Originally Posted by geneman
Not to state the obvious, but the race will either wind up as a bunch sprint or someone will bolt off the front and take the win. Which of the two happends is totally dependent upon who shows up. Around here, we have many strong riders who don't often participate in USCF races and when they do, they go with the 5's which makes for some uncharacteristically tough racing. These races tend to splinter pretty quickly. If your group is more homogeneous you can expect a bunch sprint. 5's have three major flaws as a whole. 1. inexperience can cause crashes, 2. no one wants to be the one to break away ... no guts or no legs, 3. when someone does go off the front, 5's typically cannot get organized enough to reel it back in. Use this information to your best advantage and good luck!
Mark
Pretty good summary. I would also note that there is a bit more "down" time, ive found this to lead to more overlaps, crashes, ect (even in higher categories). Pay a bit more attention to the wind direction than in a Crit, sometimes being on the right or left side of the field can make a huge difference (5's dont echelon very well).