So, i race for my college cycling team, but im really a triathlete, so my focus is extreme endurance at an even pace. So… had the first crit today, oh man, i realized why i love endurance sports, i put in about 300 mi a week (i have a lot of time), but a 20 mi crit where most of it is anaerobic sucks! I was wondering how other people find racing. I know itll make me faster, but i hate getting smoked by guys who burn out in 30 min, even if its not my sport (no matter what anyone says, triathlon isnt the sum of three sports, it is its own sport).
I just raced my first Crit today as well! I have been doing Triathlons for a year now so this was something COMPLETELY different. It went well because I did “C’s” and they weren’t as fast (or dangerous) as “A’s” or “B’s”. But, I do think it is silly that everyone is fairly relaxed for a while in a big pack and then sprints at the very end. It was fun to try something different. I have another crit tomorrow.
Who do you race for? I race for Virginia Tech.
i’m gonna be experiencing the same thing, starting in a few weeks. my school’s cycling club will be racing these 12 mile crit races, and i’m not looking forward to getting burned out. i’m trying to train for crit-style surges and anaerobic work, but like you, i’m a distance guy, no doubt about it.
like wolffan, i’ll be racing cat-5 because my team has never raced before, so i’m hoping that if i attack early and try to maintain a high pace, nobody’ll be able to suck my wheel and i’ll basically be able to time trial to the finish.
by the way, i race for Case Western Reserve University
Great plan! Let us know how your first race was! 
It’s nice to have a dream. What was it George Peppard used to say in “The A Team”? “I LOVE it when a plan comes together”? Here’s hoping the wheel doesn’t fall off yours.
Hey Vidaeboa,
I’d recommend a much different tact for your first race. Trust me, unles you are some TT animal or the group is average, you will not likely be able to TT off the front and stay solo. My biggest strength is my TT abilities and I cannot do that. I have won crits, but never off the front. The pack will unite and hunt you down. Consider staying somewhere around the top 10-12 riders. If an attack starts, you want to be near it. You also do not want to be the guy running it down. Use the racers to your advantage. Draft off of them as much as possible. As you near the finish, say 1-2 laps to go, slowly move yourself forward. You want to be around 4-6 guys off the front just before the sprint starts. Then feed off their draft and attack. Good luck. Crits are very cool.
Dude…a little advice…unless your CAT 5 racers are a joke…there is no way you can TT off the front of a pack like that…might work for a lap, but when they are done shaking their heads…they are gonna reel you in like a big fish…i know, cause i tried it.
A crit basically just turns into a sprint. Just sit in the top 1/4 of the pack and suck wheel until the last lap. When the pace starts to pick up just keeping sitting in. Relax and when the final lap rolls around just try to be somewhere near the front 10 guys. From there it’s all positioning and sprinting the last 200 yds. If you try to TT by yourself the more experienced guys will let you dangle out in the wind until your damn near dead then they will crank up the pace, swallow you whole and spit you out the back.
“A crit basically just turns into a sprint.”
In general, maybe. but beware. In the collegiate and USCF crits we had last weekend, all four of the races I saw had a small group (6-10) get off the front and the winner come from a break from that group.
Strong people in the break and no organization in the group. The point is a 1 person breakaway is not going to win a crit. A 4 person breakaway generally isn’t going to win.
haha, trying to see him fall on his a$$.
seriously, did my first road race last weekend, and what amazes me is the top end on these guys. since i raced Cs most of them dont have much endurance (totally destroyed after the 1 lap) but had a much better top end than me, so I got shot out the back after making the mistake of letting myself end up at the end of the pack (its a friggen slinky back there.)
my advice for the crit guy would be to just try to sit in the lead group… that is enough of a challenge. it will be eye opening.
Mark