Booger

I'm debating entering my first crit this weekend. The course is two blocks from my house on roads that I ride every day. I expect to be dropped rather quickly, but I'd really like to finish the short race. As you can see here, the course is very straightforward with 90 degree turns and only a small ascent/descent. However, being < 1/2 mile long and grouped with the cat 4's, I fear that I will get lapped and pulled within a few minutes time.

For a 30 minute crit on the course above, I'd guesstimate the Cat 5 pace to be around 23-25mph? What do you think?

my58vw

I have seen average speeds in cat 5 or 23 - 26 average...

One word --- draft --- no overlapped wheels

MDcatV

most common new racer quetion, what will the average speed of X race be. except for point to point TTs, average speed means nothing in racing.

racing, espeically crit racing, is about accelerating and recovering while still going fast. in a 4-corner, 30' crit, assuming 2'/lap, you'll do about 60 5" to 10" hard jumps, slow, corner, jump, slow, corner, jump etc. that'll be what stresses you, not the "average pace" as your "average pace" will be some combination of 20 mph/30mph/15mph/30mph, and so on. understand?

merlinextraligh

Odds are pretty good you will be dropped, lapped and pulled. But everyone has to start somewhere.

Look at the sticky thread on starting racing.

If you've done some fast group rides, and are comfortable with your bike handling, sign up and give it a go.

waterrockets 

Do it. Be aggressive, as the race is much easier if you're in the front 10 or 20. You'll last longer if you pay in advance by maintaining your position up front.

substructure

Like WR said, up front is where it's at. Trust me. Once you start dangling in the back, you'll soon see yourself struggling to hold on. After each corner you'll be sprinting to hold on. But 4th or 5th wheel and spinning through the turns you'll be more at ease.

Don't overlap wheels. Stay off the brakes (easier said then done). Don't burn through your matches (you have 5 and use them wisely). And forget about the speeds. Be smart. Be relaxed. Be having teh fun.

If you get dropped and lapped, so be it. If they let you stay out, finish the race. Use it for training.

umd

+Infinity to everyone that says average speed is meaningless and will be impossible to predict. The last cat 4 crit I did was 26mph, and the cat 5 crit on that course was 22mph. But last year I was in the cat 5 crit on that course and the speed was 28mph until I was dropped. Actually almost everyone in that race was dropped, I think only 10 people of 50 finished it without being pulled.

umd

I disagree. In a road race, sure stay out and finish the race. In a crit, get the f**k off the course. I watched some guys totally get in the way in the corners several times in crits when someone they weren't pulled (even though the refs were pulling people). If you do stay on the course, be very careful of where the race is and make sure you are nowhere near the corners when they come through. And if you are going to be near the corner, stay way off the racing line.

substructure

My bad. I would agree. Inexperienced riders may want to exit the course. Some of the cat 4 races I've done we had no problems out of the lapped riders. They all stayed right and there were no issues.

umd

Yeah, a cat 4 race may be less of a problem. This was a cat 5 race (or it may have been a masters 4/5 race), and the guys that were getting lapped were going so much slower that the race came up on them very quickly (part of the reason I think they may not have gotten pulled), and they ended up in the corner right as the race was coming through. But they obviously had no concept of the racing line and when the field came through they were yelled at by the guy in front and ended up scattering over the corner, one inside, one outside, and one in the middle. It was a clusterf**k.

Psimet2001 

Speaking from extensive experience OTB I usually love it when I don't get pulled. Have a sense of where the field is - look back down a straight before leaving it to see if the pack is coming aroudn the corner yet, do some math and figure out about when they'll be bearing down on you, if you're plugging away and don't need the extra speed through the corners (OTB remember) then take the wide/outside line just in case you missed someone behind you....etc.

Yesterday during the open cat Masters 30+ MJH2 and I even pulled over and stopped on the back straight. It was the last lap and we knew that if we continued on the pack would be catching us in the last 2 tight turns before the start/finish - and there was no outside line to hide in those corner....and they were cooking with gas.

They passed and we finished the race. DFL but that would have happened anyway. This from a couple of 5's.

Then again earlier in the day I got dropped 5 spots on the placings because some lapped riders finished with us in the field and were never put a lap down. Doesn't mean anything, but it would have been nicer for me if they had been pulled. In the end it doesn't matter though.

bostongarden

If you feel like it, go for it; you'll probably have fun...I agree with many of the comments made above. Odds are the race will go out fast; indeed, try to stay up as far as you can for as long as you can...and remember, when up front and you begin to fade, you will still be with the pack a bit, whereas, if you dropoff after pulling up the back, you're "off the back"....look to draft often...don't worry about not taking a pull, should you even be in that position...if you are off the back, watch for folks coming around to lap you and move out of the way -- depending on the course, it may not be necessary to drop out -- and then look to latch on to a wheel again and see how long you can stick, but, don't disrupt anyone coming around and lapping you, should you be lapped...stay cool and relaxed...don't fear the pain of high exertion and concern yourself with saving something in the bank for later...pain and sticking with the pack is better than getting dropped and not having enough "saved" energy to get back on...expect lots of accelerating, slow down, accelerate, slow down, etc....good luck should you race.