TakingMyTime

Does anyone here do the Crit rides on Tuesday nights at El Dorado Park in Long Beach?

marquhar

TmT,

you will see several A level riders from Lightning Velo and Velo Allegro doing Cat 4-5 or Masters.

The day I tried the Cat 4-5 there were some college competitive team riders (maybe Harvey Mudd) and the pace was over my ability. To get an idea, in the back stretch of the circuit, after the sharp turn, they sprinted over 30 MPH up the false flat. They know they can recover a bit getting back to the start line so they go redline.

If you are new to Crits, there are plenty of inexperienced Crit riders every week, so don't be shy. There is no shame in getting dropped.

I don't plan to try this anymore as my fitness level fell after 2013.

If you can do the NYD ride in recent years or if you can stay up with an A level peloton, you should be good to go.

TakingMyTime

marquhar,

Thanks for the info. I do know I'm a beginner (63 y/o) so I would be riding Cat 5 (the Cat 4-5 level race) but I'm just not sure I can hang at those speeds. Don't worry, I'm not shy or embarrassed about coming in last. It's just that I have to spend $75 on a license and then the entry fee is $16. This means I need to spend $91 just to give it a try to see if I like it. The greatest pull is that I just live on the other side of the freeway and it's about a 1/2 mile ride to the start line from my house. I think I'll head over next Tuesday just to watch and try and get a feel for it.

ZippyThePinhead

I have not taken part myself, but a friend with whom I ride occasionally is a regular. He's a few years older than me, so I believe he races in the Masters, and looking at his Strava feed, I see that his average speed for a hour-long race is 24-25 mph. He rides just about every day, both dirt and road, and in 2017 did about 7,000 miles with more than 380,000 feet of climbing (which works out to about 72 miles of ascent). Not to discourage you, but just to give you an idea of the competition...

TakingMyTime

I did take another look and I believe I can buy a 1 day license, but I still have to confirm that. As stated, I think I'll cruise on over this Tuesday and see what all the excitement is about. It just seems that since something like this is so close to my house, I should at least make the effort to determine if it's for me or not.

Now all I have to do is calculate in my mind how many times I would be lapped on a 1.7 mile course by someone doing 24-25 mph over an hours time. LOL, no worries, I ride for the fun of it.

Thanks for the info.

TakingMyTime

I went there yesterday to check out what it's all about. You can buy a day license for $10 and then $16 for a race. Although I would be considered a "Master", you cannot ride in that category unless you are CAT 4 or better. I would have to ride in a CAT 4/5 grouping. I sat and watched the race for about 50 minutes. From what I can tell, I'm going to need about 3 weeks of training before I try my first race, but I do think I will give it a shot. Although each group stays in a pretty well formed pack, there are many that drop behind and everyone seems to be having fun and doing the best they can.

furiousferret

It's not really training you'll need per se, but good pack riding skills. Riding efficiently on someones wheel is more important than pure watts.

I'm hoping to do a few this year; but its 60 miles so its a good 4 hour commitment.

TakingMyTime

I'm lucky since I only live about 1/2 mile from the park which makes it much more attractive. I do agree that my pack riding skills will need to be worked on. I really don't expect to be in the thick of it and most likely somewhere towards the rear where I can do less harm.

mwandaw

If you want to test your abilities without having to develop pack-riding skills, I think that most of the criterium races are preceded by a time trial competition.