British Cycling have now set out some rules that allow crit racing to resume in the UK.
I am lucky that my local crit organisers have been hot off the mark and organised a mini series of 6 races over 4 weeks. Given the restrictions, the races are 2 x 15 mins with a 20 min break between. One race is points for order over over the line, the other is the same plus 5 prime laps for additional points. Winners on the night and an overall for the series.
A few questions:
What would you fuelling strategy be? I can definitely go into the first race on my normal fuelling which is to eat 2 hrs before. A gel in the break or not needed?
What workouts would you pair with this over the next 4 weeks?
Background - I’ve just completed SS Base Mid Volume (2nd round this year) but I’ve also been racing virtually which really targeted threshold power (race durations of 30-45 mins) so I actually feel ready to race IRL (minus the skills!).
I usually race CX over the autumn/winter and don’t target summer crit racing to win (rather to help team mates) but given that any CX racing won’t be in a league format and there’s no National points then I figured I’d give this crit series a go!
I was also thinking that this year I could test the boundaries on what sort of workload I can do outside of racing as I’d have a tendency to taper and rest so much during race season that I lose a lot of fitness (I realise some is inevitable).
If you’ve been racing on Zwift, that’s the perfect prep for this type of thing. Look for short races on circuits like Duchy Estate, Innsbruckring, Richmond UCI/Cobbled climbs etc. Anything with repeated short very intense efforts.
There are less restrictions on CX racing but given the usual venue/race format I can imagine they will much tougher to organise. We are seeing some CX TT events being held but I prioritised these crit’s as I prefer to race with direct competition.
Fab! It’s a great 1km circuit (just been re-surfaced) and the organisers are fantastic. Good prizes too! They’ve taken out the hairpin to avoid crashes and make it slightly less technical.
See link for BC guidelines above. I guess with guidelines and protocols in place then individuals have to make a decision on whether they think there is a risk. The organisers are quite clear on the measures taken to ensure risk is minimised.
All racing can restart from 1st August, apart from road and sportives that use open roads. Crits on closed circuits are fine. All events non-ranking for the rest of the year. There are modifications, depending on the type of event though.
I really only race cross, and so far it’s no pits and one bike races, and some sort of modified start. Not sure how realistic that will be, and not sure if organisers will want to put anything on with restrictions in place. Also wonder about the national series - will it still happen if it’s non-ranking?
However, it doesn’t explicitly state which ‘limited events’ would be allowed in each stage. I understood that Phase 4 was going to be restricted to individual events where social distancing is possible.
You’re right about individuals assessing the risks for themselves, as long as they don’t leave the event and cough on my elderly father and kill him I guess that’s fine as long as they got to prove how fast they are
Yes, I usually only race cross but given that BC have confirmed no points or ranking this year then it’s a chance to experiment a bit with different types of racing and recovery/training strategies etc.
