Crit Racers?

NoNameNoNumber

NoNameNoNumber

NoNameNoNumber

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Joined
25 Nov 2009
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Any in here?
After riding with a Cat 3 going on 2 racer a couple of days ago I've found a burning desire to enter a race...
I've never competed in cycling and likely never trained to my strengths but it seems I have a good turn of pace (that he couldn't match) and happily bury myself there after which he says would get me in some tasty break aways.
My 5s peak power is 1600w on a Watt bike, although lately having lost interest I'm down to about 1450w which still gets me a healthy lead in various sprints we had, then once I have a 20m lead or so I hunker down and bust out 400w until I can no longer see him. He was complementary and shocked that a long distance triathlete could bury him... Genuinely one of my greatest days on the bike :)

So I've been watching YouTube, Crits seem to tickle my pickle. But how do I enter one? Or even find one to enter? It's a world I've never looked into but it's sparked a real interest in cycling again for me.

Power/weight as follows
20.71W/kg for 5s
3.88W/Kg for the hour
 
Get a British Cycling membership with a race license and get entering races?
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/membership

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events?search_type=upcomingevents&zuv_bc_event_filter_id[]=21

You will have a local circuit that crits are held, up here Lochgelly is a popular one for a series at the moment.

Start as a 4th cat and earn points to move up categories:

12 points to 3rd cat
30 points to 2nd cat

Most road races are Elite/1/2/3, 2/3/4 or 3/4 category so you can race similar people in 3/4 races or do 4th cat only crits(can be a bit of crash fest).

I sit around the 4w/kg mark and get round 3/4 road races with a 6th and 9th place in two that I've done. Typically under 50 miles @ 23-25mph average finishing in bunch sprints.

Stepping up to 2/3/4 I'm middle of the road and a few minutes down on the winners and these tend to have breakaways forming, more attacks and are longer in length 70-80 miles and hillier @ 25mph average.

E123 is just nope :D
 
Awesome thank you

I guess the goal as a newbie would be to finish in the bunch, or essentially just not get dropped.

Ok, is the license only available annually or is it available as a 1 dayer as per the BTF license? I fear it's a bit late in the year now to get value out of an annual one.
With the races, lets take https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/207186/EMRRL-Loughborough-University as an example.
How do you actually enter? Looks as though 80 names are selected... How do I get in that pot of names?

What makes Cat 4s a crash fest? Not adverse to it, just obviously I'd rather stay out of trouble!

What kind of bike do you need? Something you can afford to write off I guess, would an aluminium/105 level of build be suitable?

50 miles at 23-25 sounds mental... But then I've pretty much always ridden solo!
Do you just have a bottle and a gel or 2 in your pocket?
 
Ideally you'd be taking part in local group rides to get a sense of how to ride in a group. You will get shouted at for going through to the front too hard, sitting on the wrong side in cross winds or half wheeling when on the front etc.

Local bunches are great for just getting accustomed to sitting at 30mph 2/3 abreast and cornering without seeing what's really in front of you.

It's not all about who's the strongest as I nearly chucked a race after 1/5 laps due to the weather and madness of the race but stuck at it and got 9th in a sprint were two guys next to me came together and somehow stayed upright. In the same regards plenty of people could match your turn of speed then attack straight after you sit up, over and over and over. Racing is fun :D

Without a full license I raced a 3/4cat race last year under a provisional license you get on a certain level of BC membership. Should work out a little cheaper doing that but I've heard of day licenses but never looked into it as not all organisers will do it. You can only race lower category races under it and won't get points as per:




I'm logged in and it gives you the option to enter under the event. Entries close the week before generally, two weeks for a championship!



Crashes are usually just inexperience but strong riders doing silly things, bunch sprints were people are going in all sort of directions. Overlapping wheels for shelter means you sit pretty close so you have to trust the wheel you're on isn't going to change suddenly or come back at you when they get out of the saddle.

Bottles wise depends on the race, last one I did was 70 miles and really hot so 2 full bottles. Energy bar and two gels was what I had.

Tomorrow is only 49 miles/2 hour so I'll take one bottle and a few gels.
 
NoNameNoNumber said:
Awesome thank you

I guess the goal as a newbie would be to finish in the bunch, or essentially just not get dropped.

Ok, is the license only available annually or is it available as a 1 dayer as per the BTF license? I fear it's a bit late in the year now to get value out of an annual one.
With the races, lets take https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/207186/EMRRL-Loughborough-University as an example.
How do you actually enter? Looks as though 80 names are selected... How do I get in that pot of names?

What makes Cat 4s a crash fest? Not adverse to it, just obviously I'd rather stay out of trouble!

What kind of bike do you need? Something you can afford to write off I guess, would an aluminium/105 level of build be suitable?

50 miles at 23-25 sounds mental... But then I've pretty much always ridden solo!
Do you just have a bottle and a gel or 2 in your pocket?
Click to expand...

I added my race licence towards the end of last year and due to the time they did it until the end of this year and pro rated the cost.

If you want to go racing over the winter get a bronze BC and go do some cx. You shouldn't get hurt but something may break if it's muddy!
 
License is cheaper rate now that we are half way through the year. You don't need to pay entire year for license but you will need to pay full rate for Bronze/Silver/Gold BC membership.... which is OK as that can run beyond end of current year unlike the race license.

As Jonny says, get stuck in about fast bunch rides locally beforehand to get an idea of riding closely at speed.
Sounds like you have a decent sprint but surviving the entire thing and a few mins at threshold to then get to do your sprint is totally different ball game.

CAT4 crits are a crashfest because they are full of nutters, and even worse, inexperienced nutters! I was going to do one on Tuesday but didn't go because there was a bit of rain and the track was damp. Glad I didn't as there was loads of crashes and I am not dealing with that **** through other people being morons.

Carbon frame with 105 level stuff will be more than enough. As you say, race what you can afford to replace! That's always my motto on it.

When you eventually get on some good bunches or into any races/crits... Find out and spot someone you know who is very good. They are very good for a reason because they know what they are doing very well. Get on there wheel and live there as long as you can and just see what they are doing that makes them so good in the bunch. Learning from the best is how anyone comes through to be better in the vast majority of things in life :)
 
Oh aye I forgot about the half price license part.

Mine was weird because I had a bc membership from last year, then bought a race licensee this year but had to pay for extra ml the so the licensee and membership ran out at the same time.

Don't get obsessed with points as that's really why lower categories are mental come sprint time. I want to move up cat but I'm not chasing crits or pot hunting 'easier' races. Any race feels hard though :o
 
It’s not that much about the numbers but obviously big ones help.

Cornering, aerodynamics, positioning and an ability to turn off your brain count for a lot. Knowing when and how to use your watts.

Being able to hit numbers and recover and do it again and again lap after lap.
 
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