Road Bike Racing - First Cat 4 Crit report: Oof

Did a handful of C5 crits before rushing the upgrade for safety, but ironically I've never seen a crash until tonight. Roll up to the line feeling nice and loose, and the first three laps are super fast but manageable (didn't have my computer but high 20s for sure). One guy slides out in a turn (one mangled wheel, no torn kit) and the impediment necessitates a 30+mph death march to catch up to the front group. Three more hard accelerations out of the corners and it's off-the-backistan for me....15mins. into a 50min. race. This being my first shelling, I immediately blamed fatigue from Sunday's jaunt and later realized I may have upgraded too soon.

Things I've learned:
never play with your position an hour before a race (knees were hurting on longer rides)
if you can't warm up on the course, trainer > aimless wandering for an empty lot
the hardest one for me - belief in yourself! one of my LBS mechanics is about to upgrade to 3 right at 10 races and he probably has one of the best attitudes on/off the bike.

Did a handful of C5 crits before rushing the upgrade for safety, but ironically I've never seen a crash until tonight.

Do you see how this could be, based on exactly what you just wrote?

I'm not saying you're sketchy (sounds like you handled the rider going down in front of you well), but a lot of Cat 5's rush to upgrade thinking it would safer in the 4's only find out that every other Cat 5 upgraded for the same reason. So the 4's is essentially the same field of 5's, but with more people, going a little faster, and for a bit longer. Now add in some more experienced Cat 4 racers who can ride really close to, or even touch, the new 4's, and end up "spooking" them...

BTW, congratulations on the upgrade. ;)

:cry:

According to a cat1 on my team, the only difference between the 4's and the 3's is that you hit the deck harder and faster in the 3's. :twitchy:

So, unless you've got some serious skills it doesn't get better. ;)

The only races which will have less crashes are ones where people know they can't win. i.e. BikeSnob's Pass/Fail racing. When you have 50+ people who think they can win (i.e. cats 3-5), it is a recipe for carnage.

The worst wreck I've seen to date was in a 2/3 race. 32+mph run in a crit with everyone strung out and two riders at the front go down. It took about 3 laps to get everybody back in. 20+ riders went down. The guy next to me ran over someone's hands. I was about the last person to get out of it without going down.

I've only done a handful of combined 3/4 races (1 circuit race and 5-6 crits), and all I have to say that once things get started, I can't tell who the 3's are...but I can sure tell the who the prematurely upgraded 5's are.

I'm not saying you're sketchy (sounds like you handled the rider going down in front of you well), but a lot of Cat 5's rush to upgrade thinking it would safer in the 4's only find out that every other Cat 5 upgraded for the same reason. So the 4's is essentially the same field of 5's, but with more people, going a little faster, and for a bit longer. Now add in some more experienced Cat 4 racers who can ride really close to, or even touch, the new 4's, and end up "spooking" them...

The problem is, no one thinks that they're part of the problem. It's just every other guy out there who's sketchy, not them. This is part of why all the yelling in lower category racing is so obnoxious. I just upgraded to 4's myself. If my nervousness in recent group rides is any indication, I might be a sketch-o-matic this Saturday. The plan is to get the nervousness out of my system before the big races of the season. If you're in my race, please, give me some room :rolleyes:. I hope I won't need it, but I'll probably need 10-15 miles to get sorted out.

The problem is, no one thinks that they're part of the problem. It's just every other guy out there who's sketchy, not them. This is part of why all the yelling in lower category racing is so obnoxious. I just upgraded to 4's myself. If my nervousness in recent group rides is any indication, I might be a sketch-o-matic this Saturday. The plan is to get the nervousness out of my system before the big races of the season. If you're in my race, please, give me some room :rolleyes:. I hope I won't need it, but I'll probably need 10-15 miles to get sorted out.

I'm confused... You knew you could be part of the problem, but you still upgraded?

I'm confused... You knew you could be part of the problem, but you still upgraded?

There's bound to be some anxiety when you upgrade, and for grolby this will probably wear off the second he realizes that even though he's upgraded, it's still just a race.

I'm confused... You knew you could be part of the problem, but you still upgraded?

I've done eleven races. I'm supposed to upgrade. Are Cat 5's supposed to be perfect pack handlers before they jump to the 4's? That seems like an unreasonable expectation. I'm just acknowledging that, yes, I could make, and it's been a while since my last race, so I'll probably be somewhat nervous. Believe me, if I thought I would be causing crashes I wouldn't have upgraded..

^^^
Understood. I didn't mean anything more by that question. It wasn't an attack or anything.

No, the 5's shouldn't be perfect bike handlers before upgrading (cuz who really are?), but they should be comfortable riding fast in a pack and not freak out if they get brushed. This including protecting front wheels, no sudden braking or changing of lines, etc.

Good luck in your first 4 race. It's all going to come back to you once you clip in. Just stay smooth, and relax your upper body. You'll be fine.

Heck I've been racing for years and it seems like I'm sketchier now than I ever was. Maybe I'm just more comfortable now (complacent?), maybe I'm getting old and sloppy, who knows. Ok, really, I think it's that I enjoy messing with people.

I've only done a handful of combined 3/4 races (1 circuit race and 5-6 crits), and all I have to say that once things get started, I can't tell who the 3's are...but I can sure tell the who the prematurely upgraded 5's are.

Interesting observation and I agree with it.

3s I think are the most dangerous. 5s and 4s are more spread out, so when someone actually goes down, they take down 0-1-2 riders with them. In the 3s everyone is packed a lot closer together so when someone loses it, it's usually 5-10 guys hitting the deck. Obviously there are exceptions, but I recall a lot of Cat 3 races which had huge stack ups. The biggest crashes at the Bethel series is in the 3-4s, and sometimes it's 10-15 guys on the ground. Don't remember a crash that big in the 5s or 4s, those are usually 3-5 crashers tops, normally 1-2 guys.

cdr