Snicklefritz

As my fitness improves I'm beginning to feel like I suck less at crits than I did earlier this season.
Yesterday was the first time I did a crit and actually felt good and really enjoyed it. Not that I've done very many (2 training crits and 3 real ones)...but in the earlier ones I felt like I was mostly hanging on and not for very long at that. Now I'm beginning to feel like I can move around in the pack, jockey for position and take a flyer...

I still need to do some crit specific training because mostly what I've been doing now is related to pushing up my threshold power which has helped, but I still find repeated accelerations a bit tiring.

One thing I'm wondering about is how to actually ride crits. In the training crits (the EB's out here in california), a lot of the ladies were new riders who were fit, but didn't know much strategy. I found it easy to sit in and then gun it at the end. In the real crits, especially the one yesterday, there is so much moving around. I found it hard to draft because people were constantly moving and so if I didn't want to be in the wind, then I would need to move also. How are you supposed to conserve energy when everyone is moving around like that? The women mostly stay in a very loose pack with constant movement. In a lot of the guy's races yesterday it looked like they were in one big line all strung out with less moving around so it looked like they might have an easier time drafting. So what do you do to conserve energy in a big swarm?

daytonian

Stay in the drops, many don't and you won't waste as much energy. Sounds like you might need to bump some shoulders to get that position or wheel you want.

adxm

Hehe...duh? Just be assertive and dive into open spots. You can get in there. If you have a good wheel, move with that wheel. It wouldn't be fun if the race wasn't constantly dynamic right?

DrPete 

I had the same problem with my 1st crit. The great thing is that Cat 5 has a steep learning curve, so in 1 or 2 more races your killer instinct will develop and you'll be taking the good spot from someone who was just like you a couple races ago...

I'm addicted. I've really enjoyed the handful I've raced in, and experience is making me stronger each race...

DrPete

EventServices

Get your head wrapped around the idea of constant change. That's the biggest difference from a road race which can stay in the same formation for several miles. A Crit is in constant turmoil. One minute you're on the front, and in the blink of an eye, you're tail-gunning.

Try to never let yourself get boxed in so that when a surge comes from behind, you can just kind of flow up with it. It's a bit like surfing. You always look for the next wave to come to the front.
Or, you can sit at the back and play the banjo* for most of the race and take one big move to the front near the end of the race, but that's risky.

*Play the banjo - the constant change in speed makes it harder for the people at the back of the pack. The pack takes on the appearance of a banjo as the riders react to the speed changes. Sitting in the back of the pack is risky because A. that's the first place to get caught behind a crash. B. the attacks go off the front; you'll miss them. C. the constant speed changes.

VosBike

accordion, not banjo

be more agressive. Take any gaps you want, don't let people steal your wheel. There's plenty of time to be nice outside of racing

EventServices

No, from above, it looks like a banjo. Big bunch at one end. Long line extending away from it.

It's an accordion movement, but it's a banjo in appearance.

Cromulent

Depending on how stretched out the group is, it could look like a banjo, a dulcimer, steel guitar, or a mandolin.

I think I win the "Best use of the Word 'Dulcimer' in a Thread" award. Yay me.

EventServices

A bit dull, simmer down. (There, best use of dull simmer.)

Cromulent

Heh. Nice.

VosBike

I think I've gotten myself into a musical instrument argument thats way above my head