As a cyclist, you are light-years ahead of me but...I appreciate you sharing this particular experience. I have been in races like this in the past where I fell so far behind that discouragement just consumed me and I just dropped out...
Love Sea Otter - but it brings out some insane talent! Nine years and proudest moment is still 10th - you will crush it in the future - you have CRAZY power!
I wish I had your stamina, but it is getting more difficult if you're on the wrong side of 50. I like how honest you are in your videos, not as arrogant as some guys on UA-cam. Love your videos.
Hey man, just want to say your videos are awesome. They're inspirational and have been very helpful for me. I had my first ever crit race on Saturday, a Cat4 and it went really well. In a field of 40 I think I ended up 15th, the winner solo'd from 4 laps in with a chasing 3 and the pack split at 2 points, one being the last lap. I was at the back of the pack staying out of trouble, twitchy riders. So had to sprint around 15 riders to latch on to the final attack. Going to man up and get at the front more next time. But yeah, I've been drilling your videos into my skull the past 2 or 3 weeks since discovering your channel and it's really helped. Cheers and keep up the awesome work!!
SOOO AWESOME TO HEAR! Doing well in your first crit can be so addicting, so glad you did good. And 40 dudes, no matter the level, is a hard first race. Lots of moving parts you know. Keep it bro!
nothing to be ashamed here...you were doing some serious efforts. I cannot believe how fast your HR was. I thought my HR of 187 was up there. very tough course.
Man, thats one of the brutal things in cycling, you can be 10m away from the group in front of you and it is so freaking close, you are almost there but then you are not and your time is running out.
I think it's safe to say that the efforts from yourself and a select few others that played a huge key factor in bringing that front group back. Sucks to be the one doing the work with no others to benefit, but good on you bro..
Solid analysis. At this level I guess it is even more about smarts then just power. Seems like you have the fitness but no room for error here. Next year Bruh!
Yeah, I bet you put that pin in there yourself :D Nice videos, good breakdowns of races. Really helping out. I'm gonna start racing from the next year so it's good to look at things from the 'inside' perspective. AAAA YEAHHH!!!
Long time racer here. This is what I would do in a race like this. If there are crosswinds I would be at the very front at all times. No farther back than top 10-15 or you'd risk getting caught in the gutter being dropped. Better to take turns at the front in a crosswind-echelon than sitting in the gutter. But it depends on how windy it is. Even if it's not windy I would still be in the front of the pack to avoid having to do those hard accelerations as the pack stretches and condenses around corners, as this leaves your anaerobic system somewhat gassed as you get to the "long" hill. And finally I would do a real proper warm-up as the race starts at the foot of a long hill, so it will be a very hard effort right from the gun.
The problem was that starting in the very back, there was no place to move up that wasnt costing you matches. But you are right, I did a lot wrong in this, maybe next time I wont be so hesitate to bang up front.
damn it must be so cool to ride on that track, even more if you played gran turismo as a kid ;) ! i'm from belgium and i'd love to ride my bike in francorchamps but i doubt that they do bike races there. anyway awesome vid as always, you are a big source for infos on how to train and for motivation. keep it up!
Something similar to this happened to me yesterday. Head wind was 25mph and first break away got away from me. First lap and half the group was dropped. Kind of discouraging.
Hey man, I've noticed that, in general, you are not on the wheels enough and you're not close enough to the wheel in front of you. You need to be right on the wheel. Work on being more efficient in general. You should always be doing less work than the other guys. Why were you not in the first row at the start! This is a big mistake. Do whatever you have to in order to start at the front and then get on the wheels doing the least amount of effort possible. You also don't seem to be aero enough on the decent. Put your chin on the bars or just behind! Tuck the elbows, etc. You let a gap go at the start of the descent, wtf?
I've tried for half a year man, he's just not comfy in a group or on the descent, probably trains alone, not used to rubbin' rubber (can you say that?), anyways, I agree with your assessment. He's super strong though.
SO...3 things. 1: Yes I wasnt comfortable on the corkscrew to be right on the wheels. The cross wind was maybe 30mph so it really added a sketchyness to it. 2: My camera makes EVERYTHING look super far away. Most other cyclists put the camera down low and under the Garmin on the very front. Mine is on SuperView which is EXTRA wide and its behind my bars. I promise I am much closer then it looks. 3: I dont want to wreck, so I do play it a bit safe when I could be maybe a bit closer.
Yeah, I've noticed that it's a super wide lens. Understood about the crosswinds, but then you need to be to the side for shelter right? I've noticed these things before though, so I've been thinking about making these comments :-). Thanks for the reply and keep at it. I know you can do better. Your camera must be in the way...do you mount it to the stem? If it's under the bars you can get more aero. :-)
The other big thing i notice is that while you are with the group, you are half wheeling instead of sitting on a wheel. This is a two fold mistake. The first being that it scares the shit out of you that you will smash a wheel in the cassette of the guy in front of you. Pick a big strong guy, sit 10cms off of his wheel and hold the fuck on, hide in the drops behind his big arse. The second is that it is super inefficient, you will continually surge and then sit up as you cant hold a solid line or pace. The rest of your analysis is correct, your just pussying the decent and holding wheels. The guys on the front are not...
Hi Tayler.. Can you help me.. I'm 290yrl en been road riding the last 6 month at very good level... My question is why my bmp are so low 170mpb max when my every body else it's 190or so.. How can I improve that and how I get to Tiger out my training zone... Hope that make sense...
A little different than on a Superbike. What were the lap times? Do yo know any other tracks that do rides for bicycles? I know they do one at Austin on Memorial Day weekend I think maybe Labor Day not sure
5min lap times in this group! I raced superbikes for a while, never did a track day here though. I know these tracks cost HUGE bucks to rent, so not many other promoters use them
Do you race for any team? If not, why don't you? You're such a strong rider haha having a team would really help you as much as it would help a team you could ride for.
How much of "team effort" do you think that the leaders get? I´m always in that position: thinking about some tactical error but in the end is there something to do? I mean, going alone and expect something different... is that possible?
The Vegan Cyclist Copy that sir! Great job on that 6th place I did 2 races back in Serbia. I was surprised how much faster it was compared to triathlons:)
its hard...conserving enough matches to finish the ride strong when you dont know the course whilst still wanting to put in a good time....its so easy to bonk / run out of steam!!
Ride in the slipstream of the rider in front. If dropped behind try accelerating all out in top gear going downhill, thus making up lost places and at the same time conserving energy
+taurus20077 : I don't think he flipped VC. I'd take this more as "good job guys, but fuck it. Fuck this race, fuck these guys on the first group." 12:03
The course looked dope and the video was excellent. At least you know what to expect next time. On climbs like that, you should try to make a kind of paceline by yourself. For example, on this climb, you would push forward on the right side all the way to the front and then ease it up (recover) and the group will pass you. Then you re-enter the pack around 10th-15th position and do the same thing. It looks like a kind of washing-machine paceline, but you're the only one doing it.
Really Dude?... A safety pin? I can't imagine how one would be on the racing line of the track and not get hit by any rider until you late in the race.
"technical descent" me: wipes glasses lol From a car-racer: don't worry about the corkscrew it's really easy, a basketball would naturally roll down the apex on it's own
when training on power you lose all focus on the most important which is your cadence... your cardio suffers when you focus on power training.. you need to start doing very high intervals just for cadence/cardio stay over 130 cadence for 30 sec to a min do this for 2 hours on your rollers.. at least 2 to 3 times a week
+Harry Tzianakis power is force x revolution. So when you train with power you also train cadence. So not sure what your saying but when I do intervals, I am usually spinning 90-100.
you are doing them at a very low cadence....must be over 120 at least... and no when you training for power your cadence drops.. keep your cadence at 100 at all times see if you hit high numbers on power, not going to happen.. the higher the cadence the lower the power and the lower the cadence the higher the power... you are worried more about showing us how strong you are and your burning your self out ... take the fucking power meter and throw it in the trash
Harry, have you ever taken, or been exposed to, any sort of physics? Power = force x distance/time. Or in the case of pedaling a bicycle, Power = Force x Angular Velocity (cadence). If you spin too high of a cadence, you sacrifice force and power goes down. If you push too high of a gear (force), you sacrifice cadence and power goes down. It works on a bell curve, where at the top of the curve cadence and force are both optimized to maximize power production, which results in greater speed with all other factors being the same (wind, air conditions, road gradient, etc.). For most people, this sweet spot is generally in the 90-95 rpm range.
Ahh that safety pin probebly was of the screen crime.. vegan made excuse. For not wanting to race anymore :D U should always have safety pin with u. :DD
Getting overtaken at 450W. This race is hardcore.
This guy does not get enough recognition for his in-depth, level headed and approachable analysis on almost every aspect of cycling.
That track looks Sooooooooo freakin sick to race around
+CyclingCam no time to enjoy it LOL. Come out to Cali next year and do it bro!
either way, I gotta come over and we gotta ride!
i cant wait ;0)
I think you got dropped bc those bracelets were not aero
Came to say this lol. Or it's the serious conversation we all need to have with him about the condition of his tape/hoods.
As a cyclist, you are light-years ahead of me but...I appreciate you sharing this particular experience. I have been in races like this in the past where I fell so far behind that discouragement just consumed me and I just dropped out...
These guys are really fit. Your HR was always around 190. You're an amazing rider and a UA-camr.
bro you a beast anyways. no quitting until the bike gives up. fantastic.
Love Sea Otter - but it brings out some insane talent! Nine years and proudest moment is still 10th - you will crush it in the future - you have CRAZY power!
I like the way you tell what's going on, makes it much more interesting.
It's always the safety pin in the tire excuse to stop racing lol
This guy needs a Netflix show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love the breakdown of the races. Learning from failure is key... Keep doing what you do!!!
I wish I had your stamina, but it is getting more difficult if you're on the wrong side of 50. I like how honest you are in your videos, not as arrogant as some guys on UA-cam. Love your videos.
Hey man, just want to say your videos are awesome. They're inspirational and have been very helpful for me.
I had my first ever crit race on Saturday, a Cat4 and it went really well.
In a field of 40 I think I ended up 15th, the winner solo'd from 4 laps in with a chasing 3 and the pack split at 2 points, one being the last lap. I was at the back of the pack staying out of trouble, twitchy riders. So had to sprint around 15 riders to latch on to the final attack.
Going to man up and get at the front more next time.
But yeah, I've been drilling your videos into my skull the past 2 or 3 weeks since discovering your channel and it's really helped.
Cheers and keep up the awesome work!!
SOOO AWESOME TO HEAR! Doing well in your first crit can be so addicting, so glad you did good. And 40 dudes, no matter the level, is a hard first race. Lots of moving parts you know. Keep it bro!
Damn! what a fucking wattage! This race was hardcore
Best cycling race vlogs out there. No one is even close.
nothing to be ashamed here...you were doing some serious efforts. I cannot believe how fast your HR was. I thought my HR of 187 was up there. very tough course.
That uphill wattage looks VERY scary!
Laguna Seca!!!! I've done so many laps of this track on Gran Turismo :-D It was cool watching bikes going down the corkscrew
Time for some new bar tape. I hear it saves at least 15 watts. Great Video!
Disc brakes sighting at 1:28
Mate watching you race around Laguna Seca is amazing. Doing races there and on the Nurburgring in Germany is on my bucketlist for sure!
Man, thats one of the brutal things in cycling, you can be 10m away from the group in front of you and it is so freaking close, you are almost there but then you are not and your time is running out.
Every now and again a race comes along that you learn a shit load from...that was one of them....great upload
I think it's safe to say that the efforts from yourself and a select few others that played a huge key factor in bringing that front group back. Sucks to be the one doing the work with no others to benefit, but good on you bro..
Solid analysis. At this level I guess it is even more about smarts then just power. Seems like you have the fitness but no room for error here. Next year Bruh!
nice upload - positioning improvements would help for sure, great that you have the video to learn from and good luck in the next race.
1.56 sock guy's socks are on point bruh! Bummer about the race
Solid effort. I think thats important to not give up when you get popped. Roll it until the officials pull you or you finish!
Great editing
I like how you record your footage of a race then replay it and realize what you did wrong and what you could've done ..
What a beast. I really enjoy your videos!
Nice job. Solid effort. Well done. Safe racing is fast racing. Imagine the power of the leaders
Great explanation. Damn, the power!
What wheel were you running up front in the wind? also what software are you running that displays all your Data? Very cool video?
Yeah, I bet you put that pin in there yourself :D
Nice videos, good breakdowns of races. Really helping out.
I'm gonna start racing from the next year so it's good to look at things from the 'inside' perspective.
AAAA YEAHHH!!!
Long time racer here. This is what I would do in a race like this. If there are crosswinds I would be at the very front at all times. No farther back than top 10-15 or you'd risk getting caught in the gutter being dropped. Better to take turns at the front in a crosswind-echelon than sitting in the gutter. But it depends on how windy it is.
Even if it's not windy I would still be in the front of the pack to avoid having to do those hard accelerations as the pack stretches and condenses around corners, as this leaves your anaerobic system somewhat gassed as you get to the "long" hill.
And finally I would do a real proper warm-up as the race starts at the foot of a long hill, so it will be a very hard effort right from the gun.
The problem was that starting in the very back, there was no place to move up that wasnt costing you matches. But you are right, I did a lot wrong in this, maybe next time I wont be so hesitate to bang up front.
Brutal...average 100 cadance for 8 laps then a flat tire......arrrrr dude. Well done for getting that done. Hats off to you.
What bike computer do you use? I mean all the data overlay in the video.
damn it must be so cool to ride on that track, even more if you played gran turismo as a kid ;) ! i'm from belgium and i'd love to ride my bike in francorchamps but i doubt that they do bike races there. anyway awesome vid as always, you are a big source for infos on how to train and for motivation. keep it up!
gotta love the corkscrew.
Something similar to this happened to me yesterday. Head wind was 25mph and first break away got away from me. First lap and half the group was dropped. Kind of discouraging.
Hey Tyler, new subscriber here and love your Videos! Happy ridding🚴
some people never obsessed over this track on Gran Turismo and it shows
Hey man, I've noticed that, in general, you are not on the wheels enough and you're not close enough to the wheel in front of you. You need to be right on the wheel. Work on being more efficient in general. You should always be doing less work than the other guys. Why were you not in the first row at the start! This is a big mistake. Do whatever you have to in order to start at the front and then get on the wheels doing the least amount of effort possible. You also don't seem to be aero enough on the decent. Put your chin on the bars or just behind! Tuck the elbows, etc. You let a gap go at the start of the descent, wtf?
I've tried for half a year man, he's just not comfy in a group or on the descent, probably trains alone, not used to rubbin' rubber (can you say that?), anyways, I agree with your assessment. He's super strong though.
Ah ok, I had not seen your previous comments on this, lol. Yeah, I can see that he's strong. We should do a training camp for him, lol.
SO...3 things. 1: Yes I wasnt comfortable on the corkscrew to be right on the wheels. The cross wind was maybe 30mph so it really added a sketchyness to it.
2: My camera makes EVERYTHING look super far away. Most other cyclists put the camera down low and under the Garmin on the very front. Mine is on SuperView which is EXTRA wide and its behind my bars. I promise I am much closer then it looks.
3: I dont want to wreck, so I do play it a bit safe when I could be maybe a bit closer.
Yeah, I've noticed that it's a super wide lens. Understood about the crosswinds, but then you need to be to the side for shelter right? I've noticed these things before though, so I've been thinking about making these comments :-). Thanks for the reply and keep at it. I know you can do better. Your camera must be in the way...do you mount it to the stem? If it's under the bars you can get more aero. :-)
The other big thing i notice is that while you are with the group, you are half wheeling instead of sitting on a wheel. This is a two fold mistake. The first being that it scares the shit out of you that you will smash a wheel in the cassette of the guy in front of you. Pick a big strong guy, sit 10cms off of his wheel and hold the fuck on, hide in the drops behind his big arse. The second is that it is super inefficient, you will continually surge and then sit up as you cant hold a solid line or pace. The rest of your analysis is correct, your just pussying the decent and holding wheels. The guys on the front are not...
It took me several times on the course to hit that descent without touching the brakes. When you raced it was gusty, which makes it way harder.
Congrats good job!
wow that looks insanely hard
how much do you learn from re-watching your race footage and creating the videos thereafter?
awesome vid, better luck next time
Hi Tayler.. Can you help me.. I'm 290yrl en been road riding the last 6 month at very good level... My question is why my bmp are so low 170mpb max when my every body else it's 190or so.. How can I improve that and how I get to Tiger out my training zone... Hope that make sense...
A little different than on a Superbike. What were the lap times? Do yo know any other tracks that do rides for bicycles? I know they do one at Austin on Memorial Day weekend I think maybe Labor Day not sure
5min lap times in this group! I raced superbikes for a while, never did a track day here though. I know these tracks cost HUGE bucks to rent, so not many other promoters use them
Do you race for any team? If not, why don't you? You're such a strong rider haha having a team would really help you as much as it would help a team you could ride for.
Lugana Seca.. like Laguna Seca but made in China
Mircea Agrigoroaie luguna... get it right
Another great vid.
Be honest you stuck the safety pin in the tire we all know it hahaha I would have done the same cool videos man keep it up
badass vid!!!! keep it up!!!
Today I rode my first circuit race and I understood how TOUGH it is - doing hills again and again at 8+ W/kg almost without any recovery.
any thoughts on your break usage?
Oooh man cameron piper, what a beast
How much of "team effort" do you think that the leaders get? I´m always in that position: thinking about some tactical error but in the end is there something to do? I mean, going alone and expect something different... is that possible?
The Vegan Skater I
That start of the descent is called the corkscrew
Great race circuit! To me it seem like one large attack from the gun, 450+ watt WTF!?
The guy in black at 3:11 is the one who won the race. Went off the front solo with like 2 laps to go. It was insane.
these are so good
How do you do the cool wattage overlay on the video?
Here is a video all about it - ua-cam.com/video/v4Xd-Ozi4So/v-deo.html
When are you going to race again? Really missing the race videos man!
+Gabriel Melching I just raced cyclocross, so that's coming. But the new baby has kind of put a damper on the race schedule
Cool, I understand dude! Good luck!
awesome!
I wish you let the sounds from the race a little bit
+relikvija the case I use doesn't have a window on the back, so there is no sound. I am looking at getting a new go pro, then that will change
The Vegan Cyclist
Copy that sir!
Great job on that 6th place
I did 2 races back in Serbia.
I was surprised how much faster it was compared to triathlons:)
I still can’t understand why safety pins are laying around. Wtf
lol, yo the safety pin, wow
A definite improvement in the graphics, compared to Zwift :D
.. sorry, couldnt resist :p
You won more than you lost.
its hard...conserving enough matches to finish the ride strong when you dont know the course whilst still wanting to put in a good time....its so easy to bonk / run out of steam!!
...and why dont you go tubeless?
Tough Bruh attack intervals need to be your best friend
I too carry a safety pin at all times... just in case! ;)
Stay after it VC
i'm wonderng. what is your FTP ？
Ride in the slipstream of the rider in front. If dropped behind try accelerating all out in top gear going downhill, thus making up lost places and at the same time conserving energy
Maybe the guy flipping you a birdie gave you one of his safety pins too!
+taurus20077 : I don't think he flipped VC. I'd take this more as "good job guys, but fuck it. Fuck this race, fuck these guys on the first group." 12:03
Yea he was flipping off the group, not me LOL
You seem to beat yourself up a lot. Just try and have fun riding man.
Safety pin saved u 🙃
My team coach was the dude in blue Blowing Up lol.
does anyone know the VCs watts per kilo?
+Prastt on my best day, I can do 5 w/k for 20 mins.
is it normal to have so high heart rate for so long even being in a race?
kostas Balatsoukas yes
ti les re malaka?
Am I to assume this was a cat one?
I think it would've been easier for you if you stayed towards the front just before and during the descent.
+Alex Lambert LOL, I was trying. Everyone had that idea so it was full gas up the hill every lap. But yea, next time I will not give up spots
The course looked dope and the video was excellent. At least you know what to expect next time. On climbs like that, you should try to make a kind of paceline by yourself. For example, on this climb, you would push forward on the right side all the way to the front and then ease it up (recover) and the group will pass you. Then you re-enter the pack around 10th-15th position and do the same thing. It looks like a kind of washing-machine paceline, but you're the only one doing it.
that beard is ruining your aerodynamics :)
Really Dude?... A safety pin? I can't imagine how one would be on the racing line of the track and not get hit by any rider until you late in the race.
Brah, start closer to the front, too hard to make up initial ground
you can finish that race but the safety pin
All this and no video of riding down the corkscrew
I know a way of adding a w/kg overlay. Are you interested?
Yes
Very
i dont know is it just a tactical mistake if you get dropped from the peloton.
Dude do some giveaways that gives you more subscribers and things
If you ain't a puncher, you ain't a winner in these kind of races. Simple as that; you have many more qualities to fall back to, though.
"technical descent"
me: wipes glasses lol
From a car-racer: don't worry about the corkscrew it's really easy, a basketball would naturally roll down the apex on it's own
I more meant the wind. The wind made it super sketchy. No wind, it would be no problem.
I think you were braking too much,and on that course there is no need to brake
when training on power you lose all focus on the most important which is your cadence... your cardio suffers when you focus on power training.. you need to start doing very high intervals just for cadence/cardio stay over 130 cadence for 30 sec to a min do this for 2 hours on your rollers.. at least 2 to 3 times a week
+Harry Tzianakis power is force x revolution. So when you train with power you also train cadence. So not sure what your saying but when I do intervals, I am usually spinning 90-100.
you are doing them at a very low cadence....must be over 120 at least... and no when you training for power your cadence drops.. keep your cadence at 100 at all times see if you hit high numbers on power, not going to happen.. the higher the cadence the lower the power and the lower the cadence the higher the power... you are worried more about showing us how strong you are and your burning your self out ... take the fucking power meter and throw it in the trash
+Harry Tzianakis What category do you race?
Harry, have you ever taken, or been exposed to, any sort of physics? Power = force x distance/time. Or in the case of pedaling a bicycle, Power = Force x Angular Velocity (cadence). If you spin too high of a cadence, you sacrifice force and power goes down. If you push too high of a gear (force), you sacrifice cadence and power goes down. It works on a bell curve, where at the top of the curve cadence and force are both optimized to maximize power production, which results in greater speed with all other factors being the same (wind, air conditions, road gradient, etc.). For most people, this sweet spot is generally in the 90-95 rpm range.
The Vegan Cyclist lol harry is dropping what we call bro science
2nd
Ahh that safety pin probebly was of the screen crime.. vegan made excuse. For not wanting to race anymore :D U should always have safety pin with u. :DD