TIA

Looking to get more racing in and am considering doing some Criteriums. Have asked around at some shops and I am not getting the insight I am looking for. Most "just have fun" (and a snicker her and there, LOL... I get it). So, I surely get the have fun bit.... but;

Here is what insight I am looking for. As a Sport class (cat 2) XC racer (who on the right day can podium the 45-50s)... how will my fitness level translate for criteriums? Most of my training is on the road bike (6-10 hrs a week, base miles complete and intervals as part of the plan), ...bike handling skills are good. I have a clue on how to race a crit... (stay in the top ten, keep your nose out of the wind as much as possible, go out early if I can't sprint... etc). So, can (should) I expect to get crushed and blown off the back in a Cat 5? a Cat 4? What can and should I expect... realistically?

mtb vs. road racing are very different imo. you will be starting in cat5. you have no choice here typically. after 10 mass starts, you will be able to move to cat4. there ARE ways to get more than 1 mass start in a day. you have to earn your way out of cat4 by points.

as you mentioned, road racing is more about being able ride in groups, anticipating breaks etc...typically things that are not so important in mtb.

about getting dropped...yeh, i would plan on it. it is hard to say though. again, how familiar are you with race pace group/club rides? i can tell you for sure that cat 2 mtb is not even remotely close to cat 2 road. imo, the typical mid-pack cat 2 in mtb'er is perhaps the last guy to come in during a cat 3 road race.. also, guys who podium in cat2 road, may be pro level mid pack mtb'ers imo (assuming they have decent mtb skills).

i have a buddy who just got top five cat1 finish at sea otter mtb. he did his first local road race at cat 5 and got 16th out of 33 racers. his fitness should have earned him a top 3 finish, but he had no idea what to do once he got into the group on the road...

i suggest that you call around and figure out if there is a local club ride that is essentially race pace. here, we have tues and thurs night "psuedo-crits" and saturday "psuedo road races". tues night is kind of mellow, while thurs night is all out.. saturday is broken into 5 ability levels. figure out where you fit in and go for it. aka...free of charge! join in and ask questions. if you just go in blind, then it will most likely not be "fun".

 

also remeber than in a road race, 16th place could have only been 0.5 seconds from 1st place. All the guy had to do was not time the sprint just right and 1st to 16th can happen in the blink of an eye. I do our area's fastest ride and can hang with cat 2 (road) guys no problem, but in my first cat 5 race I got 9th at the line. You have sprinters just hang on the back all day and then come up at the end and take the glory. It's frustrating at times, but that's road racing, and it reminds me why I like mtn bike racing more

 

Just go do it, that will tell you pretty quick how you will do and what to expect. Our local weeknight crits have an A flite (Cat 1-2), B flite (Cat 3-4), C flite (Cat 5), D flite (newbies to crit racing). The weekend crits follow the USAC categories. Whatever you choose, it will be a fun learning experience.

I remember my first crit after a few years of racing on the MTB and training on the road some. At the time there were only two categories A (Cat 1-3) or B (Cat 3-5). On the MTB I had just moved up to Expert. Totally freaked out by the large high speed group flying around corners. I had done some large group rides and a few road races, but crits were totally different. I decided I was safer off the front, so I took a solo flier and no one chased me. I spent 20-30 minutes solo and I kept waiting to be told I had one lap to go or something. For some reason they had the A flite, which I thought was the B flite, end before the B flite. I thought I had won and I was soft pedaling when the B flite flew past me on their last lap - whoops. Live and learn.

 

Crit racing and MTB racing are different animals, but i think crit racing is great training for MTB racing since it is basically a 45 minute or an hour (depending on category) high intensity workout. I have always found that hard efforts like this do great things for my fitness. IMO, its hard to duplicate this kind of effort on your own doing intervals. The biggest difference, I think, is the ability to ride comfortably in a group at those speeds. This is usually what a lot of dedicated mt bike racers have a hard time with at first. My advice---get in there and do it! :thumbsup: You'll be ok as a competitive cat 2 MTB rider in a cat 5 field with your fitness. And besides, it just makes you a better, more well rounded cyclist!

 

All good advice, I'll add the following:

-keep the RPM relatively high, easier to respond to surges
-Don't go for any primes the first time out, but stay at a steady pace behind the prime group. When you catch the prime group, crank up the pace to see if you can drop one of those gassed guys.
-If you're worried about crashing, go off the front or stay way back during the bell lap. Seems like 90% of the crashes in the races I've been in are during the bell lap. Someone usually strikes a pedal in a high speed corner.

BTW, I think I've done over 50 crits over the years. (Cat 4's, Masters; B flite and A flite, for weekly series). I'm not that good at them, but I love the intensity of them, and the close quarters racing.

 

Definitely a much different animal. Two things I would add are ... expect sudden acceleration from the get go. If you don't keep with the pack from the very start you will be dropped. Also there are probably clubs in your area that will have sessions on how to ride crits. These are helpful. Learning how to ride in these packs is to practice before you jump in. Crits are different than just road riding and there are some specific skills. Have fun with it!

 

You are going to be missing some speed at first. To be good at crits you are going to need to do more above-threshold type efforts, and some sprints, if you have time.

The easiest way to get used to pack riding and the intensity is to do any fast group rides in your area. You should know how to ride in a fast paceline so you know how close to draft and how to avoid surging.

Cornering is weird in the 5s and 4s: You are going to be at the mercy of some bad bike handlers and taking lines that make no sense. Your mountain biking skills will tell you to fully apex the corner with no brakes on, I don't see that in the 4s, let alone the 5s. So practice some corners the right way and use your skill to close gaps or make time if you are solo, but ride the bad lines while in the pack to hold position and stay out of the wind.

You should be able to hang if you can get comfortable in the pack and you do some high-intensity training, then it can be fun. If you want to win, you are going to have to sit in a lot more than you may want and save yourself for a sprint. If you like to attack, stick to the crits with small fields where it has a better chance of working.

 

I will add my brief advice.

Bike handling in mtb'ing is nothing like road biking. Bike handling in a group ride is only slightly like crit racing. The biggest mistake I see in crit racing is people showing up expecting that their mtb skills or group riding experience make them an above average bike handler for a crit. It simply does not.

Specifically, you must learn how to corner in a lane. Unlike riding on your own or in a single/double paceline, you will not be able to rail the apex. Instead you will likely find yourself taking a line you never would take on your own...over a pothole...through some gravel....and because you went slightly slower through this new line, you will feel the need to accelerate out of the corner prematurely and YOU will be the guy washing out or pedal striking. Bars overlapping, shoulders/arms bumping, wheels tapping, etc are all very common occurrences even in the P/1/2/3 crits. Learning how to stay upright SMOOTHLY (that is without swerving or grabbing a handful of brakes....causing a wreck yourself) is the key to crit bike handling.

With that said, I agree with everyone else here that as a top tier Cat 2 mtb'er, you will likely be very competitive in Cat 5, and possibly competitive in Cat 4. It is very unlikely you will be able to hang at the front of a Cat 3 crit.

Lastly (I think I mentioned this on another similar thread), don't underestimate your ability to sprint. Most mtb'ers feel like they need to go out solo or jump really early in the final sprint to have a shot at winning. Mtb'ing can be very anaerobic and you might have a better anaerobic capacity than you think. So, unlike the poster above, I think sprinting for an early prime may be a good idea for you to get an idea of how you stack up in the sprints.

 

Specifically, you must learn how to corner in a lane. Unlike riding on your own or in a single/double paceline, you will not be able to rail the apex. Instead you will likely find yourself taking a line you never would take on your own...over a pothole...through some gravel....and because you went slightly slower through this new line, you will feel the need to accelerate out of the corner prematurely and YOU will be the guy washing out or pedal striking. Bars overlapping, shoulders/arms bumping, wheels tapping, etc are all very common occurrences even in the P/1/2/3 crits. Learning how to stay upright SMOOTHLY (that is without swerving or grabbing a handful of brakes....causing a wreck yourself) is the key to crit bike handling.

This is an excellent assesment of crit racing.