- Do at least a couple of laps to the course beforehand, one of them at race speed. You will see if you can pedal through all the turns, will know the lines you can take, where the potholes are, etc.
- Take into account the wind direction. This will impact your strategy.
- Know the spot where you should start sprinting on the last lap in order to avoid taking off too early or too late.
- Pee before the start. Please remember that.
- Talk to other guys before the race. You may learn which are the wheels to follow on the sprint.
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There are enough YouTube videos out there that prove Cat 5, Cat 4/5 and Cat 4 races have some very fit, strong and motivated riders in them. Sharpen up their handling and theyâre Cat 3, maybe even Cat 2 material. Lower level races and the racers are no joke.
Staying towards the front is the dream. Every new racer has been told that the top 10/15 positions is where itâs safest, easiest etc⌠Getting there and staying there is a whole other ballgame.
As Iâm sure others have said, set yourself a couple of pre-race learning goals. How do you feel moving up/through a pack? How do you feel when youâre cornering at speed with a rider on your inside? Give yourself the opportunity to experience these things. As you progress up the ranks, youâre going to be exposed to these things, regularly.
Above all, have fun, wear a smile and be friendly. There might be other new racers at the event. Make some friends. You might be racing with and against them for years to come 
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I had a rude awakening when I entered my first crit. Probably my fault for joining into a cat 3/4 race rather than just a 4th cat but even so hoped that Iâd be able to sit in the bunch⌠how wrong I was.
Spat out the back very quickly when it went MENTAL after the start. I set all sorts of power PRâs over the whole race and went way above FTP too many times to count because of the accordion effect out of corners.
My cornering wasnât good enough, I was cautious riding close to others through bends, cut too much speed and then had to re-accelerate. These take their toll and youâve got to save those matches⌠Conserve energy wherever possible. Conserve, conserve, conserve!
However, my day was made and I keep thinking back to the end of the race with pure joy as tips and tricks taken from NorCal and TR Race Analysis videos on YouTube had given me some advice which I remembered. I ended up in a small group battling for the very low places and ended up on the front with a few hundred metres to go. Knowing where the wind was coming from on the slight drag uphill to the line I positioned myself perfectly to force anyone wanting to come around me to pop out into the wind and I lead the sprint out and cycled away from them all to âwinâ. That one little victory has me gagging to get back and race againâŚ
Enjoy it.
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Just stay safe, enjoy the experience and learn as much as you can. Basically forget about actually racing and just focus on being smooth and safe. The result is irrelevant.
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Especially for newbs, I recommend not having power on your computer display. It is largely irrelevant in a crit⌠you either hang with the group our you donât. And it is very common for rides to look down and see their power (or HR), be shocked at how high it is and think âI canât hold thatâ and POOF you are out the back.
Set up a page without power or HR on it so that the data is still recorded for review analysis after the race, but not on display during. Just focus on the race and those around you.
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I absolutely agree. I didnât have it in front of me but did look back and analyse my power file after the ride.
I didnât have the time/wherewithal to look at my computer once during the race. The 15mins went by ridiculously fast (15mins as part of British Cyclings covid-19 regulations).
Expect a âswarmâ of riders on both sides usually bell lap approaching the sprint. Anticipating and navigating this well will probably determine your results more than anything. A swarm happens because there is no one team or riders that keep the pace fast/hard enough to string it out. Not wanting to be on the front everyone fights to stay behind a wheel and the whole group slows and balloons across the road. Lots of lateral movement and a great place for crashes to occur and/or get boxed in and pushed back and out of contention.
No fool proof advise how to avoid or deal other than I try to position to the side so I can âget outâ and follow guys who start sprints way early. If there is a turn coming into the last sprint I try to position myself toward the side of the group that will give me the outside line as you can carry more speed. Inside can be a potential for guys cutting the corner and wheels will cross=crashes at the worst and lots of scrubbed speed at the best.
Signed up for a couple of crits this summer and they will be my first ones. A couple of add on questionsâŚ
- Is there some sort of lap counter? Watching the TR videos, it seems that there is a bell dinging for the last lap, but otherwise, how do people keep track of which lap theyâre on?
- What does everyone put on their head unit display? Iâve seen the âdonât show power or hrâ advice as well as the âjust put the head unit in your pocketâ. If you are running your head unit out front, what do you show?
lap counter: often but not always. Usually thereâs a visible clock, and at the start line theyâll say â40 minutes plus 5 lapsâ or whatever. When you get to 40 minutes, either theyâll have a lap counter or theyâll just yell it out as you pass the finish line for each of the remaining laps â5 to go!â â4 to go!â
computer: Iâd suggest the pocket or making a screen thatâs just a timer and nothing else. Iâve never benefitted from looking at more info during a crit, thereâs too much else going on. In a longer race you can make some more tactical decisions about pacing and more info might help.
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I usually set my head unit for races with speed and time thatâs it.
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There is usually a lap counter on the right or left somewhere through the start/finish line. Typically last 5 laps. Point is find it and make a note to look at it to stay oriented how many laps to go.
Regarding whatâs on the head unitâŚwhatever floats your boat. I like time, speed and power. Time to keep track of how long to go so I know when to take a gel. Speed/power just in case I get in a break or bridging. Sort of meter power/speed so I donât over/under do it.
Youâll figure it out by doing the real thing. Donât over think it.
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lots of good tips here but Iâd suggest you try to keep it as simple as possible. Pick 2 or 3 things to keep in mind, forget about everything else during the race. There will be plenty to keep your attention. For a first race Iâd suggest:
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safety. Protect your front wheel at all times. When you need to deviate from your line (you will), do it as smoothly and steadily as possible.
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Attack if possible. Wait half the race, see how youâre doing. Chances are youâll either be hanging on for dear life, in which case thereâs not much to focus on besides âhang on,â or youâll find that you can handle the pace, in which case try putting an attack in, just because itâs helpful to learn what happens when youâre off the front.
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Is the group going slow or fast? Try to observe when that happens. When things slow down, seize the opportunity to move up or attack. When things are slow, watch carefully to be ready for the inevitable surge.
So race mantras: clean wheel. Smooth lines. One hard attack if you can. Are we speeding up or slowing down. Thatâs probably plenty to try to concentrate on.
Then after the race you can come back and compare your experience to all the tips here, which will make a lot more sense.
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You take a gel in a crit? Is that the norm? I just assumed it was short enough to leave food and water in the car, plus less to mess around with.
I leave my computer on the same main display I train with, which has time, distance, speed, HR and 3 second power. Figure I may as well stick with the familiar, I barely look at the screen during a race but when I do I want everything to be exactly where Iâm used to it being so that I can process it in a fraction of a second and get my attention back to the race. Time and distance is useful for gauging how far through the race you are. Speed is largely meaningless if Iâm honest. Power is useful if Iâm in a break and want to do some steady pulls.
HR I personally find useful as a good sense check on RPE.
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Yes I take a gel in a crit. Mine are usually 60-90 minutes long. Sometimes I do 2 so keeping the body topped really helps me in the finale laps. Again, do what works for you. I find an SIS caffein gel with 30 minutes to go beneficial. I carry a little water as well. Sometimes 1/2 a bottle sometimes more depending on heat humidity. Youâll figure what works for you.
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Activate the auto lap function on your computer. Its great for post race analysis. And do a post race data analysis.
Make a fairly detailed post race analysis note in your workout calendar/log. Do this after every race. Lots to learn!
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Weâre getting pretty far from the âfirst crit adviceâ side of things here, butâŚIME, the worst time to attack is when things slow down. Everyone is getting recovery and starting to feel OK so if you attack, youâll get chased down
The best time to attack is when it is hard and people are praying for it to slow downâŚ
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I did my first Crit race last week and won in a group of 35 or so. Mostly stayed in the front 10 and tried to identify the strong riders that wanted to work. Bike handling while keeping off the brakes in the corners and drafting is key.
Watch all the race analysis videos on TR YouTube as well as NorCal, Chaz and all the other channels 
So yeah my advice is, pretend you donât have brakes, lean into the corners until you feel the road push you back, stay in a draft and know when to go with the best riders. Having a good sprint helps too if you got one.
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Fair. To be more specific, how about âthe instant things start to slow down, when everyone is hoping theyâll get a breather, will be discouraged by your attack, and watch you ride off while yelling at someone else to close the gap.â
Or that might be too specific.
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