Road Bike Racing - UMD President's Crit

It is still open. For Cat 5, 4, and 4/3 races.

Is there a reason for that? I am thinking about signing up for it. But want to see if there is a reason it hasn't filled right up...

its one of the most technical crits in the area. the course is really short and narrow in places. It can be sketchy and the weather was horrible last year.

im signed up

From what I've read, it's a high attrition race -- and likely too early in the season for a bunch of unnecessary risks.

I think it would be good for me to see a true technical crit. I need to get permission from my financial adviser (wife) and I think I will do it. I love racing.

Is it also flat? Or something like Tradezone with a slight elevation change?

its flat for the most part but has a short steep climb and following decent. The downhill section is a real narrow driveway with a 90 degree right hander at the bottem.

landshark has heard right. this race is all about attrition.

here is the course map

http://criticalthrash.com/images/biking/race/umdmap.JPG

this first part of presidential drive is up after the chicane you go back down.

the very first turn can be sketchy because it leads you to a 90 degree turn but its less mellow than that so people often times have to correct at the last second. That puts you into a wide open parking lot that funnels down right before the next turn. Someone usually gets run into the curb there.

Registrations are low because the blood is still on the pavement from last year.

I need the mass starts to upgrade. I just gotta be careful and don't sacrifice myself just for position. I need the experience as well.

Do the race, learn from it and have fun. Arrive early and watch the collegiate race. A lot of guys will be keyed up at the beginning and go on autopilot through the corners thinking it is TZ. Make sure you have a good position at the start line as the first turn will be jammed up(you've got to thread some concrete curbs). The same can be said for the final right hand corner at the bottom of the driveway(atleast for the first lap or two). Expect some knucklehead to shoot up the inside at these two spots. Get in line before those corners. The other racers are correct this course will separate the wheat from the chaff (or at least the February hammers for those peaking later in the season). Heck, bring your wife and make a day of it. Reassure her that the ambulance is there for the unlucky, under-trained, and inexperienced and that you are none of these. Good luck.

I just don't talk about crashes around her. Though I wish she could come. She is gonna be at work.

But I just gotta talk to her tonight and then hopefully sign up.

last year there was a bad crash resulting in a puddle of blood on turn two in the last collegiate race. During warm up laps prior to the cat 5 race you had to navigate around it. What a great start to the season.

Yeah, about the only good to come of that was it that it may have given some of the crash 4 and 5s a little pause. I'm all for racing hard and taking your lumps at the hands of those better conditioned and more experienced but accidents because of inattention or poorly reasoned risks is a real peave.

Anyway, good luck again. Stay alert. You'll have a blast. I hear you. The whole crash thing can be tough on the spouse. Maybe I'll catch you at the Dville rides this spring. I hope to get out for my twice weekly thrashing now that we've got an extra hour to play with.

Oh yeah, the monicer in no way implies that I am at the front of any peleton. Basemetallegs didn't roll off the tongue. So if you want race reports from the front talk to Lithuania or Bdcheung. If you want to know what it looks like from the grupetto or from just in front of the motor ref I got you covered.

haha im never near the front.

last year in the 5s there was almost a crash in the first turn because of the oddness of it. Once that was over with the weather blew the race apart so most people were in small groups which felt less sketchy.

Hehe, I thought this thread was about me somehow :p

Hehe, I thought this thread was about me somehow :p

you're not the only one.

If there's a crash at this race, odds are good that it'll be bad. That said, it was my first ever crit last year and I was scared to death of the other racers, but the chicane is so much fun if you find the right line (around the manhole covers).
I'll be there, probably racing collegiate and USCF, though I'm holding off on the last one till after I see how my morning goes. I need more starts to try to cat up this year, and the W3/4 is scored separately, but my friend face-planted in that race last year after placing 1st or 2nd in the collegiate field.

The traditional start to MABRA season is Jeff Cup. Since this race is only in its 3rd year, and pre-dates Jeff Cup, it hasnt caught on like alot of other races that arent nearly as good. Plus the fields offered for USCF racing are lean and the races are late in the day.

It's a great course, technical, hard, fast, and lots of wind on the downhill part where you would think you should be recovering. Typically, in the 3, 4, 5 fields, there have been 50 - 60+ starters, and less than 15 finishers. I hope I get back from this stupid business trip I'm on in time to do a day of registration.

damn i was really looking forward to this and to the hopkins rr the next day, but i won't be able to make it. oh well.

The traditional start to MABRA season is Jeff Cup. Since this race is only in its 3rd year, and pre-dates Jeff Cup, it hasnt caught on like alot of other races that arent nearly as good. Plus the fields offered for USCF racing are lean and the races are late in the day.

It's a great course, technical, hard, fast, and lots of wind on the downhill part where you would think you should be recovering. Typically, in the 3, 4, 5 fields, there have been 50 - 60+ starters, and less than 15 finishers. I hope I get back from this stupid business trip I'm on in time to do a day of registration.

I think I'll see you there in the 3/4. I was going to start my season at walkersville, but given how close this is to home, it's kind of silly to not go.

Anyway, good luck again. Stay alert. You'll have a blast. I hear you. The whole crash thing can be tough on the spouse. Maybe I'll catch you at the Dville rides this spring. I hope to get out for my twice weekly thrashing now that we've got an extra hour to play with.

Wife says it is a go. I am double checking on the weather and refund status if it gets canceled for some reason. Just to reassure her. I will go out in the rain though.

leadlegs - you going to Davidsonvilla this Thursday? I think I am gonna head out there for a good thrashing. Nothing says hurt for me like trying to hold a wheel in a pace line going at 28-30mph on a slightly rolling road. At least I am stronger now than I was last year.

I think I'll see you there in the 3/4. I was going to start my season at walkersville, but given how close this is to home, it's kind of silly to not go.

If I get there and you see me, say hey. But - dont get behind my wheel, I'll have been off the bike for the 8 preceeding days, a little jet lagged, and am likely to end up OTB quickly.

I am just gonna end up doing Tradezone Sunday morning.

With the tendency of the crashes on Saturday at UMD and the fact that I ship for boot camp March 24, I don't want to risk a crash. And the UMD course is just too dangerous. Tradezone is wide open and better.

i'm going to do the A race at cold toes instead.

booooooooooooooo

Tradezone is wide open and better.

i guess if you mean boring is better

safer. I can't afford a broken limb and not being able to go into the Navy.

safer can be debated. I broke my arm last year in a super mellow 2 turn crit on the easiest part of the course

safer can be debated. I broke my arm last year in a super mellow 2 turn crit on the easiest part of the course

didn't you get pushed into the curb or something?

yeah. i remember that... ugh. i watched you walking along the parking area holding your arm. at the same race, in my second race of the day, i got crashed in the last turn when the guy in front of me hit a traffic cone that went directly into my front wheel. good times.

i wish i got pushed into the curb! At least then I could have felt like maybe I could have done something.

No, instead, the guy in front of me touched wheels leaving me no choice but to launch over him.

safer. I can't afford a broken limb and not being able to go into the Navy.

The turns at the UMD crit have nothing on the turns at the USNA crit. The Navy would be unimpressed by your decision. :p

But really, I was close to being wrecked last year at UMD, because someone nearly forced me into a curb on the hill--something that could happen anywhere. Hopefully, people will have learned something from last year and not be so stupid in the first turn (usually only a problem on the first lap or two) or the last turn (always a problem because of the downhill and the narrow approach).

I was so sketched out by the lack of bike handling skills last year (first mass start race for me) that I managed to implement strategy that worked pretty well for my team. After the near wreck experience and the horror of the chicane and the last corner in traffic, I took a flyer off the front at the end of lap 1, dragged 2 stronger teammates with me, and set them up to be in the top 3 while I battled it out with one or two others for 5th. The entire field got strung out all over the course. A risky move in larger fields than I had (and you must be prepared to suffer alone), but hey, it could work again and keep you relatively safe in some of those corners.

heh, thats what im doing this year. approaching this race like its a cross race. 45 minutes of lonely suffering

The turns at the UMD crit have nothing on the turns at the USNA crit. The Navy would be unimpressed by your decision. :p



I was on the officating crew at the USNA crit this year. Only 3 crashes and everyone got up and got back in. I dont think the UMD crit can say the same thing. However, there will never be a MABRA crit at the academy. That would be a disaster waiting to happen.