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Official Ride Official TCC Stage Race

Mike

Maximum Pace
Sep 24, 2007
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Official TCC Sprinters Race

With all the fun we had last weekend and taking into consideration all the opinions voiced about race setup I've come up with this social/competitive format to suit different styles of riders although focusing on sprinters:D

I don't want to rain on Serguei's race last weekend because it was great, I would just like to try a different kind of event. There will be no KOM prizes as the 3 winners from last week should be allowed to soak up as much glory as possible , especially Deej who as we all know needs the attention more than most;) However thanks to Serguei we will have these sprinters avatars up for grabs:

tcc_sprint_1st.gif
tcc_sprint_2nd.gif
tcc_sprint_3rd.gif


Possible dates:

Saturday September 1st
Sunday September 2nd
Saturday September 8th
Sunday September 9th


First here's the course:

http://www.mapmyfitness.com/routes/view/108878131

It's only 62km long, BUT the start point is the Big Chilli and you must ride there with NO exceptions! Obviously the ride there will be social for everyone except me as I'll be riding from Kanagawa:( Basically it's a 50k ride for me and with the return leg it'll be around 200km. I presume you Tokyo lads and ladies will have about the same distance to cover.

The Sprint

From the Big Chilli it'll be a 13 km social ride to the start of the first sprint. We have a volunteer to stand at the finish line in Tom (cheers mate) so we can hit the first sprint on the go and make it more exciting. I've marked the start of sprints and climbs with a green arrow on the map.

The attacks for the first sprint can start at 13.5km into the ride. Everyone needs to be behind me until this stage. I'll call GAME ON and it'll be about 4km to the finish of the first sprint. At the about the 16.5km mark you'll round a corner and hit the final straight. It'll be immediately clear it's the finishing straight because it's super straight, wide, long and Tom will be there waving. :happy: See the map for the checkered finish line flag!

Please regroup on the road directly below the finish line. You can spin the lactic out here. We'll regroup and head back to possibly the same spot and do the sprint again!

I've chosen this piece of road as it is long, straight and usually void of all traffic. Safety is my number one concern and I don't want to have winding roads for our first sprint event.

The point classification system will be as James kindly suggested:

1st - 10 points
2nd - 8points
3rd - 7 points
4th -6 points
5th -5 points

After 2 rounds I'll tally the points and we'll have a top 3 who will get the sprinters avatars!

Sprinting can be dangerous and I feel it's necessary to write some ground rules.

1. No lead out trains.

This means you cannot participate if you are there only to help a friend. Everyone must ride as an individual, no team work! Of course draft away but no team trains please!

2. No bumping or pushing

3. You must ride in the left lane

4. All sprinters vying for the top 3 places MUST complete the entire ride

If anyone does not follow the above rules you WILL be disqualified.

The Climbs Begin

Unfortunately no prizes or avatars but the possible glory of being in the top three for the day.

#1 Hinatsuru Toge

Then we'll roll out to the first climb of the day, at the 17km mark, a short burst up to the tunnel. The first 5 again get the same points as above, but this will be for the General Classification (GC).

Once the first 5 riders roll through they can proceed to the start of the next climb and we'll all regroup there. It seems safer to do this to avoid having large numbers on descents. At the rally point I'll take down the first 5 riders over the climb into my notebook and then we'll saddle up and roll out.

#2 Suzugane Toge

The second climb over Suzugane Toge will follow the same format as the first. Once the first 5 riders are over they can proceed to the feeding area at the 36km mark at the supermarket in Saruhashi. Once there and we've all had a feed and I've written the top 5 riders in my book we'll move onto the same start area as last week, Matsuhime Toge:confused:

#3 Matsuhime Toge

It'll be a mass start with the same rules as above....the top 5 getting points. Once at the top I'll tally all the points from the 3 climbs and we'll get a GC top 3 for the day:eek:

I'll ride home from the top of Matsuhime down R18. Please join me if that road suits you.

Let me know if you're interested in attending this race and if so which dates suit you. Hope you can make it:D
 
Im in! :D

And will also ride with you to the staging area.

Although one thing that I would like to clarify is the "No lead out trains" rule.

Does this mena no drafting off another riders that have initiated the sprint or does it mean no riders working together to put another man over the line?

Drafting off riders that have initiated thier sprints is an intergral part of the sprint race.

Also I looking at the map its hard to see where the sprint section is - how long is the segment? As it might be worth having 5 attacks on the sprint similar to that of a criterium race.

Just my thoughts.
 
#1 Tom (what's this one called again?):confused:

That would be Hinatsuru-toge or Hinazuru tunnel if you want 雛鶴峠 :)

Excellent plan Mike!
 
So the Belgium hard man is in then?
 
Thanks Tom, hope you can make it! James, I just mean no people working together to stop people swinging off the front. Of course you can draft other riders, that's part of the fun:) Open to suggestions as it's a floating plan. The sprint length is about 1.5km but it would be a bit dangerous to do a loop there with traffic possibly coming through. I suggest you and I head out there this weekend to check it out;)
 
So the Belgium hard man is in then?

Just for the fun of it of course ;)

James, you raised a good question...just where is the damn sprint section?
Haha!...my guess is that Mike has cooked up a cunning plan to lure you into what is basically a mini-version of last week's KOM :D so he can outpace you on the climbs. But why not? Should be great fun for all of us.
 
Would love to do this as it's better suited for me than pure climbing, but I'll be in Europe most of August until September 7 or 8. Small chance I may make it on September 9 with a huge jet lag.

The "No lead out trains" rule is still unclear to me. On this course with this group of riders what I expect to happen is that there be a break-away, or just one echelon because of wind, of a few stronger riders. Those riders are "working together" to stay ahead even if they all want to win once the finish line approaches.

Wait, I now see that there is to be a few separate races of 1.5km only? That seems very dangerous to me: nobody will be fatigued, and then it's a each-man-for-himself dash to the finish line with mostly unexperienced riders on a public road.
 
Ok I understand what Mike is saying so here it is:


There are a few members here that ride for the same teams outside of the TCC -myself and Mike race for Champion System, while there are also riders from GS Astuto.

So what I think Mike is saying is that although drafting and sucking wheels in the final sprints is ok as its impssible to do a drag race on a public roads, organised lead out trains by teams and members that have had a 'chin wag behind the bike stands' before the race will get you DQ.

Hmmmm I have fond memories of launching a blistering attack off the back of Ludwig and then being chased down by 'Serguei' and co. along the back roads back to Musashi-itsukaichi station a few years back..... fond memories!
 
Ok I understand what Mike is saying so here it is:


There are a few members here that ride for the same teams outside of the TCC -myself and Mike race for Champion System, while there are also riders from GS Astuto.

So what I think Mike is saying is that although drafting and sucking wheels in the final sprints is ok as its impssible to do a drag race on a public roads, organised lead out trains by teams and members that have had a 'chin wag behind the bike stands' before the race will get you DQ.

Hmmmm I have fond memories of launching a blistering attack off the back of Ludwig and then being chased down by 'Serguei' and co. along the back roads back to Musashi-itsukaichi station a few years back..... fond memories!

Now I understand too (maybe I ought to enroll with mates of a "splinter" team too; Positivo Espresso maybe?) - also found out the actual sprint section. Very good location - little traffic, straight line, wide road, good visibility, reasonably safe...
 
Count me in, please! Any of the dates you mentioned is fine so far.
I'm by any means NOT a sprinter, but mixing different aspects into one ride sounds really fun.

Eugen
 
Count me in, please! Any of the dates you mentioned is fine so far.
I'm by any means NOT a sprinter, but mixing different aspects into one ride sounds really fun.

Eugen

The more the merrier:) Tom, yeah that stretch of road is brilliant fr a sprint, probably the safest and widest I've seen. If someone would volunteer to head there 10 minutes earlier and stand on the finish line we could do as Aron B suggested and attack it from say 5km out to make it a bit more exciting. Then we could hit it again from a bit closer for round 2. As I stated in my first post, I want this to be mainly a social event with a bit of racing, perhaps the title of the thread isn't appropriate;)

To be clear about lead out trains:

No riders should be there just to help out a mate! All riders contestig the sprint should be doing so for their own glory! Of course draft away! I want to avoid riders suddenly peeling off and letting their mates dash for the line as we aren't pro's;)
 
If I'm not jellified from 800km in the Alps, I'll be in on this. I'll check our other riders - too. But I see what FE is saying - I mean, if he and Mike are there it will be SOP they should work somewhat together (and are probably used to that as well) , same if I throw in a couple of our riders - so - is this to be strictly an individual event? (more or less like the World's) , or somewhat 'Teamy' (more or less like the World's) haha!

Based on who are the top sprinters in TCC that should make it safer, actually, as they have alot of racing experience. However if someone gets nicked - there will be quite a bit of a yardsale going on - so please plan accordingly, especially if only 1 lane of the road is the sprint section.

If enough people show up you could also put together ad-hoc teams by jun-ken or drawing straws. That's kinda fun, too - it gets people working together and thinking about cooperative strategy, etc. And if 2 strong sprinters get tossed in the same team, then you split them.
 
Some nice ideas going. One important thing to remember is that it's still a long ride and we need to get the sprints done quickly. also I'll add it to my first post also,

but all riders must complete the whole ride if they wish to get the champions avatars. This goes for sprinters and GC riders.
 
Mike I will try to participate, but I will surely be out of form after my return from Minsk. So I cannot promise :eek:

Classical sprinting makes me nervous and a bit scared.

Here's my suggestion for a slightly safer sprint competition - make it tournament-style: 2 riders line up at the start line and sprint to the finish line (100m, 200m, 500m or 1km; uphill or downhill, etc). The winner gets to the next round. Repeat for all the participants until there is only one rider left (1st place). Then let 2nd and 3rd place decide their standings.

I think this kind of stop-and-go is much more suited for sprinters' abilities and it's safer than the real bunch sprint.
 
Serguei, While understand your concern as your a true mountain goat like many here, bunch sprints are what most sprinters thrive for. What you suggest while definitely safer takes out most of the fun and skills.
 
The more the merrier:) Tom, yeah that stretch of road is brilliant fr a sprint, probably the safest and widest I've seen. If someone would volunteer to head there 10 minutes earlier and stand on the finish line we could do as Aron B suggested and attack it from say 5km out to make it a bit more exciting.

OK Mike, I volunteer to:

(1) stand on the finish line (just stand there ? stopwatch in hand?) , and

(2) serve as a guide and lead participants out to your famous red chili pepper RdV (leaving from Tamagawa area over Otarumi-toge (Takao)

Sprinting with youngsters cannot be good for my heart...:warau:
 
OK Mike, I volunteer to:

(1) stand on the finish line (just stand there ? stopwatch in hand?) , and

(2) serve as a guide and lead participants out to your famous red chili pepper RdV (leaving from Tamagawa area over Otarumi-toge (Takao)

Sprinting with youngsters cannot be good for my heart...:warau:

Brilliant Tom, thanks mate! You won't even need a stopwatch, just a keen pair of eyes to count the first 5 riders over the line. If the riders also try to count as they cross that'll help too. Maybe one more volunteer would be helpful I guess:) anyway, it'll depend on how many we get!
 
Brilliant Tom, thanks mate! You won't even need a stopwatch, just a keen pair of eyes to count the first 5 riders over the line. If the riders also try to count as they cross that'll help too. Maybe one more volunteer would be helpful I guess:) anyway, it'll depend on how many we get!

Would I be disqualified for GC if I didn't join the sprint?
If not, I would gladly volunteer for the sprint and take picture.


cycling-tdf2005-weening-21.jpg
 
Would I be disqualified for GC if I didn't join the sprint?
If not, I would gladly volunteer for the sprint and take picture.


cycling-tdf2005-weening-21.jpg

Good question. I think GC contenders can sit out the sprint if they wish, this may be good for safety reasons anyway.
 
This sounds like an interesting event. Though, I won't be in the running for prizes I would love to be able to join. I was disappointed to miss out on last weekend's KOM event as I was in Matsumoto for the Utskushigahara hill climb. I can make Sept 1 but will be in the UK the following weekend so one vote for Sept 1:warau:.
 
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