The Leadout

I hunch over the bars trying to squeeze myself into as aerodynamic a shape as possible. My pilot Wojtek accelerates slightly, perhaps less than 1 mph but a noticeable increase when doing speeds close to 30mph. I glance down at my speedo: '27.4mph' and take a deep breath, shifting up a gear in preparation. The jump is too big and my cadence drops noticeably, but that isn't a problem. I know I'll be pedaling much faster than my normal comfortable cadence soon. 


I shift right ever so slightly to peer down the road past Wojtek; clear. I see the slight rise approaching that usually signals the start of the effort. A quick glance at my power meter shows I am doing just below 400W; if I'm lucky I might treble that in the next few seconds. 


Wojtek gets out of the saddle and kicks. He was doing around 500W in the run up to this and will probably nearly double that with this effort. I follow him trying to keep as close as possible to his rear wheel (trickier than it sounds); it takes a lot of effort-around 700W-but I know that at this speed if I fall too far behind and start eating wind the effort I will have to put in might well leave me with very little 'kick' left at all. You see, I am not a sprinter in the classic sense-more just someone who can (on his day) ride a bike fairly quickly.


I sense that he's tiring, understandable considering the work he's done over the past 30 seconds or so and accelerate towards his rear wheel, easing round him as I pick up speed. The 'sprint' lasts 15 seconds and I max out at 35mph before lunging for the imaginary finish line. My HR suddenly jumps up by 10bpm as the lactic acid makes itself known and my legs become incapable of pushing more than 15mph, I slow to an almost stop and look behind. Either I just rode very fast, or My Pilot pushed himself to his limit-the gap is big. 


We stop and have a chat. That effort was significantly easier for me than previous ones, and required less than 1000W for my final kick. That was the fastest speed we achieved that day and interestingly, one of my lowest power peaks for the session. More speed, less power. A good combination, who would say no? We agree that while him kicking out of the saddle took a bit out of my legs before sprinting, the resulting speed increase before I made my effort was worth it. Another note made in the mental book.


As I said, I am not a sprinter. I have a fast finish at times and won a race from a bunch sprint last year-but I put that down more to sneaky positioning and timing than raw power. So you may wonder, why practice leadouts? Surely they are the reserve of the sprinting elite? Wise man say: work on your weaknesses and your strengths will take care of themselves. I agree, plus it's fun; and who doesn't like going fast?


More appropriately in being the last man and sprinter for a few sessions, I know exactly what worked and what didn't, I know what sort of efforts helped, and what sort of efforts hurt. Our sprinter, Tom, won his first race of the season on Sunday. From a bunch sprint. By about 3 bike lengths. I couldn't help much in the finale thanks to a suicidal lone break earlier in the race, but through practicing these I believe I will be able to play a part in future success. Bike racing, even at an amateur level is not just about Number One.