bvfrompc

^^^^^^^^^^
Note, its a the suggestion, not a must.

Your lucky that you have a training crit to learn with. I've tried a couple of group rides, haven't found the right group yet, one went through stop lights, obstructed traffic, etc. everything I despise about road riders, the other hurt my ears with Car Back! Car Back! Pothole! Discoloration in the ROAD!!(ok, duh, we're on a busy two lane road, its got cars, potholes, etc. just shut up and ride for the love of god).

With two kids under 5 and a full time job, I ride when I can, and prefer by myself or with a few friends, been doing it a few years now, but I tried my first race two-three months after getting a road bike and thought it was a great way to learn how to ride fast, corner, etc. They are starting up a training crit near my house this year which I plan to attend, and still don't have a few hundred miles with a group under my belt.

Cycling is a dangerous sport, you already found that out. Cyclists crash, watch cyclism sundays, crashing happens often, poor Tyler gets sucked into a crash like a black hole, can't stop himself. There are just as many crashes at the high levels as at the low levels, seems this spring a pro race can't go the distance without a crash (see Baso, Hincapie, Hamilton and just about everybody else who races). Maybe different reasons for the crashes, but they happen, a lot and whether you have a thousand miles with a group or just learning you put yourself and others at risk becuase you are there.

DannoXYZ 

Yeah, practice in a parking lot and learn to carve corners one-handed. This really isolates which direction the steering has to go in order to lean the bike over. With two hands on the bars, a lot of people end up putting in contradictory motions and you lock up and head straight off the outside of the corner.

Personally, I'd prefer to do the opposite and go off the inside by leaning in too much, you can always fix it by relaxing and straightening up. But if you're heading into the weeds, it's dangerous to make a last-ditch sharp cornering-effort, you'll crash for sure...

carpediemracing 

My brother is interested, but he just broke his leg skating some ramp. He'll be back on his feet in a month or two. He doesn't have a long board and has done a couple slalom competitions.

cdr