Crits vs. Road races

Herbsman

I love crits just because of the repeated sprint/brake/corner hard/sprint etc. Fast and exciting and fun

However they are aesthetically boring. And going around the same corner 30+ times can get tedious. No fun descents to fly down, and often no hills long or steep enough to really split the bunch up, it's hard to get away.

Road racing however is aesthetically pleasing, there is pleasure to be had when attacking into a nice landscape, however, riding in a straight line for too long can be a bit boring especially when nobody is attacking.

If you had the choice of one or the other, which would you take? CRIT OR ROAD RACE MAKE YOUR CHOICE :evil:

alihisgreat

Road races are more fun due to bigger fields, and more room for tactical riding.. crits are just smashing it round in a circle for an hour which is great as mid week training.. but we're all working up to the bigger weekend races aren't we?

displacedaussie

Circuit races (like Castle Combe). I don't really like short sharp crits and I never relax when racing on the (open) road.

TakeTurns

A RR is a lot more tactical and can be more challenging when it's an undulating course. Whereas a crit is a battle of pushing up towards the front whilst keeping hidden behind the numbers - far too chaotic for my liking.

bigmat

Road race for me. Crits generally don't suit me - my cornering is poor and I tend to lack the fitness for the repeated bursts you need to produce at E12 level. At least with road races you can hide in the bunch if you are struggling with the pace! In terms of what I actually enjoy when I'm on form, you can't beat stringing out the bunch or launching an attack in a road race - its proper racing!

xixang

crits for me but only coz I struggle with RR with hills (even moderate ones). i also don't tend to like the sort of riding I've seen in RR - wrong side of road, playing chicken with cars etc. I know comms etc should police this but often they don't see it or don't take action, despite threats of DQ, fines etc. I generally find crits safer - except preston death arena, although its not been too bad this year

Cookie91

Which do people generally find harder too? A lot of you guys say that crits are intense because of the rapid surging. However I find riding on the road a lot more intense?
Then again I don't think two different races or circuits can be compared.

bigmat

It depends on the level of racing. I was pretty consistent at 3/4 crits but been hopeless at E12. Can hold my own in a road race given a bit of training though.

oldhairylegs

Winchester Street Crit the other weekend and a Surrey League Road Race this weekend.

Both very hard, both very enjoyable and both very different types of bike racing.

Different efforts, different skills needed but very similar outcomes; totally knackered, but a big grin factor at the end.

Ain't bike racing great?

ozzzyosborn206

Not sure its a tough one, I do enjoy crits but am probably better at road races, mainly because you can get away with sitting in and using your head a bit more and so still get a result in a high level road race whereas to get a result in a high level crit you probably have to actually be as good as the guys your racing against

maryka

Road racing for me, though ironically I've had better results at crits.

Crits: hate the frantic start (don't get stuck behind someone who can't clip in fast enough!), and most women's races are all-categories so there's a real spread in ability and you need to go hard from the start to shed the ones who can't go around a corner or who aren't fit enough. Hate that we often share the circuit with men's races which encourages attacking "tactically" (on the fine line of cheating in fact). Love the closed circuit, the way you can use the wind to your advantage across the entire track, you get a lot of laps to figure out where to attack or how to win it.

Road races: hate the traffic, hate how other riders take liberty with everyone's safety, hate the way that toothless comms let them get away with playing chicken with cars. Road surfaces often appalling! Love that they are longer and thus benefit my older endurance-oriented legs more, hills are tougher and longer, finish line is usually some kind of rise in the road. Harder to win but more satisfying when you do.

Pross

Road race everytime for me, I hate 'crits'* with a vengeance. That said, a combination of struggling on hills and the dangers of racing on open roads making themselves horribly obvious to me this season means I am probably going to give up the road and resort to circuit racing.

* Most 'crits' aren't really crits they are just boring loops of a motor racing circuit or airfield. Proper town centre crits are a different kettle of fish, I love them but my technical skills aren't good enough for them.