What I learned racing in 2010

2010 was a fun year. As a team, it was our first year to compete together, and as always, I learned a few new things here and there. I've been trying to write down all year what I thought was something worthwhile, and here is my list:

1- Racing a category 1-2 road race or crit is cut throat. It reminds me of racing A-pro in BMX. Even guys with a ton of fitness have to learn a lot in order to compete. The thing is, everybody is fast, but it's like jumping in to play chess with a bunch of master chess players. If you can survive a race, and observe how the best guys do it, you learn a lot every time. It's a fine line between being in the mix and getting spit off the back.

2- If you're used to riding/racing with alloy clincher wheels, running carbon Zipp tubulars with Vittoria tubular tires is like cheating. Being lighter and more aero is one thing. The best thing is how hard you can corner with them. There's a couple demo sets at the shop I work at( Schlegel bikes) that I've been fortunate to borrow at several races last year.

3- This is something that I should have already known, but I guess I had to find out the hard way. An 11-25 or 26 cog set is a good gear for hilly road races. An 11-26 however, is not a good gear ratio for a fast, flat pro 1-2 crit in Texas. You get gapped to easy coming out of corners and having to change your cadence from too big of a jump. An 11-21 or 11-23 is a much better choice.

4- Save energy to "power through" slow sections during cyclocross races. This can be sand, mud, or a short steep hill. This also somewhat applies to road racing. You can put a huge amount of space on someone in a short amount of time if you do it right.

5-Bunny hopping is an essential skill in cyclocross. It's also good for avoiding crashes if you have to jump up on a curb.

6- Time management is very important for training time if you have a full time job and a family. Thats good in that my wife and I had our 2nd baby last November. I haven't had much spare time to keep this blog updated, but I got a new phone that will allow me to do post race reports on the way home from races as well as maybe some more how to stuff at the shop.

The 2011 race season is right around the corner. We've added a couple more riders to our team and have got several rides in together. Should be a fun year.