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Overview
Bike racing is called a rolling chess game for a reason. Sure, a high pain threshold and a killer VO2max are helpful. But if you're in it to win it, you need race smarts. Starting breaks, forming alliances, managing a lapped field, setting up a sprint--on every page, Horner and Smith reveal new secrets to faster racing and better results.
Smith and Horner dissect common mistakes, guiding riders with lessons learned from decades of racing experience. Reading the Race reveals the veteran's eye view on:
- Assembling the best possible team
- Crafting strategies around the team, course, and rivals
- Reacting instantly to common scenarios
- Making deals and combines
- Breaks, echelons, blocking
- Pack protocol and etiquette
- Finishing in the prize money or on the podium
- Winning the group ride
Whether you're a new racer, an aspiring pro, a team manager, or even a roadside fan, Reading the Race will elevate your cycling IQ for better racing.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781937716486 |
---|---|
Publisher: | VeloPress |
Publication date: | 09/13/2013 |
Sold by: | SIMON & SCHUSTER |
Format: | eBook |
Pages: | 256 |
File size: | 8 MB |
About the Author
Chris Horner is one of cycling's most popular and observant riders, blessed with a rare ability to read a race in progress and describe it fluently afterward. He began his long pro career in the U.S. in 1995 with PAA-NutraFig; moved to Europe for three years with Francaise des Jeux; and then returned to America to guide the Mercury, Prime Alliance, Saturn, and Webcor teams, with whom he won nearly every major race on the domestic calendar. A three-time national racing calendar champion, winner of the 2013 Vuelta a Espana, Tour de Langkawi, the Tour de Georgia, the Tour of the Basque Country, and the Tour of California, Horner led the 2012 U.S. Olympic squad and currently rides for RadioShack-Leopard-Trek, where his veteran counsel and unflappable temper make him the go-to guy for tactics, race smarts, and planning.
Table of Contents
PREFACE
CHAPTER 1: WHAT'S MY MOTIVATION?
Why Do You Race?
The Pro Game versus Our Game
Euro Pro
American Pro
American Amateur
Mistakes Amateur Teams Make
How Tactics Have Changed
Tactics in Other Sports
CHAPTER 2: BASIC TECHNIQUES
Basic Training
Bike Handling
Cornering
Drinking and Eating
Looking Over Your Shoulder
Braking
Standing
Stretching
Shifting/Gearing
CHAPTER 3: ADVANCED TECHNIQUES
Riding in the Rain
Holding a Steady Speed
Bumping Others
Pacelines and Rotating Pacelines
Echelons
Economy of Motion
Peeing While Riding
Handling Speed
Descending
Self Made Speed
Intervals
Seeing Movements
Climbing
Recon the Course
Getting Psyched Up (or Out)
Pack Riding
Playing the Accordion
Gaining Position
Claustrophobia
Avoiding Crashes
CHAPTER 4: ATTACKING
The Breakaway
Slingshot
Broadcasting Intentions
Faux Attack
Bungee Attack
Size of the Break
Working with a Teammate
Breakaways That Don't Work
Blocking
Gatekeepers
Chasing, Bridging, Reeling, Catching
Bridging Distance
Chasing Your Own Team
Not Caught 'til it's Caught
Division of Power
CHAPTER 5: WINNING AND OTHER LOFTY GOALS
Joop
Reading the Race
Overfamiliarity
Patience
Working the Break
Roll Call
Getting Rid of Them
Should I Stay orShould I Go?
CHAPTER 6: SPRINTING
Measuring Distance
Positioning
Lead Out
Form
Communications
Get On My Wheel
Combines
Picking the Right Strangers
Sharing the Booty
Going Solo
CHAPTER 7: TIME TRIALS
Knowing the Course - Intimately
All Wind is Not Created Equal
Climbing and Descending
Man and Machine
High Alert
Heavy Wind
CHAPTER 8: DECISIONS, DECISIONS
Caught
When a Crash Occurs
Cloudburst
First 5 Laps, Last 5 Laps
When to Relax
Suffering, Tail gunning, Punching Tickets
Front or Back?
Helping a Brother Out
DNF versus Finish at allCosts
CHAPTER 9: ASSEMBLING THE PERFECT TEAM
Club versus Team
Recruiting
Chemistry
Sacrifice
Practicing as a Team
Assessing Strengths and Assigning Roles
Practicing as a Team
Group Training Rides
Picking the Right Ride
Finding the Ride
Worlds
Making the Grade
Working as a Team in an Open Group Ride
Racing as a Team
Goals
Team Meetings
How to Win, Place,or Show
Going for It
Luck
Splitting the Winnings
An Honest Assessment of Your Contribution
CHAPTER 10: GO RACE