Tuesday Night Take-aways

In the interest of actually getting better at the Oval on Tuesday nights, I will begin to compile little “what I learned” lists after the race. So here’s what I learned on 20 May 2008:

  • I need to shift more. Problem areas are the back straight and coming into the front straight. I tend to not upshift in the back straight, which means I lose a bit of speed, and I tend to wait too long to shift out of the final turn, meaning I work too hard approaching the start/finish line. I see four possible shift points:
    1. Shift up coming down from the start/finish line.
    2. Shift up coming out of turn two (if the pace necessitates it).
    3. Shift down coming out of turn four.
    4. Potentially shift down again (depending on the pace) approaching the start/finish line.
  • I need to time my efforts better. I tended to relax too late coming down from the start/finish line, so I would lose a bit of speed entering the first turn. Same thing entering the third corner. Little things like this make it harder to hold a wheel in the group.
  • Hold a wheel in the pack. This is, I think, the key to the whole race. Given my speed/effort ratio once the paceline formed with the folks that fell off the back, I can, in a group, keep pace. I need to hold a wheel in the pack, do all of the above to save strength, and stick with it during the faster laps.
  • Stay low in the turns. Duh, but I seem to stay high when I’m in the pack, since I tend assume that someone will be passing me (even I’m last wheel).

So next week’s goal will be to stay with the pack longer, and if I fall off, get back on, or, if others fall off, organize a paceline to at least keep us on the lead lap.