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Thanks for all the advice guys, I really am soaking up all the advice and criticism and taking notes! I've rewatched the video after reading your comments and can really see my mistakes.

James, I really appreciate your message about my braking. Perhaps one of these days we could have a TCC group ride with the focus on teaching peleton rules?
 
Eric, it all comes with practice and experience.
 
Eric, good video, thanks for posting. Just to echo the other guys, next season look to be "sitting in" unless it's your turn to pull or your trying to make a decisive move, hanging off to the side being in clear road burns energy. Watch out on the under passing and stay off the brakes so much in the corners, you really just want to shave speed not cut it. Like was said "get on a wheel and follow it through the corner". Oh and when the guys, i.e Edogawadude tells you to be on the right, try and get there.
All in all a good first race, you stayed upright, never cramped out and had fun. Well done. :thumb::clap::clap:
 
It's all been said...but will add in my comments anyway.

These comments pertain to the Saiko course only (especially when mentioning 'left & right') on a counter clockwise course.

You were strong enough to stay at the front for the whole race so you are a great physical rider already. Like I said before...you just have to get your head right. It's a game of chess.

You sat on the left and seemed comfortable there. I hate it there and stay on the right.
My theory in a race is 'don't touch the brakes'.
Unless you must use them.
I don't want to waste energy by breaking. Rather... I'll be sitting on the right hand side, where there is plenty of road.
Rather than brake... I'll pull a little further out to the right and use my chest to catch the wind. Slot back in when I am at the right speed. Be aggressive when you cut back in..yell and hand signal and just go for the back wheel just to your left. If there's a gap, it's your spot. If you are riding confidently the riders behind will respect you...and let you in.

If you get too far back..jump on wheels going up the right hand side. No need to do it yourself. Somebody will take you there...just wait for the lift.

Try and stay about 10cm away from the rider in front. Takes practice. If you're not confident or don't trust them..again hang out a little to the right.
Be prepared always to go right when danger presents itself. Make sure nobody is going to get cut off. Otherwise hold your line and go straight.
If you hear a crash to your left, right, back, anywhere... hold your line if possible. Don't look at the crash. Look straight in front of you and go straight unless there is something in your way.

Why the right?
There is spare road there. On the left your choices for escape are.... crash into the trees, crash into the lake... crash into the riders to your right.
On the right hand side there is always plenty of road. Everybody keeps to the left. If there is a crash or a problem you just move a bit to your right. Lots of road. Very safe. Just be careful on the right hand bends. Let the people in front of you know you are there and they are not to cut the corners in front of you. Yell on every right hand bend... 'oiiiiiiiiiii'.

Enjoy!

I'm going to try and find my one lap vid of Saiko in the car at race speed and upload it as well....

Eric, if you ride Kawagoe...the tactics you used at Saiko will suit that course better.... up the front. Looking forward to you doing well there. Even though it's a more aggressive course...you should be able to eat everybody up by going hard near the front.
 
Hmmmmm not sure going hard at the front is the right advice to give. Remember its a criterium race with "Primes" every 2 or 3 laps. This is a serious cardio, tactical and aggressive style of racing.

For criteriums it is essential to have a plan, look at the course and work out where the sprint for the points will fire from. At Kawagoe (If they have it there next year as I heard it will be held at Yokkaichi) the attack is in the chicane just before the finish if you go through on 3rd or 4th wheel and you can sprint like a MoFo then the points are yours, however ssome riders can go from the back straight so watch for that as well.

However you need to make sure you have enough in the tank to counter as some riders will attack straight after a prime to drop the top riders so expect to be at your limits for the whole race.

Oh and if you do try to cut in expect to also be ejected, bumped, or force fed out the back.

Expect and be ready for body or bike ccontact.... the courses are super narrow and only about 1.6km in length so it can get very, very tight especailly on the left hand 90 degree turns and chicanes. Also go in with the attitude of crashing..... its high risk racing so have a plan as the rules are slightly diffferent and you are able to jump back in to a criterium race if you are able to get the bike running and up again before the peloton swings by again, although this will only allow you to complete the race and get the points for finishing..... primes are not awarded so if you crash out or puncture and get the bike back in to the race you can hang back and relax.

I love this type of racing :D
 
Expect and be ready for body or bike ccontact.... the courses are super narrow and only about 1.6km in length so it can get very, very tight especailly on the left hand 90 degree turns and chicanes. Also go in with the attitude of crashing..... its high risk racing so have a plan as the rules are slightly diffferent and you are able to jump back in to a criterium race if you are able to get the bike running and up again before the peloton swings by again, although this will only allow you to complete the race and get the points for finishing..... primes are not awarded so if you crash out or puncture and get the bike back in to the race you can hang back and relax.

I love this type of racing :D

Then you should move back to Europe. Especially in Germany, that is basically what we have every weekend. :D
 
thanks for putting up the vid, eric. I enjoyed watching it, appreciate the effort in doing some commentary for us!

also nice reading feedback. interesting to read how this racing gig works!
 
Then you should move back to Europe. Especially in Germany, that is basically what we have every weekend. :D

Looks lets getting something straight. There is plenty of racing in Japan you just need to travel for it. Yes its expensive but then again it's no different to anything else on Japan.

For those a little more adventurous you can also jump on a plane and go race in Asia, do some tour racing and so on and there are members here that race Triathlon all over Asia.

Yes the racing isn't to the extent of that of Europe were most racing is club level racing but one thing I love about Japan is that if you aren't Pro you can actually race the UCI courses here such as the Japan Cup, Tour of Okinawa, Kumano and so on.

Next year I will no doubt be racing the JCRC series again and I won't be traveling with the family, so I'll have space for 2 more bikes and riders in the car, splitting travel costs 3 ways is a lot better than coughing up solo. Also no doubt I will be taking the tent option as well, I guess to capture my well spent youth :D
 
FE - great to have you back racing, apart from the excitement about my own upcoming races, I look forward to see you competing again. I won't be able to lend you a wheel on any races as I am at the very start of my way up the classes, but I am sure you will be doing very well again on your own.

Eric, very nice work on the video and commentary as well as battling it out to the end. Thanks again for the logistical support on the day, setting me up with Tim's wheels. Going through my own doomed curve made my shudder every time, especially with the same kind of idiot squeezing through on the shoulder of the road, which instigated my crash.

Compared to b class yours was a totally different race. Still plenty of fast, though.
Lots more space between the riders, but also riders taking up more space on the road in curves and straights, yourself included. Others have said it before, try staying closer to the rider in front of you and then follow his line to get a feel. I am sure you will have better teachers in the higher classes from now on.
You are saying that you want to be more aggressive in the next races, but first try to work on your positioning. The less gaps you leave to the riders in front of you following tight lines through the curve, the less motivated are riders from behind to jump in the wind to pass you. "If I see you as a contender, who knows what he is doing, I rather stay in your wake". You stayed so much in the wind for the race, that just with a different riding style, you maybe could have conserved the power to keep you in the game until the very end.
Don't take it the wrong way, I think you did a great job in your first race and would hope to see more TCC riders start racing with the motivation you have.

With that being said, it will be me to ride X-class next time.
 
I've said it before and I will say it again Saiko is the "Worse" race of the year. Lots of "one day warriors" our own TCC included in that whom take this as the one road race they ride a year (Hill Climbs don't count as its different racing) and everyone is pretty twitchy and lack the skills that others who race the complete season has, so the racing tends to be very scrappy and all over the place and one of the reasons why I wasn't to fussed over not racing it this year.

If you end up racing the whole year you'll probably love Shuzenji and Gunma, both awesome courses (Although for the record I absolutely hate Shuzenji, I have a love - hate relationship with her) that really require you to work with the peloton or splinter groups and it will teach you so much more about 1 day racing than anyother course on the JCRC program.

The courses are nice and wide so you'll see attacks snake up the road or people making breaks on the climbs with riders trying to punch through and it will teach you to work with others.

This is a classic example, the day before the race we had a typhoon blow through and although the skies were clear we had a nasty head wind on the home straight (yair will remember the day well). The four of us broke free on the final climb before the finishing straight and then worked together rotating through to make sure we got a good lead on the peloton.

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It ended up with only 3 of us being able to maintain three pace in the climbs and the head wind.

Gunma will also see breaks in the peloton and these can be pretty spectacular with the break away group taking minutes out of the peloton. You need to decided if you sit back and let it go then work the peloton in to catching the riders or jumping on the attack. Last year I stayed in and then worked them how I wanted them to. I would shout at riders that were dropping the pace and make sure people took thier turns at the front. We caught them with 4km to go and theen spat them out and I then attacked with a group of 15 or so to contest the sprint.
 
Yes, but what is the 'worst' race?

I'd say the morning Tour Of Of Japan JCRC Nikkan Sports race at Oi wharf.
Smash up derby there.
I want to win there too.
 
Ahhhh yes another race that brings out the "one day warriors"
 
:eek:uch:Still have the scars!:eek:uch:
Some idiot going for a gap that wasn't there on the final straight.
Sadly, the idiot was me...:eek:
Yes, but what is the 'worst' race?

I'd say the morning Tour Of Of Japan JCRC Nikkan Sports race at Oi wharf.
Smash up derby there.
I want to win there too.
 
Yes, but what is the 'worst' race?

I'd say the morning Tour Of Of Japan JCRC Nikkan Sports race at Oi wharf.
Smash up derby there.
I want to win there too.

What happened at this race?! can you tell me the whole story?
 
FarEast: I was only joking

Anyway, I'm looking forward to see how racing in Japan is. And I guess I better bring my sleeping bag along.
 
What happened at this race?! can you tell me the whole story?

Been in it twice, lots of crashes. My first time was a 27?km race. 4km to go my heart rate was barely over 160bpm. I was super confident. Even sitting in my safe right hand side slot :mad: with an easy shot to move up to the front at anytime.

However there was a narrow section on the course here. (not anymore as they re-worked the road to make it safer for The Tour Of Japan ) 3 lanes used to merge into one on a right hand bend. I was moving up on the right as we approached the shicane. That was my first mistake. Then on the other side of the peleton to my left I heard a bike go down. The whole peleton swelled out away from the crash forcing me further to the right. However being only one lane I was where the sandwich got pressed. The next thing I see is a traffic cone ( witchs' hat) right in front of me...on the road covering little metal speed bumps....as we came around the bend. There were still riders coming down to my left as I cartwheeled over the cone At 40+kph.

This was also the only part of the course that was closed during the warm-up time. We didn't see these traffic cones till the race was on. Can't say I noticed them on the first two laps.

Split my helmet in two, lost a lot of skin, my left sunglasses lense ruptured my upper cheek (stitches). Then into the crash truck. With 3 or 4 others. From super relaxed and confident to ouch.

pics here:

That was my crash....but there are many crashes on this course and most are started by those who have not raced much.

The second time I went it was raining, so I decided to just use it as a warm-up race for Hitachinaka. I just stayed about 6 bikes behind the peleton and TT'd it. Watching the crashes from behind. The rain water splashing up behind the peleton made it an unpleasant mud shower. Anyway, came 3rd a few weeks later at Hitachinaka so was happy with proceedings.

Still have the blood soaked helmet for this race.
 
Eric, just having a 2nd look at the vid as I didn't look so closely before...
Just noticed at the 14km mark? where you take the 90 degree left turn....for the 2nd time... you came up approaching the corner on the far left too fast...then entered the corner and went all the way across to the other side.... you could have taken down the whole field then... cutting everybody off. Then it would have been you and the guy in front of you racing as a duo for 1st and second place. :cool::eek::cool:

You should make a habit of holding your line through corners...not cutting them.
You may not have realised but when everyone is yelling as they approach this corner it is to go around it slowly and safely... and hand signals to slow down...
kind of bad manners to go through there too fast. I'm sure the S class do go through it fast , but they have the skill to do it without using brakes much...
 
In S-class for all the laps apart from maybe the final 2 we actually snake out and cut the corner at speed so only groups of 2 or 3 going through the apex at a time, the guy on the outside is basically the marker. Just went over the data and we go through that corner doing between 35km/h and 42km/h depending on your place in the group as you go through.

Then in the last stages there is a lot of jostling for position to make sure you are in the right place just in case anyone or group tries to make a break for it and get a gap.... never happens but still everyone is there just incase.

NEVER, EVER, EVER CUT THE CORNER!

Keep your line is actually an official rule in racing and you can be disqualified or get a 1 race ban if someone complains. Normally another rider will will have a quiet word but if it cuases a crash or someone felt it effected thier rankings they could make an official complaint.

I had a rider have a word last year at Yokkaichi as he felt my actions out of the final corner were a little risky, however he also recognised I was going for the Prime and that I felt my actions didn't put either of us in harms way. We shaked hands and all was good.

But not everyone is as diplomatic as that.

OH! :p

One more thing NEVER EVER EVER take your hands off the bars in a victory salute if you win a stage..... JCRC thats instant disqualifications..... sounds harsh but last year someone did it and crashed on the line taking 5 riders to hospital with him. I know its no fun....especailly if you go on a solo break away finishing 5 minutes ahead of the peloton and all you are allowed to do is smile as you roll across the line.
 
From all the racing courses I have ridden in Japan I would say that Kawagoe, Saiko and in particular the Tokyo Oi one offer the most dangereous combinations of narrow roads and a larger quantity of reckless riders. Here is a report about the Oi race in 2008:

http://positivo-espresso.blogspot.com/2008/05/day-at-races-tour-of-japan-tokyo-stage.html

I would agree that Gumma and Shunzenji are much nicer tracks in term of layout as they are specifically designed for road racing whereas many of the other JCRC races are hold on public roads or in parks (Miyakejima, Yokkaichi, Shiohara, Kawagoe, Saiko). Hitachi-naka is a strange exception.

However you need to be very good and probably also of light weight if you want to be competitive in Shuzenji or Gunnma as each lap will require you to climb quite some meters.

A good alternative in my opinion, although not on the JCRC calendar, are the races hold on car or bike racing tracks such as Motegi, Tsukuba, Suzuka or Fuji. Eric, try the Motegi race on January 3rd:

http://positivo-espresso.blogspot.com/2010/01/2-12-hours-freezing-in-motegi.html

A nice race, long, fast, hard and cold.
 
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