How do you think 20 mile crit races help in improving fitness for triathlons? I entered my second crit ever (Cat4) and won first time on bike. I think I am hooked. It is soo much fun to race in mid week! Here in Fort Worth they have them up every Wed.
I love the rush that I dont get in Tris.
if you enjoy it thats awesome and since you are spending time on the bike that a plus so…keep it up
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I think as long as the races are populatad with human beings who know how to ride, you’re fine. I stopped racing here in Maryland becuase every guy Cat5-Cat1 thought they were Lance Armstrong and kept pulling some truly legendarily stupid shit.
Crits are great training. This year I started road racing again along with my duathlons. I race crits regularly as well as some Road races and TTs. I find they are great training, in that they get some high speed miles in the legs. Yes you are in a pack, so you aren’t working as hard all the time, but the gas-brake-gas-brake is a great interval workout on the bike.
Just be smart about who you ride around, I’ve been in two crashes this year, one in a road race (guy two people up from me locked up his front wheel, went down, next guy hit him, my wheel hit the bike of guy #2 and I went full front flip over the bars and landed on top of guy number 1, no road rash, just a lil stiff and sore for a few days), one in a crit (not due to sketchy riders or riding, I had a mechanical in a corner and slid out, lots of road rash, some bruising). I love road racing though, the tactics make it much more interesting than tri/du. In that in multisport, only a small group of people have the ability to win. In a bike race, most people within the field have a shot at it, depending on how the race turns out tactically.
if I ever go back to tri then will let you know - turned into a crit junkie and can’t stop
my TT’s not that great cause I mostly train for crits and there is definitely something to specificity. i don’t imagine that an occassional crit would hurt your tris. the overall training load is not much different from a 40K TT (a little less depending on how you ride it) it’s just that the variation in power outputs are not as steady due to the constant accelerations in crits.
Thats awesome Jason that you like it so much. In our B race there is most of guys that I rode with at various times and they seem pretty safe. I wanna race all the way till Sept when the series is over. They give out $$ so today I got $35 for $10 entry fee. Pretty cool! I also found out that I definitely have to upgrade my frame as my $800 Allez just screams in the sprints. I notice I get really nervous before the pream laps and in in final lap. I just forget all about the work day for a little while so it is worth it for me.
yep the final lap is always crazy and where you have to stay poised - another lil tip is to ride your drops as much as possible or in the corners so there is less chance of hooking bars
a lil extra dough for gas or lunch always helps - one race this year I got $110 and missed a nice wheel set by a bike length 
anyway have fun with it and keep the rubber side down
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