Road Bike Racing - Crit Racing In The Rain....Asking For Trouble??

Hello-
My 4th and 5th races of the season are going to be at this Sunday's CBR Anger Management crit. I guess winter finally decided to show up this weekend in SoCal, and we're in for showers all weekend. Is crit racing in the rain and/or wet roads begging for injury, or can racers adjust to the condintions and race sensibly? I've never really had to worry about this, so I was curious to hear from those of you that have had to race in the rain before. If it was a road race, I wouldn't be as concerned about going down or getting taken out in a corner. On the other hand, maybe all the smart guys will stay home, and I'll have a better chance at placing :D

Take the corners relatively easy and you should be okay. I went down in a rainy crit because I was trying to put space between me and the peloton, and took a turn way too quickly.

Pay attention to where paint is on the road too, as it gets slippery when it rains.

Take the corners relatively easy and you should be okay. I went down in a rainy crit because I was trying to put space between me and the peloton, and took a turn way too quickly.

Pay attention to where paint is on the road too, as it gets slippery when it rains.
I believe I remember that thread last year ;) . Good tip on watching the painted lines.

I would add the potential for slick spots is pretty high in So Cal right now. Been a while since the last rain and this one does not look to be heavy. Just enough to bring up oil and rubber. Take soem practice laps if you can and see if there are slick spots. If there are too many, esp. if they are on the inside part of corners (where someone elses screw up is apt to take you down) then you might want to pass.

The nice thing about a crit is that you can check out the entire course, something you can not do on a point to point road race. So check the course before you decide.

Prolly less road rash if you go down when it's wet.

Bob

Prolly less road rash if you go down when it's wet.

Bob
That's definately true!

But you still get messed up good :D

OC, knowing the course (maybe they changed it... who knows) and racing there in the rain before it seems people do slow down a bit in the rain... just a bit though. IMO, if the pace is to right or some fred is being dangerous it is in your intrest to just drop out or ride safely... road rash is no fun :( .

I am still debating going out to watch, it should be a fun race...

Mandy

I love rain crits!!! :) If I was in better shape and ready for racing, I'd be joining you guys down there.

What a lot of people don't realize, is that you can ride a crit just as fast in the rain as in the dry! Since you're only using 50-60% of available traction in the dry anyway, you've go some reserve capacity. Wet roads will have only about 75% of the traction compared to dry, so you'll be using up 80-90% of available traction the wet. This lower margin of error can be troublesome because painted lines will have only 50% of dry traction, so running one over at full-speed will definitely send you down. Cross them at an angle and never parallel or else you'll get both tyres on the line at the same time... :(

Also... be careful of the flick. Turn in gently and smoothly. You can lean over pretty much the same as in the dry, but you have to get into that lean smoothly. Not slower, but smoothly and evenly. A lot of people have rapid flick turn-ins on the initial 1/3rd of the turn-in transition and gradually work up to full-lean on the remaining 2/3rds. That won't work well in the rain. Instead, don't flick it in, but lean over at an even rate, no sudden movements... :)

I drop out of rainy crits. If the rain starts in the middle of the race then I go off the front till I win or blow up and drop out. Every race that I have ever been in when it rains some one goes down and I don't want them taking me with them. I am not sure I agree with Dannos traction percentages but even if it's true you have to factor in oil, paint, and the lack of visibility from rooster tails that cause people to make mistakes. Even in a Road race when it rains I usually launch off the front just to stay clear and take my own lines in the corners.

I used to feel the same way about racing crits in the rain. But my experience has generally been ok, at least for us old dads. Everyone was nice and steady thru the corners, yet the speed was up there, attacks occured and subsequintly reeled in by a charging pack.

What is kind of a bummer and sign of our times, is that I kept thinking about what kind of toxic brew I was sucking down from numerous rooster tails I was getting plastered with. The first real rains of the year always float a shean of oily drek and all I wanted to do was close my mouth when getting faced. But as in most of the racing I do, I find my mouth is wide open trying to get as much O2 in as possible, so it's a bit of a bummer that way.

But the rain also kept many people away, along with the guys who were racing Valley of the Sun. So it could have been worse. More people on a slick course means a high risk factor

The last race there we had about 50 or 60 riders in the 50+ field. This time we had maybe 25 riders at the start. So I'm sure that kept things in check a bit.

You should race just so you can get a first hand view of what it's like. If it gets too gnarly, there will be a rain check, or it will be canceled. I raced a crit that was pushed back 2 hours because of rain, but it got sunny and by the time we rode there were only small patches of water.

Make sure you have your corner apexing down.

I race to have fun, and to give myself a goal to get off the coach. For me its no fun to race in the rain, and there's always another goal down the calender. Beside's I have to go to work monday morning. Lot's of risk, little reward.

Well, I ended up doing two races (see the Anger Management Race Report Thread). When I arrived, it had been pouring, the Cat 5's were soaked to the bone and freezing cold. By the time my first race started, it was sunny out, but the roads were still wet. There was one crash in the Cat 4's, and it had nothing to do with wet roads. By the time my next race started at 10:00am, it was sunny and the roads were dry. No results, but I'm glad I went out, it was fun.