The start is a mass start, meaning racers are gathered at the line and as soon as the starting signal is given, the race is on. At smaller races, starting position is first come first serve on the line; at larger races it may be determined by registration order. The larger races may have as many as 100 or more competitors. The starting line-up usually has between 6 and 8 racers per row and as many rows as needed. After all racers are lined up, an official will give various instructions concerning the race. After these instructions are given, the racers will be given a warning about the approximate time until the start, as many as 2 minutes, but rarely much more than that. Countdown updates are given, the last being around 15, 20 or 30 seconds until the start. At some races the start signal is given right on time, at others once the final countdown warning is given the signal to start may be given at any time up until that time runs out, for a little more randomness.
From previous classes we’ve seen how the group can get bunched together, especially in the first hard corners and obstacles. It is rather difficult to pass in this situation since there is little room to move until later when the field spreads out. If there is an accident, there can be major traffic jams, just the way an accident on a busy highway backs up the highway. This may be a bit obvious, but those closer to the back of the field when there is an accident are going to get slowed down quite a bit, while those up front pull away at full speed. Therefore, starting well and getting position near the front drastically reduces the chances of being involved in an accident or being held up by one.
Even if there is no accident, by nature, it is slower going in a large group on a tight course. Those in the very front can break down into a single file line and take the fastest lines through the corners; however those in the middle of the group will be forced to take nonstandard, slower lines.
So a race is stuck in the pack, he’s faster; he’ll catch up once everyone thins out, right? Maybe, this depends on how much faster he is. Depending on how the start went down, a racer may have lost a large amount of time on the leaders right off the start. Now that racer must work much harder to catch up, spending precious energy. Since cyclocross is such an intense effort, pushing one’s self too hard too early may leave one with little energy to maintain speed at the end of the race. Let’s say our race managed to make up the time lost, they’ve spent a lot of energy doing so. The leaders who have managed their effort may now pour on the pressure and increase the effort output, which may leave our racer behind since is too spent to hold the faster pace any longer. Had he been up front with the leaders he may have held the same pace as the leaders, conserving energy, and made an attack near the end of the race to take the win.
So that's it, start wherever for a good race, start up front and take the whole shot for a great race.
Watch below to see the start of the Cat 4 men at the recent Beer Cross race in Dayville, CT.
Beer Cross 1 Cat 4 start from Scott Frison on Vimeo.
Class 1, The Overview
Class 2, The Competition
Class 3, The Race Format
Class 4, The Barriers
Class 5, More On Barriers
Class 6, An in Depth Look at Barriers
Class 7, An in Depth Look at Run Ups
Class 8, An in Depth Look at Sand Pits
Class 9, The Start
Class 10, Review and Wrap Up
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