Sprinting
Sprinting
The average club run or group ride involves its fair share of friendly competition. You can make the most of this by including some sprints into the rides.
The key to sprints in club runs is safety. If you are going to be sprinting for signposts or town signs then please do it on a quiet road, don’t cross the white line and don’t jepoardise the safety of fellow road users (including yourself and your club mates).
Sprinting in a club run is a great way to practice your skills, judging the distance to the finish line and picking your moment to come off a wheel and make that final kick.
Another important thing to remember after a sprint is to regroup. Traditionally sprints on the club run so after you pass the town sign ease back, firstly to allow you to recover and secondly to the group to get back together. This means everyone can regroup safely and the club run can continue along its way.
My old cycling club would have three or four sprints per ride. We would take it in turns to lead out the sprints, so in each club run you would end up leading out one sprint per ride if you were on the front of the group on the run-in to the sprint, and sprinting to win the others.