CRIT RACING!!!!

4 years later- I finally got round to Critting again. West Thames Cat 3’s. Lots of fun- didn’t get dropped, finished in the bunch.

My mate Rich did his first race and got his first point! A classy ride and every bit as easy as I thought he’d find it. Only 30 less races than I took 😉

I also got permission to run a camera!!! 5 years after I bought one and realised they were banned 🤣
So assuming I can cobble together the footage with some power overlay’s, you’ll hopefully get to experience a 3d race report for once 🤣

Really missed and enjoyed that 🤩

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:

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 🤣

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!