Quote Originally Posted by BikeMomma
Right off the bat -- you need to work on bringing everything "up". By that I mean, your ride length, your intensity, your average speed, your technique, your comfort level in groups, etc. You're fit, I have no doubt about that, but racing requires sooo much more, and takes so much more out of you, than going for an average ride. I highly discourage a crit if you're not used to riding in groups....cornering can be tricky in close quarters. There's a reason that's where all the crashes happen.
Ok, finally here...
Did you say that there is a club nearby that you can ride with? If you don't know of one, ask at the local bike shop. I guarantee that if there isn't a club, there are a group of guys who like to go fast, even if they don't race. Going a step further, even if they don't go fast, ride with them just to get the group experience. Hopefully though, there are some racers who you can practice and get pointers with. One thing to practice is riding in extremely close quarters - like bumping elbows and such. Do it at slow speed at first, then work the speed in as you feel more comfortable with the contact. One RR I was in, another rider and I were constantly pushing off each other, not in an aggressive way - we were just that tightly bunched.

One thing that helped me was to find a housing subdivision that wasn't too heavily trafficked to where we could do criterium practice as a group, which was an added plus. It was great - we had an "S" turn, a wide, sweeping turn, and a couple sharp corners - a little bit of everything. The residents along the street would get into it - sit outside with their lawn chairs and cheer us on. Fun! We also have a loop out in the country (getting slowly swallowed by development) that has a gentle uphill and a pretty brutal, short one to practice on too. Hopefully, you can find something like those in your area to practice on. If not, find a gravel-free, desolate corner out in Booneysville to practice on. Get a good sprint at it, pick your line, and go. Basically, any way you can do it - get cornering practice! Get comfortable taking them at high speeds - and, get comfortable taking rough corners too. City street corners can be rough - bunched up asphalt, grates, manhole covers & the like.

On that ride you took the other day (the one where you went 31 miles in 2hrs5min), I calculate your average speed to be 14.88. You'll need to bring that up. One thing to do is work on your endurance. Go for longer rides - make sure you have enough water, bring snacks (fig newtons, powerbars, cliff bars, etc) to make sure you stay hydrated and fed, but build that mileage. You'll find that 31 miles doesn't feel like so much work anymore - then you can step up the speed. Also, look for a good hill ride at least once a week. My long ride of the week (65-70 miles) used to have a looong, not terribly steep, but steady hill that would really make me work for that downhill. It was usually a 3.5 - 4 hour ride. I notice some of the women's races now are almost that long, so ride! Ride!

Doing intervals also help. That is, simulating a race breakaway situation, by jumping out of the saddle and sprinting like mad until your legs scream for mercy, then take it back down, recover, and then do it again. I'll do every other phone pole until I can't do it anymore. Intervals work on your fast twitch muscles that give you that edge in getting the jump on those breakaways.

Build leg speed - do some spinning. Build leg strength - hills or weight lifting.

To be honest, Ab, I think doing one race this season for experience' sake might be ok (if, and only if, you get used to riding in groups!!), but I would get some experience and lots of practice (log those base miles this winter!!) and just wait for next season to race. That's actually what my game plan is right now. After 12 years out of it and riding since this last winter, I'm just getting back to the point where I can keep up with the guy racers, feeling competitive with the other women who ride with our group now (yes! we'll have a women's local team yet!) and relatively feeling good. However, as good as I'm feeling, I know I'm not ready to race. Next year I'll be in the Womens Masters 35+....but I'll be there! And havin' a blast.

Good luck to you, Ab! Let me know if you need more info. But you really can get alot from other racers and by reading up on all the different techniques (and trying them!!).

Have fun! Speed rules....
BikeMomma