Commit to attack, don't just pull people around

One thing I see over and over in group rides, races, and in training is a horrible rendition of an "attack" or trying to make a break.  And really, who's gonna tell you, it was a lame attempt, because if they do you'll end up dropping them.  That's what I want to see, more commitment out of riders in fields on the weekend group ride, training race, or crit.

I mean if you are going to do it, light that asphalt up and make those suckers work to catch you.  Otherwise you are just ramping up the pace enough to pull everyone around and low and behold; everyone's still on your wheel!

Here's an example from a ride this week with an athlete that now has the same power at threshold as I after a solid year of training.  We frolicked a little on the way home after 3000ft of climbing so we were both a little tired.

The upper file is my SRM file with the 1st attack induced by me.  I was out of the saddle and giving it pretty good to dangle some bait. Notice the cadence is high with 115rpm spike and a 105rpm avg for the 13sec.  This is called committing! As you can see from the other rider's file below, the attack was good enough to elicit a small surge, but with quick realization it wasn't a fruitless attempt so they gave up. You can see that by the difference in the blue speed line of 42mph vs 38mph at this point.  He's competitive so this dumped the chum was in the water!

Now looking at his file,  you can see he surged twice, which I'd quantify as different than an attack.  Don't get me wrong the surges at 500w and 780w respectively are respectable, but he stayed in the saddle and didn't commit to create separation. It allowed me to get in the slipstream with an effort as you can see noted by the "Cover" and "Match" highlights.  I must admit being tired and unaware of the last "37s Surge" you can see that I had to put in a big 1000w spike to actually catch the wheel.

The lesson here is if you want to attack, test the field to see who will react, or make others work; then COMMIT!  Jump out of the saddle and see what it does. Aim to create separation from the riders quickly...it's called acceleration.  And if more people do this, it will make the racing more fun, more aggressive, and actually racing.

A good thing to note here is, if you are often tired of people sitting on your wheel all day, then this is a good way to make sure they earn it.  I mean with all due respect, check the dynamic of the ride you are on before you go all ballistic attacking everyone, but if it's a race; then it's your move!