Well, to date I have done 3 road races and this was my 1st Crit attempt.
1st race was a 4/5 - 22nd out of 50
2nd - cat 5 - 2nd
3rd - cat 5 - 13th (both legs cramped on the last 1/2 lap so I was just spinning to keep with the main group but had nothing for the final sprint)

Races was in Elkton MD (old name was the Crispy Cream Crit)
I opted not to do the 5 race and entered the 4/5.
26 laps, laps were about .75mile, 100 racers

Woke up Sunday morning to a slight rain and wet roads and I really needed to convince myself to at least go to the race so if it dried out I would not kick myself later in the day for not going. I was probably going to skip the race if it was raining as not all that confident yet on wet roads, 1st crit with 100 racers.
Race was only 1/2 hour away and when I got there the sun came out and the roads were dry (glad I made the call to go).
Course was a rectangle all right turns .75 mile in length. Start had an immediate right and right to the uphill section thru town and the a right right to the down hill start/finish.
I did a short warm up, climbed a few hills and off to the start. Start was fast right from the gun but the pace was managable for me for the 1st few laps. I started in about the 1st 1/3rd of the group and worked my way up into the 1st 5 to 10 riders for about a few laps, then after thinking about it later I was not agressive about staying up front and soon found myself toward the back of the group. About lap 5 the pace picked up again and I found myslef still on the back and playing catch-up on the downhill section of the course. I would catch the group and pick up ground on the uphill section. Lap 10 I fell of the back right after the turn to the down hill section and could not get back on. I lagged about 20 yards behind the main group for about a lap and then realized I was off for good. Kept tempo and saw a 2nd group of about 10 riders behind me so I sat up and joined the 2nd group. Mad our way around to the start/finish and we wer all pulled.

Things I learned:
Warm up more
I should have raced the cat 5 and cat 4/5. Racing the 5 would have probably given me a decent warm up (I tend to warm up slow and don't really feel "race legs" until about 45 min) and between the 2 races I would have gotten some more riding in.
After talking with some of the riders many of the 4's in my race have been 4's for a long time and are well know fast racers in our area.
Be more agressive and stay near the front.
Ride more - lately my riding time has dropped to about 3 hours a week. Need to find more time to ride and get my legs back.

All in all it was fun, I felt comfortable in the group, disappointed I was pulled, looking to attempt another crit so I can try and put what I learned to use.

KMan


Adding some photos from the race.......This is right after I was droped from the main pack and was being "chased" :) by a small 2nd group. I sat up and joined this group.....no one was willing to work in this group to try and make any attempt to gain some ground on the main pack......and then we were all pulled.

in Elkton in your field. It was a big field, and the roads narrowed at times due to traffic calming measures that made curbs jut out into the road. Turn 1 was fine, turn two caused some problems, with the narrowing immediately after the turn. Turn 3 had the narrowing before the turn, and the 4th turn was wide open to set you up for the downhill back to the start.

I had some of the same difficulty as you, until I figured out to take the outside line for the last turn. You could carry more speed and were sheltered by riders to the right of you. I would then move up on the slight hill on Main street. Just by doing those things, my effort seemed to be greatly reduced. I was suffering before that. It was a fast race, considering the amount of braking that went on in the corners, and the lack of attacks.

The 4/5 race ended quite civilly as those not in contention sat up right after turn 3 on the last lap. NO foolish sprinting for those outside the top 20. I was glad to see that.

One note -
I marshalled at turn 3 for the womens, Mens 3/4 and Pro1,2,3 races.

The 3/4 race wasn't that different from ours as far as the turns went. They would bunch up and have to brake too. There was a a grumpy group that got away after several attempts. Rockville Harley always had someone to counter when the attacks were caught.

The Pro 1,2,3 race however, was a totally different kind of race. There were constant attacks that probably originated as they turned onto Main Street. That helped string out riders as teams moved to the front to chase. They NEVER had to brake! Some good aggressive riding by some strong riders. I know it looked easier, but still riders were getting shelled.

K-Man,

That was a pretty tough race, so I wouldn't be too disappointed. It's a tight course, especially with the turn onto Mainstreet, and it was a huge field. You also had a bunch of the top Cat4s shooting it our for BAR points. As the other poster noted, it was a very civilized race, with only one guy laying his bike down in turn three -- he was fine. The final sprint was pretty impressive. I was on the front of the pack up the hill on Mainstreet pulling through for my teammate, who is contenting for the points lead in the BAR...I attacked up the hill, held up for a moment to give him the kick to get around on the sprint...but the swarm was huge! At least 15-20 guys hit it hard into turn three with everyone really keeping it clean. I hung on to the back of that pack and sat up on the downhill. It was a fun race. Pace was brisk, but not too brutal. Are you doing Bike Jam this weekend?

The sitting up was a-typical for these races -- a refreshing change...the sprint for 20th cost a teammate of mine a collar bone break last year at the Contes Crit Championship last yea in Norfolk. I was also surprised at the overall civility of the language in the field as well...no trash talking or screaming to teammates...it was very enjoyable. First time I've done that race...the city does a real nice job, my kids had a blast with the arts and crafts stuff that was set up.

Ride more - lately my riding time has dropped to about 3 hours a week. Need to find more time to ride and get my legs back.

KMan, if you can handle it mentally, the trainer is actually a pretty great place to get quick workouts in. While threshold/TT/MSPO/whatever you want to call it is important in all cycling diciplines, crits often depend on short bursts in the 1-4 minute range and not so much on whether you can still hold threshold power three hours in. Doing short, very hard intervals on the trainer is a great way to stay in shape to race crits.

And keep the reports coming... it's great to hear about your turn to the dark side!

Looks like you picked up on what I didn't as I seemed to have all my difficulty on the last turn. I am generally one of the faster down hillers on group rides but I wasn't carring as much speed as a lot of the others out of turn 4 and was having to play catch-up after each turn 4. I was always making up ground during the slight incline in town, but eventually turn 4 dropped me off the back and I was off the pack at that point on.

At least the good thing is I am learning something during each race I do and hopefully I will be able to put it all together someday soon.

Thanks,
KMan

in Elkton in your field. It was a big field, and the roads narrowed at times due to traffic calming measures that made curbs jut out into the road. Turn 1 was fine, turn two caused some problems, with the narrowing immediately after the turn. Turn 3 had the narrowing before the turn, and the 4th turn was wide open to set you up for the downhill back to the start.

I had some of the same difficulty as you, until I figured out to take the outside line for the last turn. You could carry more speed and were sheltered by riders to the right of you. I would then move up on the slight hill on Main street. Just by doing those things, my effort seemed to be greatly reduced. I was suffering before that. It was a fast race, considering the amount of braking that went on in the corners, and the lack of attacks.

The 4/5 race ended quite civilly as those not in contention sat up right after turn 3 on the last lap. NO foolish sprinting for those outside the top 20. I was glad to see that.

One note -
I marshalled at turn 3 for the womens, Mens 3/4 and Pro1,2,3 races.

The 3/4 race wasn't that different from ours as far as the turns went. They would bunch up and have to brake too. There was a a grumpy group that got away after several attempts. Rockville Harley always had someone to counter when the attacks were caught.

The Pro 1,2,3 race however, was a totally different kind of race. There were constant attacks that probably originated as they turned onto Main Street. That helped string out riders as teams moved to the front to chase. They NEVER had to brake! Some good aggressive riding by some strong riders. I know it looked easier, but still riders were getting shelled.

I am not planning on doing Bike Jam.....3 young kids, I have to pick and choose my race days to make sure family time happens as well.
My next race will probably be a MTB race (Hershey 6/18). I would also like to try the PA Masters Ctit race on 6/19, but not sure about back to back races.
After that the Brownstown Road Race and the Tour of Mt Nebo in July. Will keep my eye out for other "local" races in the area as I think the more I do the better off I will be.

KMan

K-Man,

That was a pretty tough race, so I wouldn't be too disappointed. It's a tight course, especially with the turn onto Mainstreet, and it was a huge field. You also had a bunch of the top Cat4s shooting it our for BAR points. As the other poster noted, it was a very civilized race, with only one guy laying his bike down in turn three -- he was fine. The final sprint was pretty impressive. I was on the front of the pack up the hill on Mainstreet pulling through for my teammate, who is contenting for the points lead in the BAR...I attacked up the hill, held up for a moment to give him the kick to get around on the sprint...but the swarm was huge! At least 15-20 guys hit it hard into turn three with everyone really keeping it clean. I hung on to the back of that pack and sat up on the downhill. It was a fun race. Pace was brisk, but not too brutal. Are you doing Bike Jam this weekend?

I was one of the very few prior to the start of the race that was not warming up on the trainer....I guess that is my MTB mentality. I need to start thinking "roadie" :)
Once the weather gets warmer I put the trainer away....My job allows me to get out and ride during lunch a few days a week, I am going to focus these rides as more of an intensity/intetrval type ride. The last few years I had started training in a structured format, but life has become more busy and I prettty much just ride to ride now with not much of a focus. I still put in base hours early in the year and switch over to some intensity, but nothing too structured. With that in mind and riding only 3-4 hours a week for the last 2 months or so I really am not that disappointed other than I dropped my hours down for not much of a reason. My focus now will be to pick up my riding time and add some more intensity.

Thanks,
KMan


KMan, if you can handle it mentally, the trainer is actually a pretty great place to get quick workouts in. While threshold/TT/MSPO/whatever you want to call it is important in all cycling diciplines, crits often depend on short bursts in the 1-4 minute range and not so much on whether you can still hold threshold power three hours in. Doing short, very hard intervals on the trainer is a great way to stay in shape to race crits.

And keep the reports coming... it's great to hear about your turn to the dark side!

K-man

On that course, which I think is true of any "technical" crit course (not that that one was really all that technical), what you'll find is that it's easier to ride at the front than further back. As soon as you're out of the top 10 or so, the accordian effect in the corners causes you to work harder. What's hard is remember that, and force yourself to keep moving up whenever you drop out of that sweet area at the front. Even knowing better, I still find myself getting complacent and the next thing I know I'm midpack and slowing down through the tight corners and draining myself on the accelerations out of them, which of course then makes it even harder to move up.

I am not planning on doing Bike Jam.....3 young kids, I have to pick and choose my race days to make sure family time happens as well.
My next race will probably be a MTB race (Hershey 6/18). I would also like to try the PA Masters Ctit race on 6/19, but not sure about back to back races.
After that the Brownstown Road Race and the Tour of Mt Nebo in July. Will keep my eye out for other "local" races in the area as I think the more I do the better off I will be.

KMan

Understand the kids issues...I've got them at 7 and 9 and we're running constantly. I ride for Evolution out of Northern Virginia...just joined this year, a great group of guys.

I definately was having to brake excessively into each corner and coming out of each was at a full sprint to catch back up. For the short time I was up front I was not agressive to keep that position (my key mistake). Also I noticed that a key rule in a road race of holding your line thru a turn is not one in a Crit. The line was swinging wide into each corner and cutting to the inside of the corner when going thru it. I had attempted several times to avoid the braking issue trying to be to the inside of the corner, but found myself be cutoff by almost everyone that was cutting to the inside thru the corner. Not a place I wanted to be so that is when I ended up in the back and shortly off the back.

Thanks for the info, hope to use it soon.
KMan


K-man

On that course, which I think is true of any "technical" crit course (not that that one was really all that technical), what you'll find is that it's easier to ride at the front than further back. As soon as you're out of the top 10 or so, the accordian effect in the corners causes you to work harder. What's hard is remember that, and force yourself to keep moving up whenever you drop out of that sweet area at the front. Even knowing better, I still find myself getting complacent and the next thing I know I'm midpack and slowing down through the tight corners and draining myself on the accelerations out of them, which of course then makes it even harder to move up.

Also I noticed that a key rule in a road race of holding your line thru a turn is not one in a Crit. The line was swinging wide into each corner and cutting to the inside of the corner when going thru it. I had attempted several times to avoid the braking issue trying to be to the inside of the corner, but found myself be cutoff by almost everyone that was cutting to the inside thru the corner.
KMan

Kind of depends on when you became the inside most rider.

If I'm the inside most guy coming to the corner then generally the group goes as wide as possible and then turns in (to hold as much speed as possible) my "line" would take me to the very inside of the corner next to the curb and then upon exiting I should be right where I was before we turned for the corner (i.e on the inside of the group).

What happens though in 4/5 races or even 3/4 races is guys (pretty much everybody seems to do it) try to make up spots by coming up the inside approaching the turn and diving to the inside. It's not that guys aren't holding their line, it's that riders move into their line way later than they should.

Just remember the inside rider is aiming for the apex of the turn, if someone suddenly appears on their inside they have to adjust their line, naturally the closer you get to the corner and the faster you move up on someone into that inside position the more offensive it becomes. It pretty much seems standard for the lower cats and no one gets too worked up about it unless you do something really blatantly dumb like come flying up the inside and dive really late for the apex which naturally gives the riders in the corner little time to adjust to your sudden presence.