Road Cycling - First Category 5 race!!!

I am so nervous!! This sunday I am doing my first road race crit and dont know what to expect. I have a fear that I wont be able to keep up with them, but I will soon find out. Does anyone know what kind of avg cat 5 cyclists usually keep?

the race is only 40 minutes and i think i may be able to keep a 21 mph average. Would this be fast enough or am i going to get SMOOOOOKKKKKEEEDDD?????? :p

You can't really look at a race in terms of avg speed. Especially in a crit, there are many surges in speed. These surges become more pronounced at the rear of the field. The only way to know if you can hang is to jump in and try it. Be careful. Many folks in CAT5 are newbies and are lacking in handling skills and close quarters riding. Keep your head up and be very aware of what is going on around you. Be especially careful to look around the rider(s) in front of you. Don't just concentrate on holding his wheel. Hopefully you have experience riding in groups. Go on lots of club rides to get more comfortable riding in a pack.

At the start, the pack will take off and go really fast at the beginning. Just try to hang inthere and not burn too much too soon. Things will begin to slow down a bit. Once things begin to settle down you will get a better gauge on where your fitness is relative to the pack. If you're strong and feel confident, stay as close to the front as you can. Less surging and much less chance of a crash. Ride the course beforehand and memorize the turns. You want to position yourself to where you will be on the inside of most of the turns.

Be sure to thoroughly warm up before the race. Ride around for 30 minutes or so and get in a few sprints or hard efforts to get your heart rate up. When you are called to the start line, you should be sweating.

Most importatnly, be careful. Don't ride over your abilities. Stay away from squirrely riders if you can. Remember to not overlap wheels. This is the surest way to get into a crash. Sure you might get smoked but you gotta start somewhere. Good Luck!!!

IMFlorida2004: Good Luck with your race this coming weekend. Be sure to post a race report for us when you get back. Before you start take a deep breath and know that your bikeforum brothers and sisters are pulling for you!

Zack
Getting race fever

geez i'm so freaked from the sounds of it, it sounds like there are a lot of wrecks. Don't the riders ride in a paceline until somebody tries to break free? Should i expect someone riding next to me in turns bumping up against me? If this occurs it sounds as if i should back off and not risk the chance of wrecking my very expensive ride. Am i correct in this?

Crashes are something you can should expect. Whether or not you are involved in one that is the question. :) Sure, maybe 4 to 5 pace line. :) You ride with the pack. That's your pacel line until there is a breakaway or the lead pack dropping down the hammer and thining out the pack.