Road Racing Doesn't Suck
Part 1: Your Local Crit Race

By Ted King-Smith

A time comes when we wonder just what this bike of ours was meant to do. Skinny tired rigs may get one to and from work, school or the grocery store with panache, but that aggressive road or track rig was built to race... So lets race it! Though intimidating at first, your local racing scene is a way of networking with a broad range of cyclists from many different walks of life as well as participating in a storied cycling tradition.

Your local crit race is the place to regularly meet, compete and blow your lungs out while you dial in your racing skills. The Criterium race is a typically American style race featuring a short course (less than 5km) which can be readily held in anything from city parks, town squares, country roads, speedways, airfields, or parking lots.

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