Sprinting: skipping wheel

[soBRIquet]

Yeah peddling our a$$ off to catch the bunch that dropped us like a dress on pron night going up!

Lol. This is a weekly occurrence with me.
Every time it happens, I swear I'll lose weight.
The next meal put in front of me, I forget about the pain of being dropped.
My ephemeral memory gets me every time...

[bigmonter]

I wish....

250 is a lot to climb with.

Lightweight.

Try being such a bigmonter you are the climb.

[mumbleypeg]

Lightweight.

Try being such a bigmonter you are the climb.

Where is that shaving thread???..... Do we need one about waxing??? or... lasers?

[frenk]

I'm not an accomplished rider, but I've heard guys that know better tell that you have to keep the saddle between your legs when sprinting.
It may sound extreme, but check it out:

478af75e15f9fqui_boonen_sprint.jpg

[AntLockyer]

smoothen your pedal stroke.

good luck,
flux

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkMpmQQTP5Y

[54ny77]

@ 2:15: oompa loompa bork bork bork, for-mee-dabble!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkMpmQQTP5Y

[Too Tall]

Tooooo much good info. has passed before me commenting I love this place.
No kidding, your power is NOT the problem.
Frenk and Itchy give good advice and I can add some...I hope :)
Itchy recommended small gear practice which is absilutely great.
Pick objects to sprint for and go for it. I'd recommend you choose a high cadence and don't shift during practice for the first few weeks than add in some gears. It def. will feel like you are going to lose a kneecap at first but soon you'll figure out how to lay in power at high cadence and you are FORCED to use better form.

The other issue I'd ask you is your core strength up to snuff? If you can not knock out arms behind the head slow situps ,for instance, without shaking like a leaf weeeeeeeel that's a problem.

FWIIW My peak power in a full on sprint is dismal compared to "real" sprinters however my technique is pretty clean. I'm not getting waxed in town line sprints...that's all I'm going to say ;)

[TJ]

Josh~ the high cadence should not be an issue as I am a spinner. Most of my races have an average cadence of 100+. Again, I know I'm not a sprinter , never will be. I just want the best sprint I can have. I guess I don't spend enough time on it really. I'm more interested in getting my FTP out of the mid 340's

[e-RICHIE]

the high cadence should not be an issue as I am a spinner. Most of my races have an average cadence of 100+.

but sprinting is a different animal atmo.

[crumpton]

I'm more interested in getting my FTP out of the mid 340's

back down to 270? you will feel better and have more energy for other things. great plan.

[TJ]

but sprinting is a different animal atmo.

I agree but my natural high cadence should help no?
Keep in mind that chances are the only people I will be sprinting against are other climbers

[Chance Legstrong]

you are over thinking this. IMO

multiple "surprise" sprints with a team ride or small group ride is a great way to get in the mindset of sprinting.
you may have a naturally good cadence but controlling it is a different matter.
Climbers can sprint, sprinters can climb- you are sprinting against other bike racers- forget who you think they "are"

practice, practice, practice

and Toots always strips things and riders to the 'core'

P.S. I suck

[e-RICHIE]

I agree but my natural high cadence should help no?
Keep in mind that chances are the only people I will be sprinting against are other climbers

no.
sprinting for the line, out of the saddle, has nothing to do with what rpms you can
spin on the flats, smoothly or otherwise. is that what this thread is about? you wanna
keep the wheel down, right? it's only happening when you sprint atmo. that's what i
am getting here.

[TJ]

No, you are correct Richie , it will come with time and lots of practice I hope. My lack of sprinting ability has become more evident since my upgrade. Admitting you have a problem is the first step right?

[e-RICHIE]

No, you are correct Richie , it will come with time and lots of practice I hope. My lack of sprinting ability has become more evident since my upgrade. Admitting you have a problem is the first step right?

atmo the problem will always be waiting for the sprint.
you're not a sprinter.
find a way to ride away.
racing is not riding.
you are there for one reason and that's to finish ahead of everyone else atmo.
waiting for the last 300 meters is never going to work.

[JoB]

No, you are correct Richie , it will come with time and lots of practice I hope. My lack of sprinting ability has become more evident since my upgrade. Admitting you have a problem is the first step right?

What cat are you? You shouldn't struggle that much with a 1300+W sprint if you're that little. Your problems are probably two-fold:
1) positioning
2) timing
bonus point 3) you're not used to violent accelerations (yet) and by the time the sprint comes around, you've sprinted so many times from being out of position (see #1), you got nothing left.

The max sprint wattages don't change *that* much when you cat up (until you are in a cat when guys are stuck, ie, can't move out of your category), but the elbowing for position becomes a bit tougher, I think.

There is no good reason to have the rear wheel jump around that much (although the short chainstay issue was a good point).
340W is a decent FT... you should be able to hang around until the end.

PS: it's about power, not cadence. Many ways to skin a cat, and there's evidence that a lower cadence may be helpful if you're fatigued.

[Too Tall]

I'll just throw this out. The biggest improvement to my ability to jump hard and hold it was to spend gobs of time on the track.

[crumpton]

i am still stuck on 340 ft for 155lb. this is cat1/2 ft in texas. 1300+ 5 sec is also not shabby. its hard to imagine this kinda mojo isnt smooth.

[EddieBirdsell]

I'll just throw this out. The biggest improvement to my ability to jump hard and hold it was to spend gobs of time on the track.

This goes along with what Flux said above, and TT I'm not sure if this is related to your track experience, but I found that 3x week rides from Arlington to Mount Vernon and back running fixed at 46x15 REALLY smoothed out my pedal stroke and helped me lay down power without wheel hop. I learned to pedal circles under varying conditions (climbing, rolling, descending), including under extreme effort, and not "chop." Bad form while sprinting in a fixed gear really exacerbates the rear wheel movement, kind of like swimming with training paddles.

[swoop]

what helped me was spin up drills.
friday mornings after a warm up. sprints in an out of the saddle from a standing stop...
in the 39x21
and the 23x11
100 meters.


between five sets x five sets of each.. your body adapts to smoothness in being over and under geared.
its as much a neurological process and a physical one.

sprinting out of the saddle over 160 cadence will teach you how to be smooth.
and fighting the gear over from a dead stop will teach you to be smooth.

everything erichie said is so right.
but i'm no flux.