Well firstly, hello, im new here....I recently got into cycling after the London2012 Olympics, saw all the track and road cycling and thought it looked like fun! So i bought a road bike and never looked back! Loving it, just need to get rid of this snow here!
Anyway.....i stumbled across PCM recently, and first glance it was confusing and all a bit vague for me! I never really watched any road racing other than that of the Olympics, so im not clued up about all strategies or techniques in 'real world' cycling....
I have read the tips/tricks articles on here and have been a massive help...however just a few questions i have which haven't been answered...wondering if anyone could help?
Im managing on hard mode (always best way to learn!) with Endura,
1) When competing for the mountain points which my chosen rider, i can normally get the points on the first hill/mountain...but when it comes to the 2nd or 3rd my climber is too tired to even try to compete up stay with pace. How do you get his yellow and red bars back, tell him to take it easy and reduce his effort bar will drop him right to the back of the peleton?
2) I understand its best to keep leader protected and in the peleton for the entire race, until the last 50km, where you advance to the front and try to take the stage with sprint trains etc. How do you stop your leader dropping back too far, and then once its ready to move to the front....do this without getting him too tired/out of energy? Is it best to create the sprint train right from the peleton and advance through the whole peleton? Or only create the train when you get most of your riders near the front?
Sorry for the really stupid questions, but im rather new! Really enjoying the game, and been reading here for a while and everyone seems very nice!
Hi, good to see you got into cycling, tis a lot of fun ^_^
It will definitely take some getting used to if you have not watched much cycling before. As regards to your points
1) Usually on stages you get a small number of riders who attack early on to form a breakaway, and these guys stay out for most of the stage but often get pulled back towards the end. The easiest way to fight for the mountains jersey is to get one of your riders in a break on a mountain/hilly stage. It takes a bit of effort to get into a break - sometimes the peleton races hard for the first 60km but other times the break forms almost immediately. Once your rider is in the break and it is formed the race usually slows up so you can recover your yellow&red bars. Then you can make your sprint/attack towards the top of a climb to take a high number of points. After you hit the top you want to reduce your speed so you rejoin the breakaway group where you can recover your energy again. He shouldn't be heading back to the peleton yet if there are more mountains to come !
2) When on the "stay with group" command a rider does not exceed the effort you have set them no matter how fast the group go. The effort number flashes red if your riders effort is not high enough to keep pace with the group he is with. To combat this just increase the effort ! 80-85 is usually a solid number for most situations though you can vary this to suit your needs. Sometimes its better to use higher efforts but be careful your rider might blow up ! Pacing yourself is also important.
About the sprint trains, you should really be forming these as close towards the front as you can possibly manage. If you form them to far back, you have 2 issues, 1) its going to take a lot of effort to move up & 2) other riders may block your train as it moves up the group and often your train disintegrates and your riders expend too much energy to put it back together again.
Hope this helps.
Good luck and have fun ! Ask if you have any more questions.
Ah thank you very much for the reply!
Pretty much answered my question spot one!
I see what you mean about recovering energy once joined the breakaway group with your climb, then attack the mountain. I guess it just comes down to practice and experiementing! Getting better tho!
Im glad you told me that about the effort bar, i just assumed once you told your ride to "maintain position" he would do that, altering his pace etc automatically, but will keep a closer eye on him and his effort levels!
wardie there is also a tips and tricks section under PCM Tools top left side bar...read it and enjoy....i've been playing this game for the best part of 10 years....best kept secret of PC gaming. welcome to the community.
Yeh i studied the tips and trick section a lot recently, and its been invaluable to be honest, learn alot from it!
I think when i started playing PCM a few months ago i thought i wasted my money, but i think that was purely as i didnt understand much of racing at all!
But now i know and understand more im loving it!
Rammus' advice is spot on. Just a few pointers though.
1) You will rarely need to use much energy to win a mountain sprint when in a breakaway. First of all, don't relay in the breakaway, just sit there and conserve enegery. When reaching a mountain sprint try this tactic: At 3.5km put your guy on dot effort 80%. This should bring him to the front quite quickly. The others may start to attack at around 1.5km. Immediately attack as they do, but cancel the attack as soon as they do too, and ride up with dot effort. Usually they will give up quickly and you'll win the sprint without using much energy.
If your rider has a lot of energy left at around 40-50km and it's a mountain stage you can put him on dot effort up a hill perhaps around 80%. Lower it to around 70% if he gets a gap. You will probably be able to ride in and win the stage if your rider is a stronger climber compared to the others in the break.
2) I always put my entire team on dot effort 70% from the start. As soon as each rider reach the front I put them at 'maintain position'. This means they will sit at the front, but will drop back if they need more than 70% effort. You can up the effort if it starts blinking red to keep them there, or you can just wait for the peleton to calm down and they will usually get back to the froont. At 70% effort their BPM will stay below 170 and they won't run out of energy, but on the last few climbs or the last stretch before the finish you might be forced to increase it.
In regards to the sprint train I usually bring my guys up to the front using dot effort around 80-85%. If your sprinter is sitting way back and you select him to follow somone upfront, he will use all his energy to reach him so he be useless in the sprint, so you want to either ensure he sits there ready, or bring him up slowly.
Ask if you have any more questions.
