CRIT RACING!!!!

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!