How fast is a race?

I get asked frequently how fast races are. It's a tough question to answer. It depends a lot on the terrain, weather/conditions, what's at stake for the riders, etc. One of my favorite quotes regarding bicycle racing is from one of the old masters of the sport - Jacque Anquetil.

I can't find the quote online so I apologize for butchering it but it was something to the effect of:

"Funny people these bicycle racers. They believe that a racing bicycle is built to go fast. It is not. It is only built to finish first."

The essence of that statement is the essence of bicycle racing - the race is not always about who is fastest, rather it is about who crosses the line first. There is a difference. It speaks to the core of tactics in a bicycle race.

I often find this is the hardest part of cycling for armchair football watching couch jockeys to understand. As Americans we believe it is all about who is the fastest - most in shape. We tend to not understand or appreciate the nuances of the racing itself.

...Actually I also think, as a fan, that a lot of those tactics have disappeared due to over specialization, extensive use of race radios, the Lance era, etc....but I digress.

So how fast are entry level Cat 5 Crits? My usual response is, "Faster than you have ever gone before. Faster than you could ever go until you do it once." I still stand by that.

I never had data to back that up until recently. I ran some numbers last night to see. I remembered that in the bensenville 4/5 race I was dropped about 6 laps in. Then I was lapped around lap 15. I could see the exact moments on my Garmin file because of things I remembered doing at that time.

I was basically thinking, "how far off was I?" I was turning in a tremendous effort solo and still got lapped in like 6 laps on a roughly 3/4 mile course. The math just didn't add up....

So like any engineer I fired up the datafile and excel to see what happened. Turns out it works out perfectly. I'll post the exacts later but basically the group was riding at a 26-28mph average. I maintained that average until I fell off the back. I then went to a 21-23 mph average alone. The differential in speeds accounts for the quick lapping. The pack actually maintained that 26-28 average.

Other data I have seen from recent events shows about the same kinds of speeds. These are short 3-4 turn flat crits with courses under 1 mile with wind. Can you say, "ouch".

So if you're thinking of racing the next time you are out on a ride just try to accelerate up to 26-28mph and hold it. Sure it's different in a pack, but if you can't even do it momentarily then how will you ever bridge that gap back to the pack if they gap you on a corner.

Then when you're comfortable find a stretch of road that is open and try to do 10-17 miles at an average of 23-25 slowing to about 13-15 every 0.10-0.2 miles and then re-acelerating. When your heart gives out and your legs start to tremble as you stand to accelerate then you might have an idea what your first crit may be like.

hmmmmm.....maybe I should stick with distance riding.....