lapped on my first Crit!

[downhilldiva]

Normally I am an endurance rider. Last year I did 14 centuries and one double century. So this year I met a cute bike guy and he wanted me to come and try the weekly Crit series (the things we'll do for a hot guy in lycra!).
He is a CAT 3 road racer and raced in the B flight of the crit. I watched as he easily took 5th in his field. (He forgot his plate so this race wasn't counting for him so he took it easy.) There was a big crash in his field lots of road rash and a broken collar bone. This did not help my nerves.
After his race my BF helped me get ready by wiping off the chain bite on my leg and taking pictures of my first crit race. Then we were off. It was a very short course, probably only about 1/4 mile. After one neutral lap we were racing. I hung with the pack at about 26 mph- until we hit a tight corner. I slowed down but the pack didn't. I was able to work hard and get back in the pack.However, after a few laps of playing catch up I was worn out and got dropped. Riding in the wind without the shelter of the pack took its toll and eventually I was lapped.
I didn't care though. It was a beautiful day to be on the bike. My BF got some great pictures of me with the snow capped mountians in the background. And he cheered lots for me even though I clearly wasn't doing very well.
I am going to work on my cornering skills and try again next week!!

[Trekhawk]

Normally I am an endurance rider. Last year I did 14 centuries and one double century. So this year I met a cute bike guy and he wanted me to come and try the weekly Crit series (the things we'll do for a hot guy in lycra!).
He is a CAT 3 road racer and raced in the B flight of the crit. I watched as he easily took 5th in his field. (He forgot his plate so this race wasn't counting for him so he took it easy.) There was a big crash in his field lots of road rash and a broken collar bone. This did not help my nerves.
After his race my BF helped me get ready by wiping off the chain bite on my leg and taking pictures of my first crit race. Then we were off. It was a very short course, probably only about 1/4 mile. After one neutral lap we were racing. I hung with the pack at about 26 mph- until we hit a tight corner. I slowed down but the pack didn't. I was able to work hard and get back in the pack.However, after a few laps of playing catch up I was worn out and got dropped. Riding in the wind without the shelter of the pack took its toll and eventually I was lapped.
I didn't care though. It was a beautiful day to be on the bike. My BF got some great pictures of me with the snow capped mountians in the background. And he cheered lots for me even though I clearly wasn't doing very well.
I am going to work on my cornering skills and try again next week!!

Well done Diva. You get points from me for just getting out there and giving it a shot. I would have been hiding in some safe place at the mention of racing. Sounds like you did really well for your first race. Im sure one of the racing ladies here can give you some great advice about cornering.

Good luck with your next race and let us know how you get on.

[RoadRaven]

You are much braver than me, dhDiva... just watching crits scares me!

What a cool partner - he was cheering you cause even though you weren't doing so well you were brave enough to complete - many other people might just chuck it in and quit... you weren't a quitter on the day.

[mukluk]

I think you did great. Just staying up and finishing your first race sounds impressive to me! And your boyfriend sounds like a great guy too! Happy racing!

[SalsaMTB]

Good job! At least you finished. I got lapped in my cross race, so I know how it feels. Lets see the pics!!

[AuntieK]

My first thought when I read this was, "I'm not gonna play with you, DHD!" I've always been scared to death of crits, but I know someday I've gotta try it, too. Good job on your first shot! Now you're a dangerous crit racer! Maybe you could give me some pointers someday.

[Kedwards]

Awesome! Good for you for getting out there in the first place. You got great experience that you can take with you to the next race.

[agrsgrl]

Great job! Crits are hard!

I did my first crit this past Saturday too. I didn't finish because I blew a tube with four laps to go. I started pedaling through a turn to early and popped the back end of the bike up--when it came down the tire blew. I managed to keep the bike up, but it was an important lesson about not clipping the pedals in the corners.

[CR400]

Don't worry about getting lapped in your first crit. It happens to most people I bet. Unless they are taking on fields far weaker then themselves. The important thing is to finish races your first few times. I'm happy for you that you were able to stay with the pack. My only crit this year I got dropped on the first climb. My power to weight ratio is very bad even with men. So you can imagine how bad it is with women 50 pounds lighter then the men.