Originally Posted by jock

There's a big difference between racing and rolling along at a relatively constant pace on Beach Rd. That's where overall strength and fitness come into play: those who eat a steady diet of intervals will survive the constant surges the best.

As for warming up, I can't perform at my best in a crit without doing about an hour's worth of warm up. Half hour spinning along, then little hills for 15 mins to load up the legs, a couple of short sub-max efforts, then 10 mins rolling. Seems to do the trick for me.