Crit Racing

i have always wanted to race road bikes. for many many years. when my little MTB surge came along and the racing bug was fulfilled i still knew at some point i would end up racing roadies but up until the end of last year i hadn’t moved across.

i also knew the road would be a lot more competitive and much more difficult. its a totally different style of racing. unlike MTB where you tend to ride alone, on the road its a pack and at times it shit scary as you are so damn close to each other – within mm’s of the wheel in front – trying to hold a straight line, assess the riders around you and conserve as much energy as possible so you can so you can finish well.

late last year i ventured down with jason to penrith regatta centre to give the crits a run. i knew i would be hooked but i just had to do that “first run” … to start the addiction. it wasn’t ideal as i had to pay for a day licence. $33 for the day + the meet entry fee $10. that would mean around $50 per race each week. not ideal for the pocket.

i went through and signed up but when signing up there was confusion for the day license. this meant i was running late to get to the start line. i totally missed jason before the start even though we drove down together so i basically had no idea what was happening or how it would happen. i didn’t even know where the finish was!. i had decided to try C Grade – i felt that would be best suited for me even though at the time i hadn’t been riding much and it was at the end of the POX @ Home period.

I took off and found after about the first lap i had settled a little and was comfortable riding in the pack. i lead out twice on the ride but it actually smashed me quite heavily and i paid for it later on. it was super windy and totally sketchy weather wise with gail forced gust and what looked to be like a massive storm about to brew. the course is pretty much two long straights around the outside of the rowing lake. with the east end two simple turns, but the west end is a bit of a mission with a small dog leg into a slight bridge climb, along side the boat house before a very sharp right, left, then right and left again to take you on to the back straight and toward the newly found finish line.

whilst riding in the pack, i asked another rider how many laps the race would be and he very reluctantly told me ” about an hours worth of riding….. could be 6″. it was then i realised this was no MTB ride. MTB’s are happy and willing to help out in any way shape or form. this guy was just a dick… an older dick as well. i was totally confused and a little pissed off at this point.

after about 4 laps the pack was split from the wind and there was a break away bunch which i think would have gone on to win the race with the wind being so strong around the back. i was stuck in the second bunch and i remember a guy calling out “anyone going across” and i immediately said “yep” and off we went. within about 5 metres he just pulled up and stopped which left me high and dry, out in between the two packs and in a world of hurt. i almost breached the gap but i just didn’t have it in me so i ended up riding around to the start line and pulling off, really shattered both mentally and physicaly. i was totally confused and it wasn’t till later i realised i had DNF’d as the finish line was on the other side and i should have heard a bell for last lap.

even with all of this i didn’t care. it was awesome. i knew i was hooked, so i started plotting what / when / how i could race regularly. the biggest fall out was bicycling australia licenses run from jan to dec – meaning if you buy a license in nov [when i raced] you would have to purchase a new one in 3 months so i had to wait till this year 2010 to get my license.

fast forward to today. i had worked from home and it was a shit fight to leave home to get to the race. working from home with two kids is a bit of a fail but i had to as no-one can mind the boys. basically i made it to the crit race in a panic. running seriously late – un-organised and flustered. as it turned out it wasn’t a drama. no line to sort out my license. i just filled in the form, paid my money and then went and paid for the days entry fee. this time though i was entering D Grade. i really needed to just start small and work out the in’s and outs of crit racing.

unfortunately, i had no time to warm up and i only got to eat half a power bar before we took off. i went straight to the frontish riding about 7th wheel in a pack of i think around 30 guys. on the first lap i was sore in my upper right leg from a small cramp i got whilst climbing alpé de heights on 5 cols ride on the saturday before hand. it did stretch out and once warmed up it was better but even now it is sore.

i rode within touch of the front bunch the whole race and again led out a fair few times. there was a smallish break away group of about 5 riders on the 1st and 2nd lap but coming around to the 2nd lap i rode across which in turn brought the whole pack back together again. on the 3rd lap i sat back a little and rested but still keeping an eye on the front and making sure i was up there in case of any more break aways. we were rotating lead out but it was a pretty disorganised bunch to say the least. 5th lap on the front straight there was again another bit of a break away but i kept with them and when we went over the bridge at the western end i found myself completely out in front again, so i sat up a bit and let the bunch come back to me.

we passed through the finish line, which by now i knew where it was! and took the bell for the final lap. i expected a bit of a surge but it didn’t really happen until the bends on the eastern end. we all bunched heavily so jostled my way through to about 5th wheel and held it for the front straight. as we turned to go over the bridge for the final time, there was a surge and my heart started to speed up – it was on. without fail there was going to be a sprint for the line but there was the 4 tight bends first before the final straight and sprint “ZONE”.

as we came down off the bridge i moved across to the inside line. the bunch had now become a swarm of around 4-5 riders wide which i didn’t really like that much so i decided it was do or die and i just attacked. i sprinted in to the first of the corners, the right, then left, then right and left again with all corners taken at 80-90% maximum speed. i had a very minor look back and there really wasn’t anyone with me so it was just a matter of pinning it on the straight to the finish line. i pretty much knew at this point they weren’t going to catch me and i crossed the line in 1st place by a big margin. as i rolled out of the sprint everyone passed me an congratulated me. i checked the computer later on and i only hit 50km/hr in the solo sprint which isn’t very fast at all.

It was a pretty good feeling, i had ridden a solid race and attacked at the perfect time. what was even better still was the $30 you win for first place – in other words i made money from the days racing!!!!
in all honesty i felt a bit slack, i really should have ridden in C Grade but i felt it best to just feel it all out in D first. next week on monday i will be back but this time in C. i’ll probably come last again in C. they ride a lot quicker. i now have 6 points for the win but moving up a grade i will drop that by half – that is of course if they keep the same scoring system they did for 2009.