What's a "crit"?

[violette]

I read it but have no idea with it is.

[Eden]

Its a race with a very short circuit - generally less than a mile or two, often run around several city blocks. They are more common in the US, but seen in other countries too. They are most often raced for a set amount of time + 2 or 3 laps. They are hard and fast races with a lot of cornering so they are considered to be one of the more difficult types of races and are often intimidating for new racers. There is a wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criterium

my husband has a theory that way back a bit around the turn of the century when velodrome racing was very popular in Europe the US loved bike racing too, but didn't have too many velodromes - so the small towns made do with what they did have - city blocks and the criterium became very popular here.

[indysteel]

It's short for Criterium--a race consisting of multiple laps around a short course.

[Meg McKilty]

A blood lab calling for Creatinine levels. Duh.

[Mimosa]

crit = hell. Each lap you pass the finishline with the lapcounter sign ... and you think "How many laps to go? Oh no, still more then half to go!!"
But one thing I do like is the people cheering

[freshsushi]

"crits=hell"

heh. i love crits because the changes of you getting lost is much lower than in a road race

[Mimosa]

"crits=hell"

heh. i love crits because the changes of you getting lost is much lower than in a road race

hahaha .... that's true!!!! I allways feel lost when riding classics. I just follow the policeman riding upfront, in the hope that he knows where we are going.

[spike]

"crits=hell"

heh. i love crits because the changes of you getting lost is much lower than in a road race

As long as you hold your line!