search the racing sub-forum here and read the stickies, but i'll just put up my first cat5 experience. i was told to stay in the first 1/3 of the group (there were about 35 people...not too bad IMO). so i tried to do this since it was only a 12-lap, 15-mile race. not having anything more than 3 weeks of riding prior to this i blew up about 1/2 way into the race and fell off the back before getting lapped by the field in the last lap. the race-pace was exactly as it was stated above where it ranged from about 29 mph on the straights to 12mph in one of the up-hill corners of the race. my average pace for the first half was about 24.5 mph and my average for the second half (a clear decline after analyzing the data from my Edge) was just under 20 mph.

preceived exhertion throughout the race was high, consistently as i usually average about 175 to 180 bpm on a good 30-mile workout and my average for the race was right around 185 bpm.

i did witness a crash on a straight...he was by himself...how it happened...i have not a clue (and i even saw it).

my advice - continue riding and ride a lot. my usual ride is a 30-mile loop that usually lasts about 1h40 to 2h00 depending on if it's a hard day or a recovery day. sometimes the recovery day is a shorter distance. about one a week do a group ride so you get familiar with riding in a group. when you start a structured ride practice have intervals and pryamid practices in there so you can simulate the decel and accel that happens in a crit. i've been doing this (sans the intervals and pryamids so far) and i think i've greatly increased my ability in a past 3/4 months. i'm practicing for this coming season in 2010 as well.