Racing cat 5

Originally Posted by azdroptop

Around here as I'm sure many other places a lot of Non-Cat 5 guys race Cat 5 for whatever reason.

Originally Posted by Eden

How so? Around here it goes by what your license says - if its a USCF race, which most are, you don't get to race down and they do check your license. You can request to be downgraded, but not for just one race and masters get some leeway. If you are over a certain age you can race masters D's no matter what your cat is.

Originally Posted by azdroptop

Stuff like, Ah, I forgot my license so they go with a one day pass and there you go.

Originally Posted by Eden

Hmmm - hard to get away with that around here. They've always got a list of all of the WA registered riders so if you forget your license they look you up. Sure you can fudge it and say you don't have a license or a WSBA #, but we mostly all know one another, maybe not really personally, but by sight at least so it would be hard to cheat

Originally Posted by tonyzackery

Eden, you race crits at Seward Park?? Just wondering...

Originally Posted by CDAKIAHONDA

So...everyone bring your WSBA numbers and licence to Mason Lake, Okay?

Originally Posted by Eden

I don't care for Seward Park too much - I'm just a little thing, being a 5' tall, 103lb woman and I feel a little too vulnerable in that crowd of cat5 guys..... Sometimes riding with the guys is cool, but Seward tends to draw out the real serious newbies and it's just a little too nuts for me to want to risk myself or my bike. I've done it a few times, but never really felt all that comfortable. The second time one of the guys who had taken the newbie class wiped out during the class and was riding around all scraped up and bleeding. Not really the best thing to build my confidence in the pack. Plus last year at least, the women's series at Pacific Raceways was on Thursdays too so I was there a lot (I won that series )

Originally Posted by BikerScott

I am far from an expert as this past year was my first year riding and racing (Cat 5) but I quickly found out that average speed means very little in a race. My first race had horrid weather conditions (rain and nasty wind) so everyone was slower. I also hadn't done a lot of group rides so I had no idea how nice of an impact drafting would have. Even with it being a flat ride there are still a lot of things that would impact speed (headwind/tailwind, are you in group or riding by yourself, is the group working together or against each other,etc...)

My suggestion would be to just go out and have fun. Try to watch what others are doing and learn from them.

Originally Posted by daveydave

= So here here's my question:

• Given a typical US based Cat 4 / 5 crit
• Extremely flat or rolling / 40 - 45 minutes
• Peleton averaging your typical 24 - 25 mph
• Assume a race of 40 - 50 with a pack of 20 - 30 riders in the main group.
• Assume the rider is taking his or her pulls and not just sucking wheel.
• Assume the rideris fair - good but not 100% efficient at drafting. Drafting as your average Cat 4/5 rider.

Such as, I don't typically ride more than x MPH on my hard solo rides, but I'm able to stay with a 24 to 26mph group for Y minutes.

dave

Originally Posted by CDAKIAHONDA

Worried about getting dropped? Crit racing is about power and position. I don't know what you mean by hard rides, but good training for crits is about muscular endurance. You need to improve your ability to hit it hard and recover. Try doing sets of hard efforts at or just above your anarobic threshhold, followed by recovery periods. Start at numbers based on your fitness level, say 2-5 minute intervals followed by 1-2 minute rests, 4-8 reps followed by a longer rest, and another set. Don't do this everyday, just once a week or so. Get more specific with someone who can advise you "personally," not just "generally" in a forum.

Position is the other key, don't ever "pull a crit" unless your hammering it from the gun in order to blow the poorly warmed up off the back. Attack it. Secondly, look for the key point of the course, usually crits are won into the last corner, but they can also be won on small climbs etc...while many crits end in a sprint, WAITING for a bunch sprint is fine for losers or those protecting GC, but certainly not optimum. Be proactive if you have the fitness, and if you use team tactics in a four race, you'll be in the minority and at a great advantage. Hammer it in turns, and you'll watch the other aggressive riders blow themselves up in the chase, just be willing to sacrifice your own chance for a "team win."

Average speed is worthless, I won two state championships in the fours, and the average speeds in the threes is not always higher, but the accelerations and the attacks come more often, and harder. In local club races I am grouped with the pro-one-twos, and it is even more brutal. The "average won't hurt you, the attack will."

have fun and be willing to suffer.

Originally Posted by daveydave

When you first started riding crits did you have a moment where you stopped to think, "Hey, I can't believe the pace is 25mph and it feels like my usual training runs at 22 mph / or X mph!" What is the typical speed advantage of riding in such a large group vs. a solo effort?

Dave