BummBull

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if there are any of you that have successfully made it to cat 2 by just road racing and no crits. I used to race about 5 years ago, and moved up to cat 3, and I'm getting back into cycling after a long break.
I'm very dedicated to my training, and want to start racing next season after I get several months of miles and training in my legs. I only prefer to do road races as I prefer that type of riding.
I've checked our local race calendar, and there seem to be around 2 to 3 road races within my area per month. With this many races, I think there are plenty to cat up in some time.

I'm just curious to see if there are successful racers with focusing just on road races and foregoing crits.

rkwaki

What area?

grolby

Race crits.

BummBull

I live in South Carolina and will race in South and North Carolina.

MDcatV

if you have the opportunities and get the results, you can easily upgrade by doing only RRs. results are results.

BummBull

Yea, that's what I figured, and I think there are enough races to get the points with just with road races.
Specificity is king so I rather get really good at one type of racing instead of trying to be good at both and be mediocre at them.

YMCA

Is this a trick question?

BummBull

no, I'm just wondering if any of you actually do just road races. All the local racers I know do all types of racing.

climber7

i don't really think you can categorize a "road race" as a single type. there are open, flat road races that end in bunch sprints and there are road races with steep climbs and technical descents that shatter the field. likewise, there are flat, open industrial park crits with no corners and there are technical, eight-corner crits.

you don't have to race crits, but they're still the same sport. it's not like there are entirely separate skill sets for crits and RRs.

ETA: all of my upgrade points have come from RRs/circuit races, so yes, it's possible. but crits have helped to make me a better racer.

globecanvas

Points is points. I have a cat 2 teammate who's never done a crit.

waterrockets 

I got there on a mix, but reflecting on my upgrade at the time, I was surprised at how many of my points were from RRs. Nothing wrong with either side of it, but it would be a huge shock to upgrade to Cat 2 on only crit points, then decide to start racing road races in P12.

mkadam68

+1

Everything you see in crits, you will also see in RR's to some degree. The big ones: cornering, rubbing elbows, speed, sprinting. You need these in road races, too. Do some crits and learn them well.

MDcatV

that doesnt make much sense.

Creatre

I'm a cat 2 and although I raced crits, I have never received an upgrade point from them. Does that count?

I hate crits. Very much so. I usually get shelled in about 2 minutes. I have avoided all crits so far this season.

In all honesty though, you should try to race some crits. They really do help you become a better racer and will make you appreciate those road races even more. Heck, a couple of them may even surprise you.

grolby

lol.

mattm

Seems like most strong guys are strong enough no matter what type of race it is. I don't see anything wrong with doing RRs only, though crits-only seems a bit weak.

What I wonder is, are you skeert of crits?

BummBull

ok, this wasn't a good statement.

BummBull

it wasn't a good statement calling it a specificity, but I do believe there is enough difference in how to train in crits or in road races. I know i;m being general by calling it road races and crits as there are many different types: hilly RR, crits with climbs, technical, non-technical, etc. so specificity wasn't a good word to use. however, i think there's enough of a difference where if i want to be good in RR, I should log in more miles during base, hill workouts, longer tempos. In crits, cornering, sprints. I know it crosses over, but one type of racing emphasizing certain things more.

I like crits, but reason I don't want to do crits is that when i used to race several years ago, all of my wrecks have come from crits, and now that I'm married and have a son, I want to risk less. I know I can get into bigger accidents in RR with steeper downhills and all, but the probability of wrecks are much lower.

carpediemracing 

I did the opposite - I upgraded to Cat 2 based on crits only. In the old days when you had to have both RR and crit results I couldn't upgrade because I have literally never finished a road race in the front group. I basically got lapped on a 22 mile course. Okay so I was about a minute from getting lapped when I quit, but still, I was about 21.5 miles behind the break.

Having said that I'll also say that crits are road races minus hills. If there were flat road races I'd do them (meaning a long hill would be measured at about 20-30 seconds of climbing). I did one road race (Plymouth) where it was flat but I was taken out at about 200m to go when some yahoo went across the road in the sprint (and I was sitting 3rd or 4th wheel after chasing back on from another crash a couple miles prior). I decided not to go back to that one, figuring that 2 crashes in one race is twice as many as the next most crashy race I'd done. Plus the carnage in that crash was bad.

Points are points. I'd do crits to learn how to race in a group though. Although road races allow you to use your strengths (typically fitness and FTP) once you upgrade to a certain point you'll be an average racer. At that point you need to know how to race, not just ride hard, and you learn racing when you're in a group.

I upgraded to Cat 2 in crits with about a 220-230w FTP (5'7", 155-160 lbs that year). Some of my highest places were in races where my sprint was under 1200w, a lot of them were 1000-1100w peak. It's not like it's a ton of power. I know how to race even if I'm not a strong rider overall. It's all about knowing how to race in the group, how to use the wind, pack dynamics, stuff like that, and that applies no matter what kind of race you do.

Upgrading in races where you ride away from everyone is impressive but you end up a strong racer that can't "race". Wiggins comes to mind. I'm sure he could race before but it seems like something's gone, some confidence in his bike handling. He rides on the outside, in the wind, if he's not on a teammate's wheel. It seems that he has a hard time riding in the field for himself. His descending was embarrassing. Another racers that were strong but not good "racers" include Rebecca Twigg (famously riding behind the field for the whole race and then sprinting to the win, stuff like that).

rkwaki

I upgraded on good looks alone. Management thought I could give Cipo a run in the hair department so I got the call.

Grolby met me, he knows...

mattm

Fwiw, there are plenty of horror stories from RR crashes.. it has been long-debated as to whether which is more dangerous, crits or RRs.

If you want to risk less, I hear stamp collecting is fun. Paper cuts can hurt though!!

Jandro 

There are lots of members here that have a family, yet they still race. It's all risky and I'm surprised you made it to Cat 3 without knowing risk comes in all formats of racing. Racing is dangerous, you try to minimize that as much as possible by becoming a safe rider yourself, never mind others. If you're a safe rider, by definition you will be aware of everyone around you and react accordingly.

That being said: do whatever you want. Race the races you want to race, who cares what we think? Cycling has been around a long time and racing has been around for 99.9% of that. Every scenario you can think of has probably already happen... multiple times.

BummBull

I'll look into coin collecting too!
Back to the topic, I did say that I know that I can get into bigger accidents from RR.

BummBull

I got to cat 3 on good looks too.

I do know the risks and take my guesstimated calculated risks.

Jandro 

The refer to the closing line: do whatever you want. I'm sure, in it's 120+ year history, there have been racers that have made it out of cat 3 on RR's alone.