CRIT RACING!!!!

Now one, congrats!

I’ve always liked the looks of crit racing but even when I was at my fittest I never gave it a try as my local track was Hillingdon and it was always a crash-fest.

Since we’ve moved, I’m tempted to try and get fit to enter the races at Bovingdon.

The crash-fest was the bit i fancied... getting out of the first couple of laps was the hard part !

It's not a crash fest if you're way off the back after getting the fear in the first corner when you've literally never ridden in a group before. Apparently.

I used to race a lot at the 'don back in 2008-2011. There were a few crashes but nothing like what we started to see following 2012; not sure what triggered the change but people I know that kept racing there suggested it was down to testers or new racers that had fitness but no experience in riding in a group. The experience of riding in a group for me came from the club runs. The club runs I see out on the roads these days suggest discipline is lacking and I refuse to ride with them.

I loved crit racing. The best was Guildford Town Centre crit; just brutal!

I definitely found crit racing the most exhilarating, compared to MTB XC, cross, track and the occasional longer road race. I was very much middle of the pack (literally) so shoulder to shoulder, trying not to get dropped sprinting out of corners, great stuff!

I also gave up around 2014 as post-2012 we had such large fields of very fit but inexperienced riders, 70-80 on single lane closed circuit covered in fir cones (Barnesfield Heath near Bournemouth) with loads of crashes - I was mid-40's by then and got the fear! Triathletes were the worst as they would power down the straights dragging the pack then go straight on at the corners. The number of times I had someones brake hoods stuck in my thigh then the grinding sound of machine on tarmac - ouch!

Do miss it but no way could I get back to thh pace required, somewhat jealous of Crosshair getting stuck in there! Good luck to you!

somewhat jealous of Crosshair getting stuck in there! Good luck to you!

He has fabulous dedication to training, effort, power, etc when he gets his mind into it... Some of the rides he does i'd be throwing myself off a cliff with boredom... but he does them for a specific effort/reason and the results pay off.

Hopefully cover some of this in the vid but it really isn’t much about fitness.

Rich was lapping at 160w at times in his Cat 4 race!! But he’s done 5 years of chaingangs and group rides so knows how to hide.

Being in the bell curve of weight/height/aeroness also helps. The further out you are on the light or heavy side- the more power you’ll need to ‘fit in’.

I’m literally the least efficient way to be a Crit cyclist 🤣 Not aero, not light and not brave enough to rub elbows 🤣

I haven't done one for more than ten years but town centre crit races were brilliant fun. A real test of bike handling and fitness. Although you did see lots of crashes. Hillingdon to me was always more of a open circuit venue (and I appreciate there is no logic here - crits I see as more one off venues???) than a crit. Although myself and 3 others did memorably lap the E123 field twice in one race at Hillingdon. Crystal Palace was my favourite local circuit.

Well done to the OP for hanging in there and rolling in with the bunch!

Rich was lapping at 160w at times in his Cat 4 race!! But he’s done 5 years of chaingangs and group rides so knows how to hide.

It's times like this I wonder if my one and only crit race wasn't entirely normal? I averaged 250W+ for the cat4 race, and given I'm 62kg it was quite painful. It was also completely strung out from the first lap - also less than ideal!

There were a couple of very long running "how to get into crit racing" and "how to get up to 3rd cat" threads on here which had load of contributions from people posting their race results, advice, guidance etc. Here's one of them:
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/how-long-to-be-a-credible-cat-4-or-am-i-just-crap-road-content

I've not done any for years now - I used to try and do a few every year just to keep my hand in and maintain a bit of fitness. I'm not a huge fan of my local circuit (Tameside) though. Might see if I can get up to Lancaster for an end of season one up there.

Having raced Crits for years, crash fears were always part of Cat 4 races. Nature of the beast.
I don’t think I saw more crashes in the 2000’s than I did in 2012 and onwards. The main change I experienced was a war of budget. Long gone was the old steel frames or the cheap Planet X carbon frames and wheels. Even the young kids were riding very high end bikes.
I enjoyed the town centre crits until I got too old. Sprinting from each corner lap after lap takes it out of you.
My favourite was MK Bowl, especially when it was just the inside. Sit in the peloton at 200 watts for an hour, no corners to sprint from and only a small hill every lap to contend with.
The outside of the bowl racing with the ambitious 2nd Cat youngsters…..vomit inducing sprints! I prayed to going back to the 4th cat races and taking my chances with crashes, less painful than getting my legs ripped off me twice a week!
(But road racing was even more fun….as a 66kg rider with a decent FTP I enjoyed them more than the higher power crits)
I’ve gone all nostalgic and looked at pictures of one of my old crit bikes, 50mm carbon fairing wheels with the aluminium braking strip. Ahh they were the days!!

Mashr my first Crit was 300w+ and I got dropped 4 times 🤣🤣

Even at peak efficiency, I almost never managed a sub 200 lap.

My Garmin gave me 304/320np for last night (27mph cat 3).

There is no right or wrong power- it’s just whatever it take you to sit where you’re comfortable.

If you’re like Nath B- that means not entering your first Crit until you’re strong enough to ride alongside the bunch 🤣🤣🤣 (Nathing the bunch as we called it).

Your reports make me want to try again lol

But at both Abingdon and Thruxton i was completely blown out in both races. Very very early on. Even though in theory i had enough power to hold the bunch, i couldn't...

What a timely thread. I just entered my first ever crit which is 2 weeks today at Forge Valley, Sheffield.
Kind of bricking it a bit tbh.

@mos
Looks fast and technical !!!!

Inspired by the start of the thread, I went on British Cycling and saw that there is a race tonight just round the corner, so I signed up. It's at Abingdon.

But at both Abingdon and Thruxton i was completely blown out in both races

Now I am less inspired!

Haven't raced since just before covid. Did just enough to get Cat 3 at Lee Valley and Hillingdon in the previous year but am catastrophically out of shape at the moment. Thought maybe hanging on to the back of the pack for an hour might be a good training session, but not sure I want to solo round the airfield!

Great news for you lodger, it's FLAT and wide... I think it's basically a rectangle...

I think my issue was the lack of ability in cornering... at Abingdon i was there with both Crosshair and NathB from here, one minute i was sitting near the back with NAth, next thing he was trying to give me a wheel and i was spat out, he then cruised off and joined the group. I think this was lap2. (maybe 3... can't recall). If i'd been better at being in bunch and group riding, maybe that would have worked.

What a timely thread. I just entered my first ever crit which is 2 weeks today at Forge Valley, Sheffield.
Kind of bricking it a bit tbh.

I've raced at Forge Valley twice so far this year (plus one at Darley Moor) and again tonight. Still nil points for the season - think I've got a 12th, a 13th and a 16th in that order 😀

Yeah, i'm imagining its like the first 20s of a cross race, but for 40 mins.

@weeksy I think it was you three and your race reports that encouraged me into it first time around.

Off to carb load and see if I can still squeeze into my skin suit...

What time is it at Lodger ? I may come up and heckle 😉

Cat 3 is 1930

I'll be the one crying at the back

I have permission to run cameras at Abingdon too but I don’t think the legs are up to back to back crits 🤣

The reason I gave was inspiring people to race so it looked like it’s worked already 😎🤣

Georgio Coppola is making some fun vids too.

Ugggh! Need a day off work for editing really 🤣

In the meantime, couldn’t resist this gem 🤣

https://youtube.com/shorts/b3o6qsELBA4?feature=share

Don’t forget to sub for the full race recap coming soon 😉

Georgio Coppola is making some fun vids too.

He's got a great video at the Bovingdon Bomber where he get dropped and his Dad, who's filming, even starts to heckle him 😂

I hadn't realised that he'd done a load of different race videos.

Yeah I love his style- he’s hilarious 🤣

Loved our local town centre crit, always good entertainment. That's me with my leg in the air 🙂

I don't know if I'm more or less excited after reading all this.

Not raced since pre covid. Oh how I miss it! That’s an understatement. If you can race vets (40+) then do that. All the strategy but not quite as much pain. They don’t suffer 4th cat spills either. Outside of vets races, I never won a point at Hillingdon. I did however win a vets race with a first lap solo breakaway and finish second in another breakaway.

4W/kg will see you at the pointy end. 3W/kg will see you fighting to stay on. It’s a proper test of your FTP.

@TiRed I hope you don’t mind, I themed my video around your famous list 😀

I couldn’t believe how much I missed it. It’s odd because it makes no sense rationally but once you are out on circuit- the world literally disappears and all that matters is following that wheel or reading the race.

@crosshair, good video that!

Thanks @mos Good luck with your race!

4W/kg will see you at the pointy end. 3W/kg will see you fighting to stay on. It’s a proper test of your FTP.

No idea what my FTP or W/kg is, but nevertheless got 5th last night. Actually I thought I was 4th but someone must have got a gap off the front on the last lap 😀 🙁

Whoop whoop. Well done you @finbar 👏🏻

Thanks! Now plotting how I can squeeze in enough chances to stop being an eternal 4th cat before the end of the season...

Great video @crosshair and well done @finbar!

A sort of successful outing to Abingdon last night. It's a wide, flat airfield course and it was fast - regularly getting over 30mph on the back straight. There were about 45 in the Cat 3 race - a mixture of ages and a few teams with 3 or 4 riders.

I drifted a little too far back on the first lap and had to waste energy hitting 850W to keep in the draft. I learnt my lesson and really tucked in. There aren't much in the way of features on the course but it's wide enough that it's easy to move up at the turns if you focus on your line.

It went pretty well and I stayed in the bunch for about 45 minutes whereupon I got the worst cramp I've ever had, in both quads at the same time. I had to pull off to try and stretch and ended up kneeling in agony on the grass. I jumped on to the back of the pack after skipping a lap, but couldn't hold the pace for long and solo'd the last three laps.

It felt pretty hard work. I've just compared the numbers with my last race at Hillingdon - E123 Vets in August 2019 - and I'm about 70 watts less on average power for the hour now as well as being a stone heavier. I've decided to interpret this as a good thing, because if I can get back to that fitness I should be pretty competitive.

Thanks for the nudge guys!

Well done Lodger! I find Abingdon pretty brutal. I still remember shivering coffee uncontrollably all over my arm after a cold wet race there once 🤣

Was that the last one in the series?

yes, this was the last of the Summer Series. More to come in September.

Need to get some training in and cut out the lockdown-induced drinking habit!

I suppose my video wasn’t really a race report after all that 🤣

To be honest, there wasn’t enough to say.
I was mega nervous!
It was great to go back to Hillingdon though- it’s definitely my favourite place to race.
Big cat 3 field. Everyone in good spirits. Apparently it has felt super friendly post covid as people appreciated what they were missing.

As per the vid- I was proper tail gunning! I wasn’t mega efficient either. Wasting watts up the hill each lap and maybe coasting a little too much. There was a couple of times when we gapped a few of the juniors etc off the back and I was 10 hard-seconds from blowing up. I guess that’s the moments you can’t train for and why I wanted to incorporate a bit of racing into the program. ( The lads also always made it back on when the pace slowed).

One guy solo’d away but I wouldn’t have known from my spot at the back.

It was definitely fast Cat 4 racing rather than slow Cat 2 racing if that makes sense- people happy to ride the front of the bunch hard for no real gain but keeping it fast enough to stop a break forming.

A few more games of poker and dare on the front would liven the lower categories up a bit but everyone gets preoccupied with points I think.
I reckon that’s where the masters series next year could be more fun? (Now I’m old 😞)

My HR was only 165 (ThrHR= 176) so there was ample fitness there I think- I just need to sharpen the top end a bit more.

That one moment where I come up the side of the bunch just as the guy attacked was definitely a moment where I missed it the most! Watching the clips I was shouting at myself to go again on the hill but as my goal was to not get dropped, I think I was a little over cautious.

I’ve entered next week so I think I’ll be a bit less passive. Almost set myself the goal of trying to get dropped. But definitely tailgun less and try and save more watts. Then hopefully when the bunch slows, I can still have a snap to get clear.

I’m hoping to get out tomorrow for some attack intervals. 30 seconds hard, followed by a few minutes of threshold in an aero position, as if waiting for a break mate to arrive.

Bad weekend on the bike, super fatigued and no power. Strava stalking reveals the winner of the 3's did a 1 min 500w attack and then 380-400w for 8 minutes in order to win solo by 20 seconds! Annoyingly, when I peaked in May (before Hayfever June and busy July) I just about did the later (8 mins at 385w) but I can't get anywhere near at the moment. Also- I doubt it would buy me the same amount of speed as it did him given my lack of aero's 🙂

I have entered the last West Thames on Tuesday so see how that goes. It's pretty clear what I need to do- basically flatten my power trace. So less time coasting and less time above 550w! Hopefully I can get a little comfier in the bunch so I can position myself in the front third. If I am then staying on the pedals and not surging, I'll have more top end left for a move or too. Carrying more speed and draft through Brians' Bend should mean I don't need so many 900w surges up the hill too.

I'm there for bunch time/the craic so not remotely interested in the sprint unless I find myself there by accident. In the vein of TiReds list- my process goal for this week is to get clear separation from the bunch at least once! Even if it means I then get dropped.

Great video by Georgio. I love his enthusiasm!

Especially interesting as it illustrates exactly what I was saying about the Cat 3 race feeling like a fast Cat 3 race V a slow E,1,2,3 etc.

Nobody spends any energy unless it's directly benefiting their own race! Whereas in our race, attacks are dragged back at huge personal cost before they have gone 5 yards!

Mission accomplished! With photo evidence of me off the front 🤣🤣

Didn’t get dropped, was there at the end but it was a HUGE bunch and very choppy on the last lap so with no power left to speak of, I cruised in on the back in safety.

Was buzzing after.

Rich got into a breakaway in the 4’s for a guaranteed 5th or higher. And then nearly got wiped out bunny hopping an actual rabbit 😱

It shook him up and winded him so he pulled out sadly.

HD probably still loading but here’s the race recap.

Racing road bikes! UK Crit racing at HILLINGDON. West Thames rd19 onboard footage.

To show my age, I started racing before Hillingdon was even built! We used to race up and down the unopened Hayes Bypass. It was a long hot dog circuit, up one side and down the other. The council very nicely removed a section of the crash barrier at one end and the other had half a roundabout. Bradley Wiggins was riding the junior races at the same time!

Hillingdon came a few years later, with just a shipping container to get changed in at first, although even that might have been added.

Always nice when they handed out the envelopes after the race if you won something! I won my first race at the bypass and they used to write your points on a paper license.

🤣👍🏻 👴🏻

When did Circuit races start getting called crit races?
Don’t want to show my age too much but a criterium was always a town or city centre race.
A race on a race track was always called a circuit race.
I did my last race just over 10 years ago and it was still the same.
When did this all change?

6 years 234 days ago.

Not a clue sorry 🤣🤣

Did you know Enduro’s aren’t long distance cross country mountain bike rides any more too 😱 😉

Just replace “Crit” with “circuit race” as you read it and all should be well again 😮‍💨

I must admit, I’ve never heard anyone refer to them as circuit races 🤔

Finally got my third cat yesterday, in a 4th-only race at Darley Moor.

I sat near the front all race and covered all the breaks, but didn't spend too much time out in the wind. With five laps to go I realised someone had dragged me a good 50 metres clear, so we started working together. One other guy bridged across about half a lap later and we rode well together for 5 more laps, finishing in a group of three (I came third as I have no sprint).

That makes me 15 or 16 points for the season now 🙂

Hey that’s awesome 👏🏻 Well done 🙌 Proper tactics too 😎

Thanks, I guess I'll never do a race that easy again now though 😭

Thanks, I guess I’ll never do a race that easy again now though 😭

Congratulations! Welcome to a season of hanging on for dear life.

Looking for more races but I'm not sure I'm dedicated enough to drive 90 mins to race yet - Thruxton, Milton Keynes, Bath and Hillingdon all theoretically accessible but it gets pretty expensive pretty quickly.

Where are you based Lodger?

I’m hoping to get to Thruxton next week. I would go tonight but have said I’ll show my face on the chaingang. Prob get dropped either way in this heat 🥵🤣

There were 10 dnf’s last week. Not sure if there was a crash or they got dropped. It is brutal there in the wind.

10 mins west of Abingdon. I still theoretically work in London (moved at christmas), but I'm stretching the boss's WFH patience for as long as possible.

I guess I'll eventually stick my bike on the train and do some evening races at Hillingdon and the olympic park

Oh cool. I’m at Newbury. It’s quite a good spot really as Castle Coombe, Thruxton, Abingdon and Hillingdon are all doable in under an hour. Have also been to Odd Down but that is a bit further and would be no fun at my current weight 🤣
Mountbatton is just over the hour but looks a bit 😴
Bovingdon is a little far and Velopark and Goodwood are doable but would have to be for something special.
Hillingdon is definitely my favourite.

Survived a fruity chaingang this evening. 25mph for 30 miles is a record for me on the roads! Even managed an attack at the end but even better, didn’t get dropped when they re-passed me.
Dropping to one intense session per week and a couple of real races has definitely improved the legs for the better.

I follow the Dirty Reiver winner on Strava. Their chaingang’s are INSANE!

25mph felt ripping for us last night but this morning, those Onyx lads went out and did an hour at 29mph!!!
To be fair, Conor McGoldrick won the E123 race at Hillingdon last week.
But that’s certainly going some out on t’open roads!

@Mos did you ride at Forge valley last night? How did you find it?

It was pretty fast I thought - I rode pretty well for most of it then failed miserably to hold my place towards the front of the bunch in the last 2 laps, so came 11th.

unless that's 11th out of 11.... then bloody well done....

Even if it's 11/11, still well done 😉

Thanks weeksy, there was 30 racing.

It's a very tight and narrow circuit, so the sprint for the line is actually half a lap from the finish.

You get into position on the back straight, then do a fast corner, a hairpin, then another corner and then there's about 50m to the line. I wasn't pushy enough on that back straight to hold the right wheel.

@finbar, finished close to the back as that preem on the first lap meant the people I was initially with lost wheels and I couldn't get across to the bunch. Im fairly sure I could have sat in the main bunch as we didn't get lapped until near the end.
Learnt a hell of a lot regards cornering and making sure I turned in soon enough to stay in the wheels on the exit.
All I need is an s-works SL7 with 80mm wheels, knee length aero socks and shiny legs, then the win is pretty much guaranteed:).

Haha, I've got the socks at least 🙂 . Those primes did make the race aggressive throughout...

There should be one more YBC race there this year, in October I think, so keep an eye out for that.

@finbar, do you know where i can find the results?

Well done guys. Nice one Finbar 👏🏻 You can start ticking off your Cat 3 version of Darren’s List 📝 🤣👍🏻

Cheers Crosshair 🙂 . What is Darren's List?

Mos, results will probably be on here this evening or tomorrow: https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/261386/Yomp-Bonk-Crits-Super-Series-Round-5---Fastest-Lap#gsc.tab=0

“Tell me you didn’t watch my video without telling me you didn’t watch my video” 😭
🤣🤣🤣

Process goals to keep yourself amused if racing is hard, invented by @TiRed

and plagiarised by me here: 🤣

1. Buy a race license and enter a race
2. Not get dropped
3. Finish mid pack
4. Finish top third
5. Work on the front
6. Contest the sprint
7. Bridge to a break
8. Attack
9. Contest the points
10. Win!