I saw that I was getting a fair amount of traffic on my website from bikeforum.net and went over there to see what the link was about. It was a link to the post I did yesterday about team tactics. Some guy on the forum posted something about how I’m such a douche bag and goes on and says all the reasons he believes why. I went ahead and signed in and wrote something about how wrong he was with his statements. In retrospect, that was stupid I’m not sure why I did it.

Anyway, I was thinking that a lot of the time I don’t pull punches. I pretty much write what I think and don’t really think too much about what I write until I’m writing it. It isn’t like I do this for a job or something. Most of the time I’m pretty blunt in my observations. Observations about myself and of others also. That is how I am. Pretty black and white.

I was talking to Jimmy Mac, editor of Mt. Bike Action, a little while back and he was asking me how I dealt with all the people giving me shit all the time on my blog. I told him that most of the time it didn’t bother me much. Everyone has their own read on each subject and it is great to open the forum to different opinions. It is a free country, for the most part. He said that it bugs him a ton and he isn’t nearly as controversial as I am. That statement kind of made me think. I never thought of myself as controversial. Unorthodox, outspoken, and lots of other words would probably be accurate, but controversial seems out of place. But, I just guess it is how you define controversial. I have my opinions and express those here. I guess if you don’t agree with my observations, it makes it seem controversial.

I really don’t mind people disagreeing with my take on things. Lots of times I change my stance a little because of the comments. But when people make up stuff about me and get personal, it seems wrong. I have a pretty tough skin in this regard, but it still stings a little. So, when you’re leaving your comments all over the web about me, feel free to disagree with me, call me out, whatever, but remember I have this soft side that doesn’t appreciate the name calling, especially over breakfast.

Okay, here’s my short list of basic knowledge that it takes to race bikes. There are a ton of things that should come naturally to you when you’re racing a bike. Hopefully you’ve ridden a bike long enough to have most of the skills necessary to control the bike. I’m not going to go into simple things like outside pedal down, weight off your seat in a corner, etc. This is more of a basic race tactic list. And this list is off the top of my head, just the tip of the iceberg of knowledge that you need to be more competitive. There are thousands of more things, which I’m sure I’ll hear about soon.

1) Never be in the front pulling for no reason.

2) Always know which direction that the wind is coming from.

3) Know the course, at least in your mind, before the start and picture where the strategic points, hills and wind direction will occur.

4) Constantly ask yourself if you’re in the right position. If you’re not, get there.

5) Know when to do single pace line and when to ride double echelon.

6) Don’t be shouting at other riders telling them what to do. It just pisses them off and makes them want you not to do well.

7) Nearly never look back for what’s going on behind you. If you really need to know, drift back through the field subtly.

8) Don’t try to show off in races. Races are judged by who crosses the line first.

9) Always observe and rate the guys your racing against. Watching how they pedal, climb, corner, etc.

10) Make sure you know where the finish line is and where you plan to sprint from.

Like I stated above, this is just .1% of the stuff that needs to be going through your mind during a bicycle race. And it needs to be there at all times. Decisions in cycling need to be made instantaneously. And even good decisions can go south on you down the road. But you need to file all those good decisions that went bad away and use them later to make better good decisions. That is one of the things that is so great about the sport, it is a complete morphing, fluid activity at all times. No two races will ever be the same and no outcomes will ever repeat themselves.

If you really want to read about race tactics, I’m sure that this book, written by one of my old Wheaties/Schwinn team mates, Thomas Prehn, has most everything you need to know. I don’t own it, but Thomas is a smart rider, and good writer too, so it is most likely pretty comprehensive. That being said, there is no substitute for on the bike learning through racing.