Im booked in for next Tuesday and a Sunday later in August (where they will run 3 races). I would definitely recommend it. Given the ART races in usual circumstances are about 45mins anyway, 30mins approx of racing with two finishes, plus primes every 3 laps in the points race, I felt there was way more actual racing than a usual crit. NP confirmed this too! So I’m keeping an eye on the ART FB page for when they release their dates, which I suspect are going to be weekends in Sept/Oct.
In terms of how I got on, I’m in the 3/4 cat race and kept with the lead group. Didn’t get any Bomber points though I don’t think. Didn’t have enough gas to really contest for the sprint finish. Overall very happy with how it went for me.
I also raced in the 3/4 but struggled. The wind meant that gaps very quickly became selections and I didn’t quite have the short power needed to close the gap/bridge across when a gap formed. Plus i was a little too nervy around the 2nd corner and consistently lost the wheel in front for the first few laps until i became a bit more confident.
Won a nice 3 way heads up commiseration sprint which I played tactically which i was pleased with.
I barely have any crit experience so cant really comment on the format but it seemed to be full gas from the off with no let up. Selections occurred in the 2nd lap of the first race and 1st lap of the second race I think…
Not booked in for any of the other races yet, it’s a long way for me to travel for 2*15mins.
They actually sound a pretty fun format then with plenty of action from the go. I’ll be in 3/4 too but I’ll wait until ART as Bovingdon is a bit too far be me to travel. Luckily and totally unplanned, im hitting Crit Speciality plan as of Monday, so I’ll peak for some of the races.
I raced last night and also had a good experience. Well organised, good circuit, riders all well behaved.
The 15 mins didn’t seem so short in the end. First race went from the off so it was all out for the whole time. 2nd race (luckily!) worked really well with primes. Good chance to practice sprints … which I definitely need to work on!
It certainly didn’t feel like it was a lesser race given the format. I’d certainly recommend if that’s something you want to do.
For those that have given the UK 15min formats a go. How did you stay warm between the races? E.g rest for 10 mins and the conduct a 10 min warm up or just carry on riding stealy throughout and eat some snacks and hydrate?
If I’m honest - I wasn’t particularly structured or consistent! We had approx 20 mins between races but sometimes longer if there were crashes or delays in the race between. Felt I didn’t need to re-fuel aside from some of the weekend races where the schedule was extended with the first race approx 10am (having eaten a couple of hrs before) and the last one not until 12:30pm.
Temperature happened to be good for all races so more of a case of keeping legs ticking over. We had a couple of laps on the track before each race. Because of the format of the second race (points) it didn’t tend to go off from the start as everyone was waiting for the Prime every 3rd lap.
By the 3rd race (scratch) people had sussed each other out and it was more of a tactical race. Everyone in the same position fatigue wise. I think the different formats made it interesting and 15 minutes did not seem short at all.
At the end of the series I felt the organisers had done a great job. I understand it’s not for all but it may be that both organisers and participants needs to get used to this new way of racing and if you feel comfortable then it’s important to support that to keep our sport going.
I noticed an event next weekend at the Cyclopark in Gravesend, Kent. Looks like an afternoon with numerous different format races split between E/1/2 and 3/4.
Hillingdon track / Council haven’t permitted racing currently under any format, so I’m not getting my hopes up for West London racing to return any time soon.
I gave ART 3x15 min Crit a go at Dalton Barracks this weekend gone and it was super fun. All the riders got put into separate category parking areas depending which race you was in. The marshals then call you forward to the start line, and set you off. It seems pretty straight forward to safely achieve this and I wonder why more races haven’t popped up.
The race(s):
They were all pretty hard from the go. You really had to empty the tank and sacrifice your next race to make a breakaway stick, as the course wasn’t technical, and the speed was avg 23-25 over the three races. FWIW my NP was 310w at 79kg for the 3 races as an idea of how the race went, we also caught the Cat above on a few occasions, so it seems everyone has nailed the training with Covid about.
All in all, I would haplily give this format of race another go.
A couple of the guys from my team went and gave it a bash. They raved about it. Two thumbs up for the organisation, right through to the quality of the racing.
All the sessions are sold out… (FML considering track sprinting is literally what I’m physiologically built for) but I got a fixie for this exact purprose.
Reviving this thread, I’m going to my first crit (first race period) at Thruxton next month in Cat 4. I’m 60kgs, 250ish FTP and fairly well rounded, and plenty of fast group riding in the pocket. I know the circuit is generally quite exposed with some risers.
I’m struggling to set a goal, as I have no clue what’s realistic. Is it too easy to just try and finish with the bunch? Too ambitious to think about playing some kind of role? Help me out people who’ve raced there before!
