Nascar for Bikes.

     Yesterday I raced in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Dilworth Criterium. This was a much bigger event than the previous weekend in Tennessee, it included three different criterium races over Saturday and Sunday, but I was only able to race the first event at Dilworth. A criterium, or crit for short, is kind of like a Nascar race for bicycles. It involves a closed road course that is typically around a mile in length and forms a loop. A crit is much shorter than a road race and usually takes between 45 and 60 minutes. They are also very spectator friendly because the racers just keep doing lap after lap and there are usually some tight turns to crank up the excitement. Crits are also considered a bit more dangerous than a standard road race because of the tight turns, lots of close pacing and jostling for position, and more wrecks. Additionally, the pace is pretty fast since the distance is so much shorter. Finally, most crits are scored only at the end with a sprint finish deciding the victor. The image below shows yesterday's course. As you can see there are two tight turns. The first turn was on Myrtle Avenue after the climb so the speeds are a bit slower. The second turn was at Dilworth Road West at the bottom of a fast descent that had numerous man-hole covers to really make it a sketchy turn. The loop finished with a climb up Romany Road to the start/finish line.

     Now that you understand the basics of crit racing, let's get to the nitty gritty of yesterday's race. We lined up around 10:50 that morning and there were a over 60 of us in the Cat 4 race. I had the pre-race jitters because there were lots of big riders with fancy carbon bikes that probably cost as much as my car. The big riders made me nervous because they are the ones that have the muscle to really tear up a sprint finish and since this was a short race I fully expected them to be there at the end. The starting whistle went and we were off.  I had started near the front and after the first turn, I got on the inside and shot up to the top five where I tried to stay for the whole race. As I said last week, the key to bike racing is not working hard until you have to. Which means one should stay near the front in order to stay out of wrecks and respond to attacks, but not at the very front working in the wind. Being near the front in a crit becomes even more important because of all the accelerations and decelerations throughout the race. When the pack, or peloton, goes into a turn the entire group has to slow for the turn. Then as the front of the pack exits the turn, they accelerate and the pack spreads out so all the riders at the back have to work extra hard to make up that gap. So, staying near the front of the group is key. The first few laps were very fast and I was hurting, but I was still where wanted to be. The course was especially difficult because in each lap we had to slow for the second turn and then climb up Romany Road and each lap made Romany Road hurt more and more. Halfway into the race, despite the fast pace, I still felt like I had the strength to finish well.

     Yet another aspect of crit racing are prizes given to the leader at different laps during the race, called primes (pronounced preems). Primes are given out at different points, usually as a way to shake things up and get the pack to work harder. They had already given one out, and then they rang the bell and said there was a 50 dollar gift card to a local bike shop for the first person across the line on the next lap. I stayed near the front and was thinking that I could waste some energy for that gift card. As we climbed the hill to the start/finish I was in second, took off for the gift card, and then won it. Boom.

     Other than winning that prime I continued to race smart by minimizing my pulls on the front, staying in the top five, and getting through the turns safely. As the race was coming to an end they told us how many laps were left in the race. With four laps to go a rider got away and managed to open up a nice gap. A few other riders and myself attempted to work together to pull him in, but he stayed away. Then, with three laps to go, I took off to catch him. I managed to get away from the rest of the field and halfway to the leader ending up in a place called no man's land. Called such because the rider is all alone working by himself in the wind. This continued for the next lap until I had almost closed the gap on the leader, but the rest of the field had caught me in the process. We raced through the start finish line and the bell was rung, indicating one lap to go. I felt pretty beat by my effort to chase down the leader, so I sat in to try and rest up for the final sprint up the hill to the finish. As we were heading down the hill one guy accelerated off the front and I followed, we screamed into the final turn with a bit of a gap on the rest of the field and made our way up the hill. Damn that hill! We all stood up and sprinted for the line. Other riders were around me and I tucked in on a wheel to rest a bit for the last 100 yards before I took off. Two guys were just a few yards ahead of me, but I knew I could finish in the top five. As I was coming for the line it was myself and another guy neck in neck for third, so I threw my bike at the line like a pro and eeked out a third place finish. 

  

This is an example of what a bike throw looks like and it's definitely me.

     Anyway, I was pretty pumped about the finish and happy about the upgrade points I just scored to help me in my pursuit to get to cat 3. I now have 16 points and only need 4 more in order to upgrade. A criterium is super fun for both the racer and the spectators, so if you have one in your city this summer I recommend you go check it out.