Body Concepts Race Team

Chris MTB racing during TBF race series

Being born to a cyclist I've been a cyclist for all my life. I've wanted to race for as long as I can remember but there's always an excuse not to do it. After listening to me talking about racing for years, last spring my wife told me to get out there and just do it. Stop talking, start racing.

I experimented with mountain bike racing and had a blast. I decided to continue to train to get into road racing. I still want to mountain bike so I just became a ride leader for the Folsom High School Cycling Team (but that's another blog entry).

Finding a compatible team to ride with was harder than I thought and teams form in the fall. I ended up spending the rest of the year getting stronger and researching riding groups and teams while I waited for signs ups to roll around again.  I was lucky enough to stumble upon a great riding group at work. In a few short months riding with these guys my skills, speed and endurance went through the roof.  A good friend from the group told me that Body Concepts was a great team for people interested in getting into racing so I decided to give it a shot. Waiting several weeks for the first team meeting and sign-up was tough and it was all I could think about. 

Members of the Body Concepts Race Team
Photo Credit: Body Concepts Inc.


 

I was excited to finally go to my first team meaning but being a dad with kids -including a one-year-old who misses me during the week- can make it hard to get out the door. I ended up showing up a few minutes late -thankfully not the last to show up- which had me worried. When I walked in the door I was greeted with a warm and amiable atmosphere and I immediately felt comfortable. Later in the meeting, Rob (coach, team leader and owner of Body Concepts) gave us a friendly heads-up that rides started on time "when a ride starts at 8, we leave at 8" and I made a mental note to plan to arrive at rides and meetings 20 minutes early (so that on “baby time” I should just about make it there on time). We started the morning going over the team packet that explains rules, how to represent your team and your sponsors, goals and so on. We discussed team goals and rankings as well as individual goals. Some members listed their personal goal as finishing in the top five. At this point, my individual goal is to be a supportive member of the team and to help further the team’s ranking.

GEAR
One of the highlights was when Nike Vision and VSP were introduced as some of our sponsors. Nike had three samples of their glasses. All three models were light-weight, comfortable, felt like they would be durable and they had transition lenses which is great for year-round riding. I get tired of swapping out lenses all the time.

Next we tried on team gear to get an order ready. The gear was from Sugoi and it seemed very comfortable and well-made. (I already have a pair of Sugoi compression tights and a favorite jersey that I have had for years.) I am still having a hard time figuring out what I am going to order because I need a lot of winter gear but I am on a very tight budget. (How does one stay warm while still representing your sponsors on rides?) I am thinking of getting a thermal vest with arm warmers and shoe covers but that may change. I was told to double up on arm warmers and use a vest and that usually works pretty well for staying warm in our area. I also thought about getting a pair of shoe covers to keep my feet warm and help match the team colors. Who knows? I still have a few days to decide.

TECHNIQUES
When it came time to ride, the weather was looking ominous but everyone anxious to get out and practice skills so we braved the elements and mounted up. We found a quiet road off the American River Bike Trail and started working on a series racing techniques. We worked on:

Shoulder Bumps - As another rider may start crowding you off of your line, you may end up bumping shoulders.  Avoid the natural reaction to swing out an elbow and turn your head towards the other rider as each reaction will cause you to loose stability on the bike.  Keep your head forward, lean over (while keeping your bike upright), and put your shoulder into the shoulder of the other ride.  Remember that this isn't football; don't knock over the other rider.  The goal is to protect your line and to keep from getting run over.   Another reason to keep your bike upright is to reduce the chance of your handle bars from locking together.

Shoulder to Hip Bumps – This is the same idea as shoulder bumps.  The main difference is that you might be in a position where the other rider doesn’t know you are there so you end up bumping their hip instead of their shoulder. 

Taps – Once again, someone may be crossing into your line and you need to let them know you are there.  You can do some firm taps or a firm (without knocking the person over) push to keep the other rider from crashing into you.

Man in the Middle Pushes – The man in the middle tries to stay on the center line of the road while riders on each side exercises the three previous techniques.  Stay focused looking forward.  Keep your hands in the drop outs to prevent handlebars from locking together.

Paceline – Riders are taking advantage of drafting to achieve a higher average speed then what you can do on your own.  Each rider is about a foot behind the rider in front of them.  The lead rider spends about 30 to 60 seconds at the lead of the paceline and then rotates off the front to the back of the line.  The people drafting save about 25-35 percent power.  The more riders you have, the less overall work you have to do to cover the same distance.  It is extremely important that the new ride leader keeps the same pace as the previous leader.  It is tempting when you get the lead to ride hard.  However that will create gaps in the line and reduce the paceline advantage.

Continuously Rotating Paceline – The lead rider is only at the front of the line long enough for the previous leader to drop back far enough for the new leader to pull off.  On TV, this looks so fluid and easy watching the professional teams do it.  This is actually pretty hard to coordinate everything! 

Echelon – This is useful when there is a crosswind.  Instead of following in a straight line you form a diagonal.  This formation is difficult because there isn’t typically enough width in the road for a long line of riders. 

We wrapped the day up with a whiteboard session describing how all of the drafting techniques are applied during training rides and races. 

At the end of the session I was excited to be a part of the team and I am looking forward to doing a lot of racing.  Everyone on Body Concepts was great to work with during the drills. I am excited to see what the future holds.   After all of these years I have finally realized one of my biggest goals, I am now a part of a racing team.