CRIT’s ( Aka – Criteriums )

CRIT’s ( Aka – Criteriums )


A criterium, or crit, is a bike race held on a short course (usually less than 5 km), often run on closed-off city centre streets. ... Go round and round try to be the fastest and don’t fall down, Knock anybody else down - or in my case do something stupid as I’m new to this game. Also in my case have fun no one is paying me to do this !!!

So I raced my first CVC East Hartford training Crit last Tue 5/19. I hung on in the main pack, did not fall down and I did not case any mishaps that I know about. Hit all my checks on the Goals + Objectives !! Good deal

Next on the agenda was the Downtown Hartford Crit Sunday MAY 24. I raced the Masters 50+ class @ 9:00 Am; this was my first real CRIT. I did maybe 8 or 9 of the Plainville training Crits in March + April and the one EH Crit last week so this was a big deal - The real thing. Well just like the road races these MASTER guys are real FAST ( NUFF said on that ) . I ended up working the inside and outside where I felt a bit safer and moved into the middle a few times just for kicks . I much prefer the outside but the inside is better if a rider goes down in a corner they tend to take out other riders sliding to the outside, But you work harder. All went well till the last lap where a rider went down mid pack on the final corner. Even us old guys all want to win and wick it up all we can. John K had to jump the guy’s bike to avoid a crash. He was saying later he was thinking this is it I’m going down. But he used his skills + luck to stay up. I was back a few riders and got to swerve around and actually gain places in the overall. I got 26th.

Then I helped do some corner marshaling – and decided to hang out for the full day and do the CAT 4 race @ 3:20 the last race of the day. So it starts raining during the 2nd to last race, and I prepare for a wet race. I did one wet race in Plainville on April 11 and found out you can go way faster than you think, you just need to lean the body not the bike. Race goes off I’m at the back and am fiddling with my computer and get gapped instantly. These guys took off like a rocket. I worked real hard to get on the back of the pack and it kept fracturing into smaller groups with I guess riders who did not want to go as fast as I was willing to go. So I passed several riders in the first 5 laps + quickly found out I was not going to get on the main pack and just sprinted where I could as hard as possible till the matches were all gone . Lap 11 I was pulled and watched the race from the side line a bit pissed I messed up my start as I know I could have hung. Lesson # 258 so far on my short racing season.


Next up is another East Hartford Training Crit last night 5/26/09. The “B” Race is what I do. The race goes off and I had already decided I was going to push my limits in this race more than past races to see what happens. It’s a training race and like I said earlier I’m not getting paid to do this so why not experiment. I line up one row from the front and worked to stay near the front , if a surge went past I would move to the outside and just surge around the pack when ever it slowed down. Things were going real well I was racing smooth and feeling real real good. So about 2/3’s of the way into the race I had been moving up the right side on the final sweeper and they yell Field Prime and I kill it and Bury myself to see what happens . At corner one I was maybe 25 yards off the pack and I ended up holding my break to take the prime. Cool a can of soda or water Whooo hooooo…. I back off my pace and the group catches me at the back corner and I jump back on some wheels to recover . In a few laps we get the 5 to go and I move up a bit each lap . On the final lap I pushed for all I had and got up near the front on the chase pack . Had fun pushed my limits – What else can you ask for…..