Originally Posted by Chris O

I just finished my first crit. My goals of finishing and not crashing were accomplished. I expected to get dropped and even lapped, but I couldn’t hang on to the bunch almost from the start. The winners/pack finishers average speed for the race was 25.5 mph. Let’s just say my average speed was great for me but not near 25.5 mph (I don’t have a power meter). There were teams and lots of guys from out of state.

I ride a fair amount and did interval training for a few months before the race. It was just so much faster than I thought a “novice” cat5 race would be. Is this a typical experience for beginning racers?

Interestingly the cat4 race average speed was slower than the cat5 race. I mean, I can get a little more fit and drop some more weight but to get to that speed for a whole race seems like an unattainable goal for me. Maybe some cat5 crits are slower?

interested in feedback and experiences.

chris