Wanted to open up a discussion on this. It is a great way to get a little bit more from your workout. There are members joining these rides that are new to the routes and may not have any idea where these are.
The sprint segments are unofficial, but known. Maybe someone can help with this and/or correct me.
You can attack/sprint for the segment as early or late as you want.
Tuesday Bamberg
To Blue Bamberg sign
Top of Greenwood Hill (Mailbox on Left near #4685)
Hessen Strasse Part 1 Downhill to Stop Sign - 3 White mailboxes on left (Last farm/driveway)
Mailbox at the End of Hessen Stresse (100m? before the stop sign)
Thursday Elora/Fergus
Crossfoot Section 1 - Last Hydro pole before the stop sign
End of Line 2 - Blue Cottontail Road Trail sign on the descent
River Rd @ Bridge St - āSingle Fileā Bike Sign before 4-way stop Fergus Loop
Middlebrook @ 8th Line - Mailbox on right after cresting hill (7160)
Middlebrook @ Trail crossing - White Mailbox on the left just before the G2G trail
Great topic Chad. This is always something I focus on communicating to new riders on Tuesday/Thursday nights as knowing whatās to come and not being totally confused makes a new riders night so much better.
Of note for Tuesday, the sprints are a bit different between group 1 and two and generally Iāve found groups 3 and below donāt go for them.
Additional Tuesday sprint for group 2 - On Hessen Strasse just before the stop sign at Moser Young thereās a group of mail boxed and a sign on the right, address is 4120.
Thursday night in group 2/3 we donāt usually accelerate much going out on Crossfoot although Iāll add in two, the first is the sprint on River Rd to the first stop sign. I think there is a speed limit sign on the right before the four-way stop but I donāt see it on Google maps, I just know the point from riding it.
The second is the first half of Middlebrook to the mail box at the top of the little hill before the stop sign.
The last sprint you have listed, 6 to the top of the Glasgow climb, Iāve never found to be an organized sprint per se but just people using the last of their energy to get up that steep little rise.
Thanks for kicking the conversation off. If anyone knows there is a new rider in their group please give them a heads up on route about the sprint and hopefully 5 or 10 min in advance of each one.
Thanks Mark. I think I will put a visual map together for these two rides. Maybe by the end of the weekend with enough feedback. I would like to know thoughts on Winterbourne (keep it or remove it).
Maybe as these become more known we will see some riders in the other groups stirring things up. There are a whole set of tactics/positioning to get your best shot at these which I believe is covered in Faction crit practice.
The Winterbourne sprint is okay, everyone just has to be sure thereās no traffic coming from behind just as they should with every other sprint. Itās a wide open road with good visibility so I donāt think itās dangerous by any means. Itās fun going for that sign and traffic usually isnāt too busy by the time we get there. Back in group 2/3 I find we go for it most weeks.
A visual map would be great. This never occurred to me, even though I use My Maps in Google a fair bit for race course maps/hospital routes and such for races.
Thanks Chad biggest thing is making sure we get riders to check their shoulder both when sprinting and when they miss out so we can get back to the right side of the road as fast as possible.
Biggest part of this is more experienced riders shouldnāt be afraid to speak up if things arenāt as they should be. @BRUBS last night was a great example of making sure we didnāt run stop signs. I know Iāve been old and cranky on some fast gravel rides.
@CWilson Crowsfoot wasnāt too busy last night but Iām not sure if the road is closed yet. I expect most drivers will avoid the posted detour.
No one has actually cataloged these well known sprint points and started a discussion on how each group approaches them.
For sure Group 3 engages in these sprints and hot sections.
Group 3 rides hard, but steady in anticipation of these sprints and then most will dump everything they have into these sections and almost always need to stop or slow down for a minute or two to catch our breath and regroup as we are often strung out after each sprint. Not everyone participates, some will soft pedal when the fire works start. The general rule is no one gets left behind on Thursday, especially after the sprints. So, we wait at the end of the section to regroup.
Until recently, we approached it with each of us having a roleā¦a few of us would create a break in advance of the sprintā¦the pack would chaseā¦there would be a hard lead out, and once near the end pull off to watch the sprinters. Then weād all stop or soft pedal for a few minutes to recover and chat and roll toward the next sprint segments. It is more group race sim in these sections than an individual sprint effort.
We started getting us back into pacelines a year or so ago. And thatās taken some of the team tactics out of it a little. But itās been helpful as it was turning into a free for all for a while there and now we are a little more steady to the wind ups and people stay together more before the sprints.
Seems there is still a racer in all of us. You just have to find your group.
Group 1 has different ārulesā for Tuesday/Thursday.
Tuesday there is no waiting (Sometimes you can catch back on after the Bamberg sign), so if your dropped you either give it all to get back on, or regroup with the following group/dropped riders.
Thursday anyone that want to participate in the sprint will. There may be some tactics riders pair off with a loadout, but for the most part it is try to hold on and beat the rider that initiates. The is often an accelerated pace before anything breaks off at a sprint.
Thursdays there will be slow pedaling to let the group get back together after each section. Sometimes no one will initiate a sprint and the ride keeps going.
These are sprints to look forward to on Thursday, take part have fun, even if your not going to take the sprint, its going to make you stronger!
