We spend so much effort focusing numbers: watts, KOMs,TSS, but maybe we should dedicate some time on developing better bike handling skills. I might be alone on this one, but if my confidence in moving around the bunch improved, I would probably race more and enjoy the sport more too. I feel that this is such a neglected aspect in cycling, and maybe it is having a real impact on racer participation.

On April 27th, 2019, I was waiting at the start line for the Tour de Gretna Road Race, an awesome event and fun course. While waiting for my category of the race to start, I overheard two junior racers talking. One asked the other rider, “Which crash caused the scratches on your face this time?” The questioner was implying that his peer had been in numerous wrecks just this season. The questionee just shook his head and kept his face low. It makes you wonder about the longevity that this athlete will have in this sport. An intervention considering how he can improve his racing skills including his bike handling skills might increase his tenure (and his enjoyment) in cycling.

In our own team chatter, it is well known that Harlem Crit has the potential to be a crash fest. It draws large fields, has those dangerous Y-shaped metal barricades, and the course while wide, is unnecessarily narrowed due to loose gravel sections and potholes. As a result you have 100+ men all somewhat fresh, jockeying for position and trying to get mixed in the sprint. It is complete chaos. In a pro race you can have a more organized finish, simply because there are more bodies representing a team leading out for the designated sprinter. There is predictable control as teams work to chase down breakaways or line up to set up for their sprinter. Amateur races often lack a full squad needed to assert control at the front and organize a train, and well, we are amateurs. Because of my past experiences, I avoid a lot of these races where there exists a statistical stigma of injuries. I am a father, a teacher, and have brunch plans with my 3 year old nephew and 5 year old niece tomorrow morning that trump sprinting for a 9th place finish at a local 2/3 crit. So I avoid races where there will be 100 racers tightly packed with no team having a full representation. To me this is ripe for chaos. I like to avoid chaos if I have the option of doing so, and no, I don’t really have the option of avoiding toddler brunch.

These chaotic finishes are only exacerbated when a course doesn’t have enough safety precautions set up to accommodate for the number of amateurs participating. Several years ago, I wrecked at Somerville, not because of handling skills, but because a family let their two-year old walk out onto the course while we were sprinting to the line. The rider in front of me hit the unfortunate child, and I slammed into the rider that hit him. Thankfully the child was okay in the long run, but the rider in front of me had a serious back injury that left him crippled for 6 months. (To Somerville's credit, when I wrecked there were no barriers preventing spectators from being on course that close to the finish. Since, this has changed and they have flat bottomed barriers encompassing the entirety of the final straight away.)

A similar incident happened at the Danbury Crit, before it disappeared. A spectator had walked onto the course and caused a serious collision between her and the rider. These are preventable incidents, if proper care and consideration is taken into account when organizing and planning a race. Instead these horrific incidents happen and they do tremendous damage to the sport for which we all hold love and passion.

So we have seen a downward trend in road races, but what I am also concerned about is that ticking time bomb of the demise of amateur crit racing. I cannot recall a single crit that I have been in where I have not heard that eerily familiar sound of carbon smashing pavement. What does that do to the rider involved? Will the rider internalize and approach these races differently? Will the rider look at his or her family and think, maybe I need to prioritize my life differently? I do not think that these are a means to an end. Rather, I think we need to do something to make safety paramount in these events, and in turn provide an outlet/support system for riders who have been in serious accidents to come to terms with the hows and whys. We need to alleviate the fears - freshly developed and continuously compounded - and build back bike handling confidence.

I think most of us are familiar with watching some of the chaotic WorldTour finishes and even YouTube videos of aggressive bike handling while vying for positions going into sprints at big US crits. The image that comes across as a viewer is that bike racing is all about aggression: bumping, elbowing, and fighting for position. Certainly, this is an aspect of racing, but these are seasoned professionals. They are comfortable with being in these stressful and potentially dangerous conditions because their bike handling skills have afforded them the confidence to handle and deal with these situations. It is a fear that a novice or any level of amateur racer for this matter will potentially think it is common and acceptable to use these tactics in a local race. Maybe the racer performing the action feels comfortable elbowing in for a gap, but does the racer who is getting elbowed out feel comfortable? These techniques are being used in big P12 races, where most participants are comfortable with the bumping and grinding. When these happen at a Rockleigh crit or a CRCA race, where most of us have outside obligations that take precedence, they sometimes feel out of place. Sprinting and using overtly aggressive behavior for a 10th place finish at a CRCA race is much different than a USA Crits race, where a 10th place finish may net you some good cash.