Phil
Maximum Pace
- Sep 1, 2007
- 1,816
- 55
So this comment by Travis from the other thread got me thinking:
We're going to have a big TCC contigent this time. Although it's not a real mass-start road race, it does seem like groups come together over the course, which makes team tactics a viable option. It would be great if we could have the club working together.
The most obvious example I can think of is for the, er, hill-challenged among us to pull the goats through the flats so they're fresh for the hills (espcially the last two). Speaking personally, I'm not going to be doing anything other than surviving on those climbs, so I'd have no problem knocking myself out on the flat/downhill-ish sections to pull clubmates who have an actual chance of getting up the hills in good times. Then maybe the climbers could help each other on the climbs. Oh, and Thomas could discard bits of his bike on the road (chain, spokes, etc) to puncture the tires of competitors.
I suppose a lot depends on which groups we start in and how we all come together, but it's kind of fun to think about even if on the day it all falls apart...
Also, any second-year riders with course advice? How steep is that penultimate hill? (According to the elevation map it looks about 15% average, but that can't be right...can it?) And of course, where exactly is the notorious "fork of death"? Sempais, bless us with your wisdom...
But here's something to think about;
When we were heading down "Doushi-michi - R413" at speed, there were 3 of us (Sergey, Lee, and myself) riding down hard! But I did think, "...if we were all working together, instead of fighting each other, we could all go a lot faster as a group" - we'll have to work on that, eh!
We're going to have a big TCC contigent this time. Although it's not a real mass-start road race, it does seem like groups come together over the course, which makes team tactics a viable option. It would be great if we could have the club working together.
The most obvious example I can think of is for the, er, hill-challenged among us to pull the goats through the flats so they're fresh for the hills (espcially the last two). Speaking personally, I'm not going to be doing anything other than surviving on those climbs, so I'd have no problem knocking myself out on the flat/downhill-ish sections to pull clubmates who have an actual chance of getting up the hills in good times. Then maybe the climbers could help each other on the climbs. Oh, and Thomas could discard bits of his bike on the road (chain, spokes, etc) to puncture the tires of competitors.
I suppose a lot depends on which groups we start in and how we all come together, but it's kind of fun to think about even if on the day it all falls apart...
Also, any second-year riders with course advice? How steep is that penultimate hill? (According to the elevation map it looks about 15% average, but that can't be right...can it?) And of course, where exactly is the notorious "fork of death"? Sempais, bless us with your wisdom...