azikara

I can help here. I have had this experience. I race criteriums in the US as my staple diet during summer. Cyclocross in Autumn. Tips for Criteriums: 1. You must do VO2Max intervals to train your body for the surges that occur at each corner. The group slows down and then accelerates out of the corner. Say there are 30 laps and a 4 corner course, that's 120 surges of anywhere from 4 w/kg to 10+. My last crit had 32 surges of 4-6 w/kg; 40 of 6-8 w/kg and 53 from 8-10 w/kg (that's 560-700W) and 6 that were 10 w/kg and above. That's 121 micro intervals ranging from 280 - +1000W. And that is the bottom feeder league! You may be strong on the local group ride but you will be instantly dropped in your first crit without adequately preparing your body for this abuse. Just about everyone gets dropped the first time...unless they have some coaching 2. Follows #1: You MUST stay at the front. It's safer and the front guys roll through the corners faster. The guys in the middle and back slow down more and then need more power to accelerate. It follows that you need to do EVERYTHING to stay at the front. And I mean EVERYTHING. Even if you get dropped. There's no point in finishing midpack if you are just riding midpack. It's better to hit the front and finish midpack than just sit in. 3. High FTP (60 min TT power) helps because you dip less into the fuel tank for each surge. 4. Ride smart - stay at the front but NOT on the front. You will die a quick death if this is the case. If you don't then you are in the wrong group. 5. Hold your line around corners. It's dangerous to make skittish moves. The higher level groups are much smoother. 6. My rule (your results may vary) is that on the last lap, sprint when you want to. Don't wait for the sprint to happen. Unless you follow a terrific wheel and pull around at the last minute you will get caught out. I prefer to disrupt the group and sprint early. I haven't won like this (probably because I'm not a pure sprinter) but I always place higher when I do and it totally messes up the short burn, high power guys. They hate it. 7. Get to the line early and line up in front. There are no rules. Barge your way if you have to. So what. It's war. 8. Stay low, stay aero. You want to use the least amount of energy you can until you really need it. Suck wheels like it's nobody's business. 9. Get to know who's strong. If they go, you go. Simple. 10. All the courses are different. Some are flat, some are fast, some are technical, some have hills. Expect different results on different courses. Play to your strengths. 11. DO NOT ride the day before. Rest up. You need every ounce of snap in your legs as you can 12. Speaking of snap, a super stiff frame is best for crits. It doesn't have to be comfy. You're not there for long. But when you hammer, the bike needs to go forward - instantly. Aluminium frames are choice for crits. Lots of Cannonale CAAD 9s etc. Have fun. It's challegning and dangerous and thilling. Tristan

You should try Cyclocross. It is BADASS! You have to sprint, ride, jump off the bike, run with it, jump over obstacles and re-mount. Mud, rain, snow, ice it's all in there....and then there's the heckling. Some people bring megaphones to hurl abuse at you. Some throw bacon and chicken at you or offer you dollar bills. It's all part of the culture of 'cross. Totally amazing. Not sure why it hasn't taken off in SA. It is HUGE in Belgium and the Netherlands. Check these out for inspiration: This is me and a fellow SA friend racing in the bottom-feeder group in Chicago last autumn riding through a huge sandy bunker on a golf course: I think I am in 4th and ride into the back of the guy in 3rd. LOTS of pain but lots of fun.

It's finicky!!! That's why I day the garmin is more reliable. I had this issue switching pc's.

I liked the LYC (little yellow computer) because it was simple. But, since switching to the 500 I really like it. At first it sucked. I didn't like that if you didn't reset it everytime then it merges all you rides. But I really like that you can cusomize the data on three separate screens which really helps my training. So I can see overall time, lap time and average lap power as well as instantaneous power. So if I want to do 3 min vo2 intervals I can target a specific power. Sure You can do this on the LYC too but on the 500 you can hit one button an switch screens to see other data like your climbing rate, altitude, speed and anything you can imagine. The 500 is also more reliable from a download perspective I find. Hope that helps. Tristan.

Thanks for the input guys. As for ROI on power meters: I don't know what money has to do with it. We all buy what we choose. You're not here to council me on how to budget my spending. People spend far mote on bikes, wheels etc. That comment is pointless because we all have different buying power. I like numbers. I like facts. I like to measure stuff. How about riding without your bike computer? That's a weird comment. As for the numbers, my FTP is around 4. I have not measured PPO if that is the ramp test you're talking about. There's an easy way to look at the REAL numbers. In WKO+ they have charts divided up starting at World class pros for FTP, 5 min, 1 min and 5s power. Anything over 6 w/kg is world class FTP. Our top domestic elites in the states are around 5-5.5 category 1.

I believe he means this: http://www.amazon.com/Training-Racing-Power-Meter-Hunter/dp/1934030554/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297989449&sr=8-1

Hi Willie, Yes! I agree. I started in T last year and UGH! it was a 3:40 TT for me. I never got any help from anyone. Every time I bridged to the group in front of me I found they were going too slowly. So I had a very tough time of it. I've never felt so lonely in a group of 28,000 people!. So this year I am in E. My time was better than half of this group last year. My FTP was quite a bit less than it is this year so I was hoping for a good time. I think there will be a small-ish group at the front of E that will push hard enough to get close to 3:00...but you never know. As you pointed out, wind etc has a lot to do with it. You say you are 4 w.kg. Is that your threshold one hour TT power? Thanks Tristan

Fellow cycling addicts: I'm doing my second Argus and I'm curious to know if anyone has any data from their previous sub 3 Argus that they'd be willing to share. I realize that conditions my vary and it depends on your group skills etc. But I'm trying to get a ballpark estimate of average watts per kilogram for the entire race. Or, if you did not use a power meter during the race but train with one, then what is your FTP in w/kg? Mine is currently about 3.8-4 and I'm trying to figure out what kind of time ishould be shooting for. Thanks Tristan

I've only done it about 3-4 times but I don't consider it a climb. There's an initial ramp up which is fairly straight forward and then basically a set of rollers with one steep piece towards the middle (as I can recall - locals can give you a better impression). Will it change the times vs. Main Road - certainly but the view is awesome! I'd actually like to know what change in time can be expected from this route vs. Main Road which is flat.

OK, thanks. Perhaps I'll just enlist some friends to give me the TDF switcheroo!

Sorry for the dumb question, first time Argus rider here and I'm a bit of a heavy drinker...on the bike I definitely cannot finish the race with just two water bottles. Are fluids readily available? I know there are refreshment stations but do you have to get off your bike or can you just wizz through and grab a bottle? Thanks

I'm also going to be there from March 5th through the 15th. I'm ex-South African but Chicago is my home now. I know the roads (and Argus route) pretty well if you are interested in joining up for a ride. There is a very nice group of strong riders leaving the Constantia Village shopping center every Sat/Sun at I think 7am (need to check). They are called Club 100. Here is the site: http://www.club100ct.co.za/events/road-events/club-ride-sunday-group Take care and safe travels.

Then there's Darren Lill (specialist climber) and Jay Thompson are now on the Fly V Australia team. Then there's the guy on Lance's team. There's also Christoph Van Heerden and some other SAs on MTN. I met Jay and Christoph in Chicago at a Crit where Christoph won. It was great to see some local SAs in my new home town.

Hardshell bike case....the only way I fly. Except for my Ritchey Breakaway which packs into a fairly standard size suitcase.