T-wrecks wrote:
More so, this is where triathletes that want to try bike racing go crash. Leave bike racers out of this.
I was a cyclist racer in my youth. Criteriums were my absolutely favorite for the adrenaline factor. We were fortunate in my area that we had a local, informal practice race every week. I did those along with every real race I could find. I had a crapton of experience. I was an aggressive and successful criterium racer. I raced short cranks and found pedals with the steepest cornering angle, because I sprinted through the corners. If you did not crash occasionally (frequently?), you weren't trying hard enough. I liken criteriums to short course speed skating, except the criterium crashes are bloodier.
Now, I would strongly discourage a triathlon rider from even thinking about entering a criterium. They are absolute mayhem.