I suppose the quality of the field depends on where you are, but that's pretty normal for a crit. The Cat 1,2,pro race isn't that much faster, just better riders and a longer race, and sometimes more tactics. But, it's a totally different fitness than what we develop for triathlons. You have to be able to sprint out of every corner, that was my experience at least.

BTW, great user name. My favorite book!

Chris

Webcor, Shmebcor. I get crap for hairy legs myself. Only thing you can do about it is beat'em. Takes a little practice though.

I recommend that you look for a 'weekday' race series in your area. They're often a little less competitive. 4/5 races are tough if you're a newbie since there's probably a good amount of 4's who have enough points to cat up and keep the pace up, so looking for a '5 only' race may be a good option also. Generally speaking, I wouldn't have gone near a Crit as my first bike race. I'm a Cat 5 myself and waited for a while before I stuck my nose in there. Glad I did.

Also, it's August and people have been doing crits all spring/summer long, so their legs are used to it. A little different from a steady-state effort, I'd say. Stick w/ it though- you'll see the light and drop this swimming and running nonsense! :-)

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Josef
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Maybe you can find a weekday afterwork type crit with a "first timers" start. The local race here has a first timer start with a little instruction that's separate from cat 4/5. Someone can be Cat 4 forever, Cat 5's move up after 10 races. I've had a couple of friends start bike racing after doing well in tri's. They both were pulled from their first races after going off the back. The whole team thing is a little intimidating but a team jersey doesn't mean someone is that good. The team might not have any minimum standard except the ability to pay for the jersey. Riding with a group of road racers on hard training rides will get you used to much faster pace and surges that are foreign to many triathletes.

I also thought that Cat 5 meant slow... no it just means you haven't raced very much... My first race was a real wakeup call as to how fast I was NOT and how much further to go... depressing but inspiring and motivating at the same time...


Sorry you had such a bad experience but I would say stick with it and you should have some good experiences...

Is crit racing detrimental to tri training? Or could you subsitiute it for an interval/tempo day? How do you train for crits?

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"One thing I have found there are just two ways to go
It all comes down to livin' fast or dyin' slow"- Robert Earlk Keen Jr.

You are at the end of the season here (NorCal). I highly suggest you come out to the Early Bird series this winter. They do an hour of instruction and then they do training races and I believe they split up the Cat 5s into "done +5 races" and "under 5 races". Great way to learn the skills and get some experience. Info will be here: http://www.ncnca.org/

clm

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

I don't see how racing crits (or any other sort of road-type race) could be anything but good for triathlon. My first crit was exactly the same as the original poster's - I got dropped and limped in alone. I'm back this year and I've learned that in order to ride faster in races I must ride faster in training. That's not to say that every workout is fast, but I try to do at least two tempo rides (or at least rides with tempo intervals in them) every week. It's made a HUGE difference in all of my riding (tri or road).

Personally, I don't train for Crits. I consider Crits to be training for racing.

sweet, that's what I wanted to hear.

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"One thing I have found there are just two ways to go
It all comes down to livin' fast or dyin' slow"- Robert Earlk Keen Jr.

I'm in Northern California... It was a race in Suisun. Looking back I was foolish for not posting this question before I went to the race. That said, I'm glad I did it... I now know what level of fitness I don't have, the sprint out of the corners was very impressive. My biggest regret was not knowing the rules before the race; I could have hung on longer if I knew I was going to get booted.

My feeling is being able to cycle faster can only help you...

If you can ride in a crit you are going to have a lot of high. i think that it would be a great substitute for a interval day... in turn intervals make very good training for crits... but nothing would substiute racing...

If you're Hank, can I be Dagny?

Bike-only racing, particularly crits, can be an eye-opener. The speeds can be daunting, until you learn how to ride at a very fast speed (which is just as much skill as fitness). I would venture that if you a triathlete with average fitness, you are just as fit as the majority of the riders in your crit race. They, however, know how to ride at 25+ mph for an hour, whereas you do not. Ask them to do a tri, even a short sprint or Olympic distance event, and they'd fry, I bet.

The problem for most triathletes trying to bike race is a lack of explosive speed. A crit is all about short explosive acceleration, followed by short recoveries, followed by more explosive accelerations. Repeat this formula for an hour or so.

I found the best way to prepare, other than racing a lot, is short max effort intervals and sprint intervals. Also, practice bike handling skills, such as cornering, pack riding, bumping shoulders and hips. Crit riding is an entirely different skill set.

One of the most impressive displays by a triathlete I have witnessed was in a crit. this triathlete, with basically no bike racing expereince, shows up to a crit and proceeds to time trial off the front. Very impressive. But not very many of us have the sheer horsepower to do that. And, since the pack didn't know the guy they let him go.

Good luck with your next race. Don't get discouraged. Although, for me, what you described is exactly why I quit bike racing and got into triathlon. I think the people are also nicer on this side of the fence.

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*****
"In case of flood climb to safety"

I got into bike racing by doing crits. I loved them. Wrestling on a bike!

But, I don't think you should do any more crits because you are much more likely to get injured. If you've spent $450 or more on an IM entry and a few hundred on plane tickets, to say nothing of about 500 hours of serious training, you should be very selective about what things you do. And CAT 4/5 is like demolition derby. Most of those guys have more testosterone than skills. We used to have 2 or 3 crashes a race back in the '70's when I raced in McLean and College Park. I still have a funny left hip and left shoulder from those days. :)

If you want to go faster, buy a Power Tap, or Ergomo, or similar power measuring device and get on Dr. Arnie Baker's plan or some other coach's training.

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

are the way to go for getting started in crits. You take a mentored skills clinic before the race. During the race, mentors ride in the pack with you and coach you during the race. They don't pull you if you get dropped at the early birds because they are learning races. You can jump back into the pack as they lap you during the first few races of the series.

www.velopromo.com should have info.

most of the cat 4/5 crits I've been in have been won by 5's. We usually caught and smoked the 4's in road races. In the 5's a 6 foot gap is considered a breakaway and everybody chases. More sanity prevails as you move up.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
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