a lot of posts about crits and other road races involve mention of making sure to position yourself well within the pack. people say “try to be towards the front, without being in the wind”, and that makes sense.
what i would like to know is this: how do you put yourself into that position? what if nobody lets you in? is it just a question of being aggressive?
i have this terrible vision of myself at my first rr tomorrow, riding the entire time in the wind, next to the front end of the pack.
try to stay in the top 1/3 of the pack in a rr. In a crit I like to jump off the line and get out ahead of the pack in case of a crash in the first corner. then I try to stay in the top 5-10 depending upon the size of the field. If the race is really fast the field will string out early if not it will bunch up.
Gotta be a little pushy! 
Many times road racers ride together (based on deals made before the race) and those + the team riders tend to be hard to convince… but it comes down to who wants it more so… YES, YOU CAN RIDE IN THE PACK W/O A BUDY/HELP IF YOU POSITION WELL FROM THE BEGINNING AND THEN HOLD ON TO THAT POSITION!
Good luck!
And keep in mind that once you get near the front you have to be vigilant and active to stay there - you won’t just get a spot in the front 1/3 of the pack and sit there for the rest of the race. Generally, the middle of the pack is moving backwards while the sides are moving forward. If you find yourself moving backwards, look for the wheel of someone moving forward and get on it if there’s room. It’s okay to make room, but don’t be overly aggressive. Many people speak of using elbows - this simply means “pointing” your elbows out without moving your hands from the bars. That way, your arms will contact the rider next to you before your bars do. If you’ve never seen two guys get there bars hooked together in a crit, just wait, you will and will quickly understand why this is an important technique to learn. I guess what I’m saying is using your elbows doesn’t mean the race should turn into a WWF match - it’s a valid way to get position and is also safer for everyone involved.
I’m guessing you are new to racing so you’ll be racing with Cat 5 racers.
One rule of thumb, if you are not moving forward, you’ll be moved to the back.
You’ll see people moving up on either side of you. For every person you see go up, that’s how many riders you’ve gone backwards. For new racers, it is hard to follow all the activity to race smart.
You need to watch, in no certain order:
The wheel you are on. The front of the pack for accelerations/decelerations. People moving up to attack. The terrain to ensure you are in the right gear.
Racing smart include becoming comfortable with pack riding. You obviously have to watch the guy right in front of you but if you wait for him to accelerate to catch the front of the pack, the front will already be moving 2-4 mph faster than you are. You’ll have to go even faster to catch them, i.e. work harder. You need to watch the front so that you are already accelerating when they do. This is where you can move up in the race as many others will not proactive. You’ll be able to slip past them with relative ease. Staying at the front is a habit, it takes some experience to practice that habit.
Pack dynamics are not static, you can’t just go somewhere and stay put. Maybe it’s a little different for me (I’m still in IV’s but about to upgrade to III’s), but I don’t think you can muscle your way in to where you want to be, because if you think that’s where you want to be, so do about 10 other people and it can get crowded. It just takes a little finesse and patience. You have to see the conditioning of the people around you, almost always there is someone who has left a little gap, who subconsciously wants someone to fill it so they don’t have to bridge. If there’s not, be sure to try to move up when the pace slows, and be carefull to protect yourself from the wind (i.e. if the wind is not a direct headwind (15-45+ degrees) move up the side of the pack that is protected). Mostly, it comes down to practice. Last laps and prime laps, you just have to be prepared to work harder to get your spot (stay in the wind longer when moving up). There’s a million different scenarios - so the more you practice - the easier it gets to put yourself in the “right” position - E
Also, in the case of road races, if you do find yourself in the front of the group and taking a pull, resist the urge to just start hammering all out. Otherwise the pack is liable to sit on and let you dangle out there in the wind all day.
The dynamics change for different groups. Back when I was racing 4’s and 5’s it seemed that nobody wanted to be on the front, the racing was negative, where if someone attacked they would immediately chase back to them and then just sit on. In Cat 3 (or 35+) there is a lot more team dynamics, and many racers will work tempo on the front to keep the pace relatively high. I would try to stay in the front of the field, but not at the front, unless you are chasing and dont attack or try to bridge more than 3-4 times. Also pay attention to crosswinds, you always want to move up on the side shielded from the wind, attacks in a crosswind can easily split the group so make sure you are near the front if the group is turning say from a headwind to crosswind.
KR