My First "Crit"

We all start somewhere. The racing at Heffron is notoriously hard so don¹t
feel to bad and I'm sure you'll live and learn for the next time out. I've
done some of the Tuesday night racing there over this summer and you
virtually always know you're in for an hour or so of punishing self abuse!

What you can expect in crit racing is lots of accelerations out of the
corners which for me is what ends up hurting the most. The only rule is to
stay on because as you found out getting back on after losing the group is
virtually impossible.

I don't usually race with a computer or HRM in crits. The racing is
typically fast enough that looking at your stats is simply a distraction,
especially at a place like Heffron where the racing is lap based rather than
timed.

--brett

petulance wrote -

.....but any remaining hopes

Quoted message said:

vanished when I felt a twinge in my left calf. Even before the cramps had
started in earnest, I knew what was going to happen. I had to pull my bike
over to the side and waited until the cramping subsided.

If the cramping or the twinges prior to cramping persist you could try a
magnesium supplement - esp if you have been training hard and sweating lots.
This has worked for lots of my cycling friends with similar experiences -
see for example -

http://www.fgb.com.au/Natural%20Rem%20Pages/Magnesium%20Deficiency.htm

And congratulations on starting out at Heffron - if you can get comfortable
in a bunch through those corners at pace, most other crit circuits will seem
a doddle.

best, Andrew

petulance said:

Or rather, a crit that ended up being an individual time trial for 95%
of the time ...

So I got up feeling quite good today and decided to make my crit debut
at Heffron Park.

Well done for getting started. We all get dropped sometimes, and you
just found out how important bike handling and bunch skills are.
There's many a rider who gets spat on some corners (hands up all the
Kew crit riders who fluff the hairpin and get spat out the back!).

Keep at it, and practice those corners and bunch skills. You'll be
suprised at how quickly you improve.

Andrew Price said:

[snip]

And congratulations on starting out at Heffron - if you can get comfortable
in a bunch through those corners at pace, most other crit circuits will seem
a doddle.

best, Andrew

I'll say! There are a lot of corners on that course. If you spend much time racing at Heffron, you're going to become a _lot_ better at cornering at speed. Well done!

Ritch

brett fenton said:

We all start somewhere. The racing at Heffron is notoriously hard so don¹t
feel to bad and I'm sure you'll live and learn for the next time out. I've
done some of the Tuesday night racing there over this summer and you
virtually always know you're in for an hour or so of punishing self abuse!

Aha. I didn't know the Heffron circuit was meant to be hard. I found out
first hand the difference between a warm up lap and an actual race lap.

Quoted message said:

What you can expect in crit racing is lots of accelerations out of the
corners which for me is what ends up hurting the most. The only rule is to
stay on because as you found out getting back on after losing the group is
virtually impossible.

I have always wondered why people who get dropped usually aren't able to
rejoin the group. I now know why.

Quoted message said:

I don't usually race with a computer or HRM in crits. The racing is
typically fast enough that looking at your stats is simply a distraction,
especially at a place like Heffron where the racing is lap based rather than
timed.

--brett

I was going to use the computer to record the average speed of the bunch
so that I could use it as a benchmark for training.

Andrew Price said:

petulance wrote -

....but any remaining hopes

Quoted message said:

vanished when I felt a twinge in my left calf. Even before the cramps had
started in earnest, I knew what was going to happen. I had to pull my bike
over to the side and waited until the cramping subsided.

If the cramping or the twinges prior to cramping persist you could try a
magnesium supplement - esp if you have been training hard and sweating lots.
This has worked for lots of my cycling friends with similar experiences -
see for example -

http://www.fgb.com.au/Natural%20Rem%20Pages/Magnesium%20Deficiency.htm

I didn't drink any water in the crit until after the cramp when I slowed
down a bit and had the chance to drink.

Quoted message said:

And congratulations on starting out at Heffron - if you can get comfortable
in a bunch through those corners at pace, most other crit circuits will seem
a doddle.

best, Andrew

Thanks. Lots of points for me take to home and work on.

Bleve said:

petulance said:

Or rather, a crit that ended up being an individual time trial for 95%
of the time ...

So I got up feeling quite good today and decided to make my crit debut
at Heffron Park.

Well done for getting started.

Ta. I now regret not doing it sooner. It would have given me more
motivation to get out on my bike and ride more.

Quoted message said:

We all get dropped sometimes, and you
just found out how important bike handling and bunch skills are.

🙂

Quoted message said:

There's many a rider who gets spat on some corners (hands up all the
Kew crit riders who fluff the hairpin and get spat out the back!).

Do they manage to rejoin the group after getting spat out? Or is this
part of the "elastic band" effect corners have on the bunch?

Quoted message said:

Keep at it, and practice those corners and bunch skills. You'll be
suprised at how quickly you improve.

Thanks.

ritcho said:

Andrew Price said:

[snip]

And congratulations on starting out at Heffron - if you can get
comfortable
in a bunch through those corners at pace, most other crit circuits will
seem
a doddle.

best, Andrew

I'll say! There are a lot of corners on that course. If you spend much
time racing at Heffron, you're going to become a _lot_ better at
cornering at speed. Well done!

Ritch

Oh boy. It looks like the consensus is Heffron Park is a really
difficult circuit at speed. Especially for a beginner.

Maybe I should have done more research ...

🙂

So I take it other crit circuits do not have that many corners?

On 9/4/06 6:43 PM, in article
[email hidden], "petulance"

Quoted message said:

Oh boy. It looks like the consensus is Heffron Park is a really
difficult circuit at speed. Especially for a beginner.

Maybe I should have done more research ...

🙂

So I take it other crit circuits do not have that many corners?

Heffron is hard for a number of reasons. There are some high speed corners
(2,3,4&5). I've run wide on corner 5 a bunch of times. In places the surface
is less than perfect, especially at speed and you ride face on into the wind
up the start/finish straight more often than not. Many courses have less
corners but are shorter so the number of corners you do evens out.

Probably the easiest course in terms of technical skills required I've been
on is the Eastern Creek dragway. A few clubs hold events out there.

--brett

On 9/4/06 6:38 PM, in article
[email hidden], "petulance"

Quoted message said:

I was going to use the computer to record the average speed of the bunch
so that I could use it as a benchmark for training.

The thing is the bunch goes at one speed today and a different one tomorrow.
Depends on who's working, who's not etc. As you found out it's not the
relative constant speed that hits you in a crit, it's the surges. That¹s
what interval training is good at replicating.

You might want to look at say HR to benchmark your training.

--brett

The crit circuit ( well 800 metres of track) at DGV has 8 corners - but some
are probably more like sweepers. 3 tight bends though - hard with a full
grade/bunch to all go through thought tight corners at once.
I haven't been to Heffron though, so I don¹t know what is 'normal' for a
crit circuit.

Cheers
B

petulance writes -

Quoted message said:

So I take it other crit circuits do not have that many corners?

Nah, its just that Heffron esp the "squircle" right angles up near the
tennis courts were designed for parking tanks in WW2 rather than looking
after roadies in a crit circa 2000+.

I was handling there one Saturday in a time trial for my club and was
watching how the quick riders strayed on the power, on their aerobars right
through corners that would have resulted in me either digging in a pedal or
clipping the sand and grass on the edge of the circuit if I had tried it at
that pace, and after the race was over I sat on one of their wheels as they
were warming down and discovered how much better it was if you could stay
smooth through those corners.

(this after having had a few goes in crits there over the years, and even
some success)

Once you do know the best lines there, it means you will get much more power
to the ground and stay more easily with your bunch because you don't waste
nearly as much energy backing off for the corner and then having to make a
big effort getting back on.

This is true of all crits, but most are on real roads where the lines are
easier to read - converted heavy artillery slabs don't always make the best
crit courses imho.

best, Andrew

brett fenton said:

On 9/4/06 6:43 PM, in article
[email hidden], "petulance"

Quoted message said:

Oh boy. It looks like the consensus is Heffron Park is a really
difficult circuit at speed. Especially for a beginner.

Maybe I should have done more research ...

🙂

So I take it other crit circuits do not have that many corners?

Heffron is hard for a number of reasons. There are some high speed corners
(2,3,4&5). I've run wide on corner 5 a bunch of times. In places the surface
is less than perfect, especially at speed and you ride face on into the wind
up the start/finish straight more often than not. Many courses have less
corners but are shorter so the number of corners you do evens out.

Probably the easiest course in terms of technical skills required I've been
on is the Eastern Creek dragway. A few clubs hold events out there.

--brett

Eastern Creek is very simple, but you have to go all the way to Penrith's Regatta Centre for the _most_ simple course (flat, close to rectangular and almost 5km a lap).

Ritch

"petulance" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Or rather, a crit that ended up being an individual time trial for 95% of
the time ...

So I got up feeling quite good today and decided to make my crit debut at
Heffron Park.

Rocked up to registration and I tell them it is my first crit and they put
me in E Grade (which meant 8 laps of the 2km cicruit). I did get told on
the line that "you should be in D Grade". Sigh, just because I *look* fit
doesn't mean I am ...

Anyway, the race starts and I'm at the front of the pack. So far so good
as the group is slowly cranking the pace up. I slow down before entering
the first major corner and before I know it, the rest of the group just
whizzes past.

Dropped on the first corner! Ouch. The only other person behind me was
this 14 year old kid. We tried to work together to bridge the gap but we
never did it.

I was still harbouring hopes of actually catching up with the bunch by
putting in a super human effort towards the end but any remaining hopes
vanished when I felt a twinge in my left calf. Even before the cramps had
started in earnest, I knew what was going to happen. I had to pull my bike
over to the side and waited until the cramping subsided. It was at this
point that the 14 y.o. kid and F Grade went past me.

And to make matters worse, my FlightDeck computer had died on me in the
middle of the race. I can't explain it, but I felt kind of lost without
it.

I managed to make a small recovery by overtaking the kid and F Grade with
2 laps to go.

OK, so it could have been worse. At least I didn't get lapped by E Grade!
But I was pretty disappointed that I didn't get more time riding in the
group.

Looks like I need to go back to the drawing board (or rather, get more
miles on the bike). And work on not getting cramps.

I guess it was just as well I didn't end up getting that pair of Shimano
7701 wheels a week or so ago. I would have looked like such a dill with
fancy minimal spoke wheels. All the gear and no idea ...

I believe the average speed for "e" grade on Saturday was 31.5km/h. D grade
was about 34km/h. I was in D'grade. I can now put a face to the name. I saw
you and the other young fellow from D grade. I was in e grade only a few
weeks ago.

As others have pointed out Heffron can be a challenging circuit. Try to hold
your lines and speed through the corners. This will come as you become more
confident. Just remember "Maroubra" is aboriginal for place of winds. Winds
are mainly nor easter in summer (in your face over the "pimples"= tough) or
south westers in winter, as it has been the last couple of weeks (head wind
in the straight)

If you need help/advice i am the big red headed bloke with the brown border
collie. I am also on the commitee of the club.

Cheers

Matt H

On 9/4/06 8:18 PM, in article [email hidden],

PussnBoots said:

The crit circuit ( well 800 metres of track) at DGV has 8 corners - but some
are probably more like sweepers. 3 tight bends though - hard with a full
grade/bunch to all go through thought tight corners at once.
I haven't been to Heffron though, so I don¹t know what is 'normal' for a
crit circuit.

I race DGV quite often as it's close to home. The bottom corners on that
track are scary in medium bunch 20+, especially in the bell lap where there
are suicide moves on the inside line.

--brett

petulance said:

Bleve said:

petulance said:

Or rather, a crit that ended up being an individual time trial for 95%
of the time ...

So I got up feeling quite good today and decided to make my crit debut
at Heffron Park.

Well done for getting started.

Ta. I now regret not doing it sooner. It would have given me more
motivation to get out on my bike and ride more.

Racing is good 🙂

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

There's many a rider who gets spat on some corners (hands up all the
Kew crit riders who fluff the hairpin and get spat out the back!).

Do they manage to rejoin the group after getting spat out? Or is this
part of the "elastic band" effect corners have on the bunch?

Sometimes, but the effort soon adds up and it's a pretty safe bet to
say that those struggling to hang on at the back on a technical course
will get dropped. You'll really notice this fif you ride a short
hotdog course. Evil ... you *must* be at the front on a hotdog,
there's nowhere to hide.

Bleve said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

There's many a rider who gets spat on some corners (hands up all the
Kew crit riders who fluff the hairpin and get spat out the back!).

Do they manage to rejoin the group after getting spat out? Or is this
part of the "elastic band" effect corners have on the bunch?

Sometimes, but the effort soon adds up and it's a pretty safe bet to
say that those struggling to hang on at the back on a technical course
will get dropped.

Yep, my usual experience at Kew is.
Work hard to get near the front before the hairpin, get spat out the
back up the hill. Work bloody hard down the hill to catch up and get
near the front before the hairpin, and get spat out the back up the
hill. Work like a maniac down the hill to get near the front before the
hairpin, get spat out the back, perform ITT for the next 20 mins.

DaveB

On 2006-04-10, DaveB (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

Bleve said:

Sometimes, but the effort soon adds up and it's a pretty safe bet to
say that those struggling to hang on at the back on a technical course
will get dropped.

Yep, my usual experience at Kew is.
Work hard to get near the front before the hairpin, get spat out the
back up the hill. Work bloody hard down the hill to catch up and get
near the front before the hairpin, and get spat out the back up the
hill. Work like a maniac down the hill to get near the front before the
hairpin, get spat out the back, perform ITT for the next 20 mins.

Your bike is an OCR, isn't it?

Is it properly fit for you? Or are you losing the bunch in the sprint
up the hill, rather than e.g. badly taking the corner itself?

--
TimC
Stapp's (of Murphy's law fame) Law: the universal aptitude for
ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle.

TimC said:

Quoted message said:

Yep, my usual experience at Kew is.
Work hard to get near the front before the hairpin, get spat out the
back up the hill. Work bloody hard down the hill to catch up and get
near the front before the hairpin, and get spat out the back up the
hill. Work like a maniac down the hill to get near the front before the
hairpin, get spat out the back, perform ITT for the next 20 mins.

Your bike is an OCR, isn't it?

Is it properly fit for you? Or are you losing the bunch in the sprint
up the hill, rather than e.g. badly taking the corner itself?

Come on Tim, you've seen the way I climb 🙁 . The bike and setup is
fine, the engine is the problem.

DaveB "planning a trimuphant return for the winter crits"