a very quick post to strongly encourage people to consider attending the race skills clinic that eli, sonoma the m street racing team have put together.  the schedule will cover a variety of useful topics.  Both the speaker and the people on the panel are very experienced and almost guaranteed to tell good stories. 

cycling is an unsual sport that has a long history.  as a result, there are endless stories of highly unorthodox approaches to racing and training.  so much of this is passed along as a kind of "conventional wisdom", absorbed uncritically and subsequently passed on to others.  stories like this are no substitute for a thorough understanding of the techniques for bicycle racing.

i was chatting with pete lindeman a few days ago down at hains point and he made a very insightful remark about someone who was riding with us: "he knows how to ride real fast but he doesn't know how to race his bike".  we all spend a considerable amount of time training our bodies and neglect some of the most important aspects of bicycle racing: psychology, proper tactics, anticipating events, watchign other riders, and maximizing the utility of one's existing skills. 

this clinic represents a remarkable opportunity to listen to racers and coaches pass along actual experience.  there are probably not many riders in the mid-atlantic who could not afford to miss a sunday ride, and who would not benefit from listening to the speaker and panel, asking quesitons and pondering some of the issues that will be discussed.

You can find out all the salient information about the clinic here:

http://www.sonomadc.com/RaceSkillsClinic2_5_06.pdf

hope to see many of you out there.

- - - posted by scott