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Am I physically ready to attempt my first cat 5 crit?

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Am I physically ready to attempt my first cat 5 crit?

Old 08-25-15, 09:01 PM
  #26  
Radish_legs
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To be fair to myself, my 20 minute peak power is probably a low estimate since it is derived from group rides and tooling around outside. I've not done a full-on 20 minute power test. But still it's not going to be a lot higher than what I posted. And I've lost 5 pounds or so in the past month, so I think I'm headed in the right direction.

Like I said before, I'll try the track first most likely. More suited to me I think.
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Old 08-25-15, 09:06 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by mikewaters
To be fair to myself, my 20 minute peak power is probably a low estimate since it is derived from group rides and tooling around outside. I've not done a full-on 20 minute power test. But still it's not going to be a lot higher than what I posted. And I've lost 5 pounds or so in the past month, so I think I'm headed in the right direction.

Like I said before, I'll try the track first most likely. More suited to me I think.
20 minute peak power is to crits/track what your favorite color is to your cooking skills. Not terribly important. Stuff is ON/off/ON/off/ON/off in 30-60 second bursts with the occasional 2 minutes of hell thrown in.
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Old 08-25-15, 09:23 PM
  #28  
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The OP's question brings to mind a line from the movie Animal House: Do it, do it, ... , do it ... Or was it toga, toga....? Whatever, go race, come back to post about it and commiserate, and then go race some more. You could even say something like yolo.
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Old 08-25-15, 09:49 PM
  #29  
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If I do it this season, I'll definitely post about it here. I can already envision it.

"Was in the back third, trying not to get in the wind. Got behind the wrong wheel, and gap opened up. Decided not to bridge. Gap got big and I realized these were the guys off the back permanently. Made huge effort to bridge. Gassed. Next acceleration came and I was off the back. Soft-pedaled and watched the race unfold."
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Old 08-25-15, 10:02 PM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by Racer Ex
This. Crits are about knowing how to race. You can win on puny numbers.
sounds like you're saying they are "easy"!
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Old 08-26-15, 05:03 AM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by Racer Ex
Stuff is ON/off/ON/off/ON/off in 30-60 second bursts with the occasional 2 minutes of hell thrown in.
Oh...so very very much this.
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Old 08-26-15, 05:06 AM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by mikewaters
If I do it this season, I'll definitely post about it here. I can already envision it.

"Was in the back third, trying not to get in the wind. Got behind the wrong wheel, and gap opened up. Decided not to bridge. Gap got big and I realized these were the guys off the back permanently. Made huge effort to bridge. Gassed. Next acceleration came and I was off the back. Soft-pedaled and watched the race unfold."
This would be a huge tactical mistake. If you're near the back, bridge immediately. The only question about whether to bridge is if people *go off the front*, never off the back.
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Old 08-26-15, 09:32 AM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by mikewaters
Like I said before, I'll try the track first most likely. More suited to me I think.
How do you know til you try?
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Old 08-26-15, 10:32 AM
  #34  
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I've done training on the track. But you are right, I have never tried a crit or real track racing. So no real basis for comparison.
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Old 08-26-15, 10:33 AM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by mikewaters
If I do it this season, I'll definitely post about it here. I can already envision it.

"Was in the back third, trying not to get in the wind. Got behind the wrong wheel, and gap opened up. Decided not to bridge. Gap got big and I realized these were the guys off the back permanently. Made huge effort to bridge. Gassed. Next acceleration came and I was off the back. Soft-pedaled and watched the race unfold."
Too much thinking, not enough doing. Crit, track, whatever, do whichever one first that is most convenient, not the one you think will suit you better. Your intuitions about what kind of rider you are, having not raced, are going to be pretty poorly tuned. For example, before I started racing, I thought I was going to be a pure climber because I am small and light, and that I would not enjoy or do well in crits. As it turned out, while I can train my FTP to acceptable levels, it's not a natural strength of mine. I was decent at crits right away. Road races require a lot more work for me to be competitive. I hear this same kind of thing from other people, too. Some people do correctly guess at their strengths and weaknesses before starting, but it's kind of like guessing a coin flip - if you're right, it's more due to chance than knowledge. Just go for it.
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Old 08-26-15, 10:52 AM
  #36  
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"I thought I was a climber until I started racing" -- I've heard that a bunch.
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Old 08-26-15, 11:02 AM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by mikewaters
To be fair to myself, my 20 minute peak power is probably a low estimate since it is derived from group rides and tooling around outside. I've not done a full-on 20 minute power test. But still it's not going to be a lot higher than what I posted. And I've lost 5 pounds or so in the past month, so I think I'm headed in the right direction.

Like I said before, I'll try the track first most likely. More suited to me I think.
Which track is local for you?
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Old 08-26-15, 11:05 AM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by globecanvas
"I thought I was a climber until I started racing" -- I've heard that a bunch.
I thought I was the only one..
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Old 08-26-15, 11:26 AM
  #39  
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I thought I sucked at climbing until I podiumed at Mount San Bruno HC this year. Compared to pure climbers, I am dead on arrival so it depends on who shows up.
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Old 08-26-15, 11:53 AM
  #40  
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i also learned how bad of a descender i am. i got dropped on the Wente descent. not the climb....the descent. who does that?
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Old 08-26-15, 11:53 AM
  #41  
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I thought I was a time trialer until I started racing.
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Old 08-26-15, 11:55 AM
  #42  
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I put off crit racing for 5 years, mainly because it was scary and people hyped it up more than it was. If you ask a lot of casual riders they'll compare Crit Racing to the Hunger Games, and that you'll probably die before you upgrade to a 4. Things happen, but I would say the risk factor is marginally worse than a group ride.

Don't put it off for 5 years like I did and just try it out.
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Old 08-26-15, 12:23 PM
  #43  
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Originally Posted by furiousferret
I put off crit racing for 5 years, mainly because it was scary and people hyped it up more than it was. If you ask a lot of casual riders they'll compare Crit Racing to the Hunger Games, and that you'll probably die before you upgrade to a 4. Things happen, but I would say the risk factor is marginally worse than a group ride.

Don't put it off for 5 years like I did and just try it out.
this made me chuckle
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Old 08-26-15, 12:25 PM
  #44  
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I was always worried if i was "ready" for my first race. I would ride with the faster groups and try to compare my self to the racers. My experience is you just have to do it. The group rides I rode in behaved nothing like the road races I have done. In the group rides everyone rode one behind the other easy to predict what each other was going to do including when the attacks were going to come. In the races, it was more of a giant blob going down the road at a high speed with riders on either side of you. if even the smallest gap came between me and the wheel in front of me somone would jump in it and then i was another spot back. Also attacks wont come when your expecting because people will try to do it where they feel they are best. this may be at a hill, at the beginning of a turn, or in the middle of a straight. i got dropped my first two races. What I learned most was not that i was necessarily weaker but i had to get more comfortable being very close with people all around me and not just right in front and back. Also you learn to conserve energy. when closing a gap if you give a hard few pedals and then have to tap the brakes to keep from going into the guy in front of you, well then you spent a little to much energy. Also if you aren't taking the turns as fast as the others, that is also more energy you have to spend to get back up to speed. So my experience is you wont necessarily lose because of lack of power, but a misuse of the power.

Like everyone else said though, just go. I had the same amount of fun in the races i got dropped in, as i did in the races i was battling at the front.
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Old 08-26-15, 02:14 PM
  #45  
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Just remember that the set of riders who lose every race is starters -1.

Win/Lose/Draw, you better enjoy the actual moments of racing because amateur cycling really doesn't come with anything beyond that.
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Old 08-26-15, 02:38 PM
  #46  
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Originally Posted by globecanvas
"I thought I was a climber until I started racing" -- I've heard that a bunch.
I thought I was fast till I started racing.
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Old 08-26-15, 02:52 PM
  #47  
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I should have just stuck to the bike trail, my ego was inflated as ****....on your lefts all day erryday.
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Old 08-26-15, 03:02 PM
  #48  
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Originally Posted by bbbean
I thought I was fast till I started racing.
I knew I was slow before I started racing.
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Old 08-26-15, 03:57 PM
  #49  
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I know lots of fit and fast guys that thought that racing was going to be easy. And it wasn't. An early Elvis Costello lyric sums it up:

Why don't you tell me about the mystery dance
I want to know about the mystery dance
Why don't you show me
'Cause I've tried and I've tried, and I'm still mystified
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
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Old 08-26-15, 06:39 PM
  #50  
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Originally Posted by mollusk
I know lots of fit and fast guys that thought that racing was going to be easy. And it wasn't. An early Elvis Costello lyric sums it up:

Why don't you tell me about the mystery dance
I want to know about the mystery dance
Why don't you show me
'Cause I've tried and I've tried, and I'm still mystified
I can't do it anymore and I'm not satisfied
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