and then sprint the 300m back to the finish line just before Durnin road. The lead rider can choose to choose to ride slow and force the other rider to move in front allowing them to draft and save energy for the final sprint. Alternatively, the lead rider can also choose to drop the hammer from the start and try to out pace their opponent for the entire distance.
If there are enough riders we will run team sprints where four riders take the course working in teams of two. In team sprints one rider will typically do the majority of the work and pulling their team mate to the line where they can then accelerate to cross the line first at a much higher speed than if they were riding alone.
Any riders interested will meet up at six pm at the NIC, from there we’ll take a short warm up ride up Jingle pot road and down East wellington to Maxey road. After a brief safety and coaching speech there will be a demonstration and opportunity for all riders to have a try at it.
Again everyone is welcome to come out. Sprinting is a great way to work on your fitness and speed with lots of short, high intensity effort with time to recover while the next riders give it a go.
Hope to see you out there.
Don't forget to help the timers and pre register for tonights 15km time trial. The link is here
Thanks