Racing season is well and truly upon us, and here in the US we have a glut of the fast, closed circuit racing known as criterium racing. Run on race courses that are generally less than 3K in length (that's about 1.8 miles or so), most crits are full of fast corners, accelerations, twitchy riders and (unfortunately) crashes.
Many people cut their teeth on criterium racing in Category 5, which can be prone to certain “issues.” Because anyone with a bike and helmet can sign up to race cat 5, simple things like learning where to put your hands, braking safely, how to corner or how to hold a line are always suspect. Taking the next step of knowing when to attack and simply how to train your energy systems to handle the rigors of crit racing are a few of the more advanced things you can do to be a stronger and safer crit racer. Trust me, all those around you will thank you for it.
In today's podcast, I'll cover the following:
What is crit racing?- Building your base fitness – The “savings account concept”
- What zones you need to work in to be successful in short, fast crit races
- Why your core is so important in a crit
- The importance of learning to corner
- Tactics to keep you safe, build your confidence and give you the upper hand in your next race
- How to conduct a proper postmortem on your performance
As always, if you enjoy what you hear, head over to the Tailwind Coaching Podcast on iTunes and rate it 5 stars. Don't forget to post any questions to the Tailwind Coaching Facebook page, and don't forget to support our sponsors and help to keep this podcast free.
If you're inspired to get out there and rub elbows with others, don't get caught with your pants down! Check out my modular training plans in my online store and get started on the path towards killer criterium fitness today. And don't forget to save 10% with the coupon code in this week's podcast.
