Struggling with "Hot Dog" crits

I keep on getting dropped out of the corners (witches hats) and if I can't turn it around shortly I'm giving the summer season a miss. Curcuits are not such an issue. I know Alex has been sucessful at this type of racing and am open to sugestions.

Hey man, this joint is called "Triathnet". Take this roadie crap elsewhere.

On a serious note, this is God getting even with a runner. You can't have it all. See you at the squat rack.

can you explain the event a little more, sounds interesting.

Do you make u-turns around witches hats?


fluro

Yes very simple and annoying, witches hat either end flat out come to just about a dead stop trying not to get taken out around the turn then flat out again. I know the secret is to be on the front but everyone else knows that too.

If you read my race report from the Sun Tour, you'll notice I got dropped in the crit.. This was because it had hot dog style corners (3 per lap)..

The only advice anyone could give me was to make sure you're in the top 20, and get good at accelerations..
Have a read of this Harris, it's based around the Jayco Bay Classic which is on each year, and always has a hot dog circuit @ Eastern Beach in Geelong (which is where the Geelong 70.3 transition is)
http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2009/01/bay-crit-tips-5-racing-hot-dog-circuits/

Thanks will try the warm up next race a few good tips there

I used to race Beaumont Rd in Mt Colah and it was a hot dog circuit. In the races there I always tried to be in the top 4-5 at the bottom turn as it's an uphill out of that hotdog. It was good to be at the front because even getting passed by 15 others you wouldnt get dropped.

The top corner didn't mater so much.

Powers Start, AC or Jumps or what ever you want to call them are the key. This was far and away the hardest thing for me coming from a Long Course Triathlon background.

The gist is, evey ride you do do 10x flat out accelerations to max speed from a near stop in a small gear changing up as you speed up, the next ride, 10x accelerations from the same speed but in your harder gears (maybe the 3rd smallest) then change all the way to max speed then the next ride, 10x rolling at 30ish and whatever gear you are in 10x smash it up to max speed. Do this week in week out and Hot Dogs will become easier. It is the basic workout that the Cycling Australia L1 coaching course gives you.

repeat

As a triathlete, there is absolutely no requirement for this type of training and you will never do it.

Thanks I will give this a go and post the results next race

Ah the hot dog crit where the men are men and the mice are out the ass I used to suffer the same issue racing at Beaumont Road.

It could be one of two problems. The first is that it could be Power related as Alex said and you need to work on the twin pins.

The second is a skill based issue(my problem) I had no issues generating the watts but my approach was all wrong.

This is a drill an angry old man showed me one day in the shire. He drew a semi circle in chalk on the road. It was one lane wide, approx 4.5m Dia or R=2.25m with a witches hat at the center point.

So the idea is that you need to carry momentum SMOOTHLY through the corner. You come in to the corner hot...Muchos e speed, counter steer, DO NOT BREAK , and then flow through the corner and out the other side, not much slower than you entered

Approach the semi circle at speed(slow at first) and line up the front wheel with your chalk semi circle. If turning right counter steer to the left, this means a quick flick of the bars to the left then a sweeping turn to the right. This gets the bike over on a good angle and the weight distributed properly.
Try to turn as close as possible to the witches hat, you don't have to wait till your past it to commence turning; your knee/shoulder should almost brush it.

The other point is as these are tight turns, INSIDE pedal up and OUTSIDE pedal down. You should be able to push down on the outer pedal to help aid your line through the turn. Push down on the pedal more if your line is too tight, conversely feather touch if you are going to over shoot. You should not be over shooting the Chalk semi circle on the exit of the turn Most importantly don't brake in the corner as its A.dangerous and B. causes a loss of momentum.


Hope that makes some sense!

Alex R wrote:

As a triathlete, there is absolutely no requirement for this type of training and you will never do it.

you sure?

5 x 4km laps with one of these turns at each end, in our sprint tris last year, Id pass people on the straight, then theyd get even on the accelerations out of each turn.