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Coach's Tips for... Southern Maryland Criterium
by BJ Basham
USA Cycling Level II Certified Coach

The 1st annual Southern Maryland Criterium. Great name for a race. Hopefully we can do what we can to ensure a second and third annual race as well.

1 mile
11 turns.
150 meters from the last turn to the finish line.

The turns on this course will be the biggest obstacle other than the other riders in your race. Getting through smoothly and avoiding doing 11 sprint intervals per lap will allow you to conserve your energy.

Over the years, it has seemed to me that every course can sustain fields of a certain size and speed. As you move back through the field, the energy you need to use to get through the corner increases quickly. For example on this course, you may find that sitting in 30th requires a lot less effort than sitting 31st. What that means is that on a course like this, you do not want to get too lax and drift back into that part of the field where you are actually working harder than even the riders at the front with their nose in the wind. Stay in the front and protect your position because, believe it or not, you may not be the only one reading this.

The speeds will be high and the chances that a break will get off are pretty high just due to the fact that it will be easy to get out of site on a course with this many turns.

Looking at the Aerial Photo on Mapquest, here is my view of the course:

Start is on Cross Campus Drive.
Turn 1 is really a fairly fast sweep to the left. Not really a turn, more of a curve.
Turn 2 is a 90 degree curve in the road. If the pace is high, the field will likely just snake around this one pretty fast with not too much accordion affect.
Turn 3 and 4 are a quick 90 to the right followed closely by a 90 degree curve to the left. If the speed is high, this will go pretty smoothly. If someone is trying to move up in this combination, be careful as the door will get slammed pretty hard if you are on the wrong side of the field.
Turn 5 is a real turn. Cross Campus Drive intersects with South Campus Drive. This is a classic 90 degree turn so to take it fast, start wide, cut the apex and then finish wide.
Turn 6 is another sweeper to the left. Just the road meandering a bit, so not really a big deal.
Turn 7 is a 90 degree intersection of South Campus and North Campus Drives.
Turn 8 comes along pretty quick after 7. Another 90 degree curve to the right. The front of the field will rail this, but the further back you get, the more you will brake. Coming so quick after turn 7, this will be a good spot to put the hurt on the field by taking this one fast and stringing the field out. Riders slowed in Turn 7 will be hard on the gas just to stay in contact.
Turn 9, 90 degree curve to the left.
Turn 10 90 degree curve to the right
Turn 11, Intersection of North Campus and Cross Campus. This will be an important turn. It is not far from the finish and it may be a race to this corner for the faster fields. If you plan to win the sprint, be in the first few riders through this one and carry as much speed as possible.

Overall, base only on the map and aerial photos, this 11 turn course could be much worse. Many of the turns are actually curves which means carrying speed through should be pretty easy and you may be able to pedal through some of them. There are only 3 intersection style turns and that may be enough to affect how your day goes.

Be safe and ride hard.
Get in a good warmup and ride the course and take the turns at speed at least a few times before your race. Bring the light wheels to reduce the load of jumping out of these turns. There are 2 pits so bring 2 sets of spares or mark a set of wheels for your team to use.

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.