Found a great article by Charlie Issendorf for Criterium Racing Strategy. One suggestion I liked was getting early to the start line. The closer you are to the front, the less people you have to pass.
Some of the suggestions that I like from the article are:
- Ride the course before the race.
- Get to the starting line early.
- When to attack.
For the first one, I don’t think I will win, but I want to understand how the race will work. I’m gonna ride out one day before the race and try out the course. Main goal will be to find out where the corners are and the hill. Through each corner I want to know where the apex are and how to get through the corner fast or slow. That way I can position myself for the best maneuvers (Offensive or Defensive).
The OutSide Line
It is a .9 km asphalt road course. Between turn 4-5 is the best chance to pass with a premeditated course alignment. You need to come out of turn 4 as fast as possible on the outside line. Turn 4 is a hard 90 degree turn. So if you have the outside line going into turn 5, you have to slow down the least. If you are on the inside line going into turn 5 you have slow more.
If there is a racer in front that you want to pass, you want to start attacking on turn 2. That way you can get the outside line through turn 3 and 4 then shoot out past the other rider for turn 5. You don’t want to cut anyone off, but take the wide right line.
The Inside Line
Just for argument sake, lets look at passing in turn 5 on the inside line. It can be done, but you need to lower the gears to a rocket out of a slow turn. If you can maintain that inside line and really torque out of turn 5 to turn 1, you can get the outside line coming out of turn 1. This puts you in a position to get some good momentum into the 2,3,4 combo.
Sound like it will be fun competition. 
Looking forward to it on January 16th. 2010
