GamJams.net: Where Mid-Atlantic bike racers roll: Coach's Tips for... Poolesville High School Road Race

[ed: Here's another article by BJ Basham, part of the series called "Coach's Tips for... ", in which BJ will give you all the inside track on how to race a specific event. BJ knows all these races, and he probably also knows most of the racers hellbent on beating you at them. If you like BJ's contributions, let him know in the Comments section below. You can even ask him questions in the comments, which he'll answer there as well.

Note: This article was first published in 2007 and is re-published here for new readers, new racers, and those of us who forgot a little something since this time last year.]

Coach's Tips for... Poolesville High School Road Race
by BJ Basham
USA Cycling Level II Certified Coach

The famous dirt road "classic" of the MABRA calendar. There is about a mile of dirt road on this course, and it is a major obstacle, but there is also the whole rest of the course to deal with.

First of all, getting through the dirt takes some good luck and some bike handling skills. There are usually two wheel tracks to pick from where the gravel is not bad and you can get the bike moving. The sketchy part comes if you decide you need to switch lanes, or you get slowed down for some reason. The dirt road section is mostly downhill so carrying your speed is not that hard. The way the Euro dudes do it at the cobbled classics is to put it in the big ring and hammer along at a slower cadence. This lets you kind of float above the bike, letting it bounce around all it wants without you having to endure the pain in the butt. The big gear also lets you carry your speed a bit better, but it can come at a cost. If you have to slow down, or you are on too big of a gear, you can get bogged down and have to work hard to get your speed back up.

Another thing to try to do when riding rough roads is to relax. Too many riders get keyed up by the fact that they are not on nice smooth tarmac and they burn nervous energy without spending any of those matches to go forward. Also if you are tense and try and control the bike too much, the bike will fight you. Let the bike move freely within the limits of control, but don't imagine that you will be better off holding on tight.

The feature of this course that usually hurts more than the dirt is the little steep "wall" just after you leave the dirt section.

As with any race, staying up front is your best strategy. In this case, being up front will help you avoid anyone that is having trouble keeping their speed up.

The rest or the course is rolling, so being up front will also let you carry your momentum down and up the climbs and you will be much fresher when the time comes to race.

BJ Basham is a USA Cycling Level II Certified Coach with Peaks Coaching Group. He lives in Fairfax, VA and competes in most of the same races you do. To learn more about his coaching practice and philosophy, visit his website at PowerTrainingCoach.com.