crit advise?

[BikeMomma]

At what point do I enter my first race? Suggestions?

Hey Spazz -

I realized I never answered this particular question. Sorry!

What I would do (and am doing) is when you feel you're ready, find out where and when some of the racers do their training rides, and see if you can join them. They can be male or female, but generally-speaking, the guys are faster which will tend to make you push yourself harder. Don't give up and don't get discouraged when or if they drop you. Just continue your training ride at your own pace, and then set a goal to stay with them just a wee bit longer next time. Baby steps! Set the small goals for the short-term, meet them, and then work your way up to the bigger long-term ones, like staying with them for the WHOLE ride.

When you get to that point (finishing the ride with the group) and you're feeling good and competitive, maybe even out-sprinting one or three of them on interval sprints, then I would say that you're ready to race. Even before that point, actually, you can enter a race if you think you can hang on for a while. One of the best ways to train for racing is to race, believe it or not.

Hope that helps! Go for it, Spazz - you can do it! The Games sound wonderful, and we're all rooting for you!
-Kim

[spazzdog]

Thanks BikeMomma!

[Pink Kona]

Completed my third crit on Sunday and did much better. I was able to read the pack a lot more than before - and put the hurt on! Those poor girls. It's really fun setting the pace. Now I just need a teammate to be with to launch constant attacks.
From the start line, I geared down and took off like a bandit. A teammate followed me and said - "Jen, we're off the front - let's go for it." And low and behold, once we got going, our own teammates free-rode the peloton to us. Whoops! Hopefully that won't happen again.
I did pull a rookie move though. They rang the cow bell to signify a preme and I sprinted to be the first across the finish line, only to find out it was the following lap. What a dork. You have to start somewhere though. And that won't happen again. I placed 6th overall - impressive considering the previous day was 62 miles in 3.5 hours and 5,000 feet elevation gain. (I am not satisfied though - that stinkin' competitive gene in me!)
This upcoming weekend we are racing at the Tour of Walla Walla. It incorporates a individual time trial, road race and crit in two days. I'll let you know how it goes.

Spazzdog - excellent posts! You are a fantastic resource for me - thank you for your thoughtful and researched answers. I share them with my entire team.

[CorsairMac]

Keep sharing Pink - what an inspiration! and keep up the good work ma'am!!! (closest thing to a pink smilie)

[BikeMomma]

Way to go Pink! Too funny about the preem.... oops, I guess I neglected to tell you that part! Glad you had fun, though - that's the name of the game (besides actually winning!).

Hope to hear a report on the Tour of Walla Walla! Speed rocks!

- Bike "wish I was racing too" Momma

[Pink Kona]

You are not going to believe this.

On Thursday night, I raced all around Seattle looking for Aerobars compatible with my carbon handlebars. I found them, slapped them on and rode for about 20 minutes on a very busy inner-urban trail. Saturday at 12:09:30 I started my first 5 mile, point to point time trial and placed 5th! I couldn't believe it. Suddenly my contention for overall GC was a reality. Unfortunately 1st place was 54 seconds ahead of me - so I was planning on placing myself in front of her for the 36 mile road race.

Well as luck would have it, Walla Walla was engulfed by a HUGE thunderstorm, with lightening, rain, and severe wind. The other fields that were racing - Pro 1-2 men and 1-3 Women, Cat 4-5 men, etc were cancelled mid race and had to fend for themselves back to town. A friend in the men's field said they had such a fierce tailwind that their cruising speed on the flats was 45 mph! The officials had Cat 4 women and the Cat 3 men stand around for an hour and a half before cancelling it. Our team was bummed because we have a pretty good chance with the road race of advancing our positions.

The next morning our crit started at 8 am. I visualized chasing down the leaders and out-sprinting them at the finish line. There were two time bonuses for the premes... my coach and I discussed the possibility of getting those and making sure my breaks were without any of the leaders. I managed to get two premes - $10 and 2 seconds knocked off but unfortunately I broke with #3. Even with the premes, it was not enough to place myself 1st overall, but I could potentially podium.

When #1, her teammate, and #3 had a break on the final 2 laps, I hopped right on - knowing that it was now or never. We flew around the 6 corners - but for some reason #1 decided to do all the pulling, which tired her just enough. Her teammate, a strong racer as well was going for the win.... #3 and I were neck and neck. And when we pulled around the final bend with 300 m to go - I pulled right and managed to out-sprint them all to win the crit!!!!!!!!! What a sweet victory.

It's hard to imagine this was my 4th crit - I started out disliking them in the beginning because they were so challenging, but was able to figure out the strategy of who to watch, who's stronger, etc. I pumped my arms right after passing the finish line.... my team was going nuts - I can't believe I won. That win bumped me up a spot to #4 overall in GC. A pretty good showing for someone who just started racing in March.

Thank you for the encouragement - I still have a lot to learn. I'm catching on pretty quickly and my sprint is nothing to be desired.... but my heart and soul is in this sport completely. It is amazing to win something you have been training for - and so has everyone else. Those girls didn't go down without a fight though! I have always believed that you are only as good as your best competition. I'll see if I can locate some photos....

[alison_in_oh]

WOW. What a thrilling weekend! Holy moly, CONGRATULATIONS! You are so awesome!

[DirtDiva]

Awesome! Well done!