Warm-Ups

All right,  time to take some of you out to the "cyber-woodshed" for a little beating here....
(Video coming soon...)

Here in Colorado,  we can warm up on the course,  DURING other people's races,  as long as we "stay out of the way".   From observation,  accounts,  and a recent "high profile" event,  it's becoming obvious that there are quite a few riders who don't understand what "staying out of the way" means.  While this issue is evident in almost every race,  the Beer-Drinking-Dads-League is by far the worst offender here.  (Yep,  Us/You...) Warming up on the course while the blazing-fast 35+ open guys are racing is tough to pull off without paying a LOT of attention,  and that is not really happening a lot of the time.

You see the front end of the 35+ yelling "rider!!",  "racer!!",  "Get the hell out of the way!!",  or various versions of that so much,  you wonder how they can go so fast & talk so much,  and how much faster they could go if they were NOT constantly having to ask people to get out of the way.

Schedule is part of the problem,  putting the LEAST experienced riders in the position of warming up in front of some of the fastest and MOST experienced riders while racing turns out to not be that good of an idea.  (That did not really come up in the discussions that led to the current schedule,  but maybe should have...).  With the growth in ALL the fields in the last 2 years,  this is going to be a bigger and bigger issue,  and will most likely lead to NOT being allowed to warm up on course when another race is in progress,  UCI-style.   

Here is my simple suggestion for how to warm up without becoming that clueless guy who got "snuck up" on and becoming the doofus who was in the way of someone's race.

 How to stay out of the way

1 - ONLY get on the course in the first 3 laps of the "other" race.   At the back.  After that,  it spreads out too much,  and you can FAR too easily get in the way.

2 - PAY attention Behind you when you are on the course!  A LOT.  These guys are FAST.  REALLY fast.  WAY faster than you are.  They WILL come up on you in a HURRY. 

That's it.   

For the BDDL race (10:40am),  my routine is do the "slow" course inspection laps in the Jr. Races.  Speeds are low,  not too many on the course.  Then show up at the start when the 35+ speedsters are sent off  (9:45am).  Jump in 30 seconds behind them.  Ride like hell.  This gives you 2-3 hot laps on the course where there is nobody racing right behind you.  After the 2-3 Laps,  GET OFF THE COURSE.  You've seen it slow,  ridden it at speed a couple of times,  everything you need.  Now go ride the streets,  or jump on a trainier for the rest of warm up.  This will keep you from being "that guy".

PLEASE try and think about this.  It's just not right to affect other people's races.  DON'T be that guy.  Don't be the one who ends warming up on the course.

Rant OFF.