phatmonkey

Is it just the couple crits I have been in, or is the average speed for the first 10-15 minutes of a crit considerably higher than the rest of the race?

If this is generally true, is there a reason? Are they trying to thin out the field before they settle into a pace?

carpediemracing 

Everyone is a champion when they're fresh. It's when everyone gets tired that the strong riders start to show themselves because they can continue to make hard efforts.

cdr

Bantam

It all depends on the crit. I've been in some that saw consitant speeds the whole race (28 in one stretch, 15 out of the 4th turn). Others are like CDR says, everyone is a beast on fresh legs.

rizz

It's just fresh legs getting ahead of proper pacing. Every crit I've entered has started faster than it finished, other than the sprint at the end.

Duke of Kent

Depends on the race.

At a lot of big races, the face is super fast at the beginning, simply because the Pros know that they can survive it, and it shells the Cat2s to the back or out of the race.

Then, sometimes it will ramp back up for chase efforts or big money primes. And, of course, the end of the race, where the last 10 laps or so can be wicked fast if you have a team like Kelly Benefits driving it at the front.

merlinextraligh

Every crit I've been in that I got dropped slowed dramatically within a minute after I popped off the back.


In lower categories it starts fast because no one knows better.

In upper categories it starts fast to seperate the wheat from the chaff.

You just have to hang till things settle down. If you make that selection, you know you're actually in the race and can start to think about how to win it.

Voodoo76

Very common. So if you are a poor 2 towards the back at the start you put your head down and just start passin people. You pass em in the turns, you pass em in the straights. When you finished passen you look up and see a giant gap to what is left of the field. Those were the days.

Frunkin

The 4/5's always start fast, partly out of stupidity, and partly to pop all the weaker guys off. There's normally a wide range of fitness in the 4/5's and 5-10 hard minutes can blow lots of people up, especially on technical courses where the accordian affect comes into play a lot.

bostongarden

It is not unusual...I believe it is wise to expend the necessary energy, if you have it, to stick with it as long as you can because, as others have said, the pace will subside and you'll be able to hang on then and get a breather...it takes a ton more energy to catch back on...use your energy to stick with the pack...

DannoXYZ 

Every single race is different. I've done at least 200 practice crits and over 20 USCF races on the exact same course and I can pretty much say that every single one of them has been distinctly different. That's because the "terrain" you have to traverse in a race is not the course, as in the road and the corners, but the "terrain" you must conquer is the group of other riders.

Since each group is comprized of different riders each and every time, the race will be different as well. Some start out blisteringly fast with cat-1 guys TTing off the front at 30mph+ for several miles on end. Others start out at a casual pace with people discussing the latest movie and great restaurants they've eaten at last weekend. In many races in the higher-categories, they start out fast, but not unbearably fast. Then the 2nd half, they get down to business and the 40mph+ attacks starts happening more frequently. The last 10 minutes of a pro-1-2 race can be 38-40mph non-stop with a teams fighting to set up their favoured guy with a leadout near the front.

Basically the best strategy to have is to be as flexible as possible and develop your game-plan on the go. You must be observant and notice what's happening and respond to it immediately with a new strategy. Simplest I've found was to always sit on the guy that's going to get 2nd place after you pass him at the finish line.

Bobby Lex

Balls-to-the-wall starts has been my experience except where the fields have been small. That's why the universal advice is to get in a very good warmup before your crit.

Bob

Lithuania

i think this is the best answer

carpediemracing 

+1 with a caveat

Caveat - in the upper categories the pace may not ease for the whole race, or it may go for 20-30 laps before easing for 1/2 lap then picking back up for the last 20-10 laps. At Bethel (my race) in the P123s I either have to wait for the break to go (whenever) or wait until 10-12 laps to go until it eases. Then it goes much harder in the last 10 laps as everyone tries to get away from the sprinter folks. I haven't done any other significant size field races with the P123s this year except one where I got shelled pretty quickly.

When you can do the shelling it's really fun (but in this case you have to read through to the bottom, else it doesn't make sense):
https://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...kermesses.html

cdr

nitropowered

In general, I think crit racing is done in 3 phases. First phase is fast off the gun for the reasons others have mentioned. Second phase it slows down because either everyone is tired or the group feels they have done their best to shed off some of the field. Then the third phase is fast till the end.

Obviously it depends on the race, who is there, prize money, etc. I've seen pro races full throttle from start to finish on prime rich races.

Duke of Kent

My teammate nicknamed me the Grim Reaper after one of the SuperWeek races. Field of 150, I started near the back. Was feeling ill that day, and it was all I could do to hold on and close the gaps when they opened, and move around people in the corners if the opportunity presented itself.

The nickname sprang from the fact that if and when I came around you, you were almost certainly dead in the water, or were about to be. I finished dead last at 75th, almost an entire straight behind the winner, but I finished.

simplyred

Oh-my-god.

CDR - after reading your experiences in the Kermeese, I can only think of one thing:
"You not bike rider, you nobody." — Eddie B.

That is unbelievably fast - I've never seen anyone in my neck of the woods even hit that speed. In a dead flat, no wind situation - that calls for powers of 1000 - 1200W. Throw in some wind... pwned.

Voodoo76

Keep that up and you will run into Event sooner or later. That dude elevated punching tickets at the back of P12's to an art form, and I mean that as a compliment not a knock! Don't know how he does it.

Super week is the classic example. My first thought when you brought that up was an old Tour of OH race in Columbus. 100+ Field about 30% Pro, very tight course. I was still in the portajohns when they started lining up, ended up at the back. I did a track stand entering the 2nd turn (which went from a street to sort of a narrow bike path), while watching the front off to my right at 35mph or so. Must have passed 30 riders in 10 laps, then TT'ed in the gap for another 10. Never made it to the back of the field

wfrogge

I think its a catch 22..... Strong riders are afraid stronger riders will push the pace so they fight to get to the front and this pushes the pace...

I have been the man to push the pace for our team a few times this year in crits. My goal is not to drop riders but to keep the pace high enough to discourage a break.

San Rensho 

Often in 4/5 races, everyone goes as hard as they can from the gun, I don't know why, but usually thats the way it works, so line up near the front for those races. Then after a few hard laps, its dawdle, dawdle, chase everything that goes off the front until you catch it, then dawdle some more till the final lap and then go hard for the finish.

In higher cats, its more of a crescendo, where the peak can be anywhere, beginning, middle or end.

rizz

It's probably because some of us in the 5s aren't content just to finish. We're there to train and try tactics, right? There's only one fun way to do that: Attack, attack, attack!

I don't know about other cat 5s, but I don't really care about finishing in first unless I and those around me suffered sufficiently. Needless to say, my best is only 11th but I made the field hurt that day, at least I like to think so.

Bobby Lex

That's why those are such typical CAT 5 tactics. Eventually you realize that you don't burn matches just to burn matches. You only do so when you have a purpose (which is usually to help you or a teammate or both secure the best finish possible).

There are no podium positions for the guys who wasted the most energy needlessly*.

Bob

*On second thought, the following two examples come close to the concept of a prize for wasted efforts:

1.Crit primes
2.The "most aggressive rider" category in the TDF

Voodoo76

The fact that Cat 5 crits are typically what, 20min or so?, probably contributes to the early pace. Given that race length continual match burning isn't a big deal. And tactics like letting a break go to counter off or just to see what happens, common in higher cats, doesn't make sense.

What do you think a 20min P12 crit would play out like? Im thinking a lot of time in the 12 or 11