The Criterium

Right now I'm getting ready to race a criterium. This will be a return to racing for me, and I just don't want to be DFL*. This is a fun sort of event which is quite popular in SoCal, essentially a short race on a closed course on the road. Nowadays the length is defined in terms of time, which helps keep events on schedule. Typically lower category and age groups last between 40 minutes and an hour, while some Cat 1 or pro events can be 90 minutes or more. Event organizers usually signal the racers at five laps to go. A lap might only be a kilometer, so breakaways make things interesting and packs get lapped now and then.

Although most courses tend to be table flat, small uphills can add spice. Serious hills are just nasty and shatter pack dynamics. To keep things moving the organizers offer primes (pronounced "preem") where the winner of a lap is given a prize. Spectators sometimes collect cash, and those primes generally produce more interesting results than a can of Cytomax. A crit can be a points race or, better yet a "devil" where the last rider on each lap is removed from competition.

Anyway, training for something this nutty is, in itself, kinda nutty. All that really counts is time spent above lactate threshold, that's where the training begins. This makes things clear and, in its own way, easy.

*D stands for dead, L for last.