First, thank you everyone who have posted information about criterium racing. I was extremely nervous and apprehensive going to my first one. It was not that bad.
I raced at the weekly crit race at Great Irvine Park, once the El Toro Marine Base. It’s a 1.5 mile course around the tarmac. The turns are not that bad. I had about 30 minutes to ride the course and warm-up prior to the start. There were 5 turns to the right and 1 turn to the left. In the Cat 4/5 group, we had about 35 riders. I started and stayed pretty much in the middle. It didn’t start too fast, but quickly picked up speed. Riding in the peloton, I found I was rolling with ease, and fast! I actually stopped pedaling and was still moving forward relative to the other riders. I can say I felt good holding my line on the straights, working my way into small gaps that opened and no one else was taking them. But the turns were more challenging to navigate. On the third turn I found myself in the unfortunate position of the inside on the turn. I had to slow and carefully watch other riders while controlling my own turn. Mind you, we were going into the turn at 23-24 mph. That action moved me to the back end of the pack. Then another turn came up quickly, maybe 200 meters from the 1st. That was when I failed to accelerate hard enough to keep up, and thus, I was dropped from the group. And once the wind and air catches you, there is no catching up. I lasted 7 minutes before I was dropped. Very unspectacular, but I learned a lot in just that first race. And I was allowed to continue riding after being dropped. On a side note, I noticed my hands and feet were getting numb ¾ of the way through. My total distance for the ride over 50 minutes was just over 15-miles. Yet when I do a distance ride of 39 miles, I don’t have that problem. Any thoughts?
So that was my experience with my first crit race. If any of you are feeling apprehensive about trying a crit race for the first time, just go, and be sure to tell the people where you register that it is your first time. I found everyone to be quite friendly. Please ask questions and offer comments. If I had to offer one strategy from what I learned, that corner that you want to take slow because either you are turning into the wind or a slight elevation, that is where you need to accelerate and accelerate hard. If you can keep up, you’ll get a chance for fatigue recovery on the straight.
I raced at the weekly crit race at Great Irvine Park, once the El Toro Marine Base. It’s a 1.5 mile course around the tarmac. The turns are not that bad. I had about 30 minutes to ride the course and warm-up prior to the start. There were 5 turns to the right and 1 turn to the left. In the Cat 4/5 group, we had about 35 riders. I started and stayed pretty much in the middle. It didn’t start too fast, but quickly picked up speed. Riding in the peloton, I found I was rolling with ease, and fast! I actually stopped pedaling and was still moving forward relative to the other riders. I can say I felt good holding my line on the straights, working my way into small gaps that opened and no one else was taking them. But the turns were more challenging to navigate. On the third turn I found myself in the unfortunate position of the inside on the turn. I had to slow and carefully watch other riders while controlling my own turn. Mind you, we were going into the turn at 23-24 mph. That action moved me to the back end of the pack. Then another turn came up quickly, maybe 200 meters from the 1st. That was when I failed to accelerate hard enough to keep up, and thus, I was dropped from the group. And once the wind and air catches you, there is no catching up. I lasted 7 minutes before I was dropped. Very unspectacular, but I learned a lot in just that first race. And I was allowed to continue riding after being dropped. On a side note, I noticed my hands and feet were getting numb ¾ of the way through. My total distance for the ride over 50 minutes was just over 15-miles. Yet when I do a distance ride of 39 miles, I don’t have that problem. Any thoughts?
So that was my experience with my first crit race. If any of you are feeling apprehensive about trying a crit race for the first time, just go, and be sure to tell the people where you register that it is your first time. I found everyone to be quite friendly. Please ask questions and offer comments. If I had to offer one strategy from what I learned, that corner that you want to take slow because either you are turning into the wind or a slight elevation, that is where you need to accelerate and accelerate hard. If you can keep up, you’ll get a chance for fatigue recovery on the straight.