First race coming up
I've got a my first road race in 4 weeks from Saturday (yesterday) and then a crit the next day. I'm in college, and this will be my first race. Any tips for the races? I'll be racing in the D race (worst one) since I've never raced before, but from what I hear the people who ride D's are pretty bad and not in shape, so I'm thinking I may be able to do very well or even win. Any tips on doing well? Any tips on how to prepare the night before/day of? The road race course, which I went and rode today, is a 5.5ish mile loop, and I think the D's do it 4 times, maybe 5. It's basically flat, except for 3 fairly steep hills, but they're short. Also, there's only 4 turns, so it seems like a really easy course. I don't know what type of strategy I should have, at the moment I'm thinking of just trying to stay near the front which I'm confident I'll be able to do, close gaps, and sprint the finish. Simple yet effective?