First ever criterium, any tips?

[TEMPLE]

So, next week our local crits start, and I am going to take part! Any tips for a total beginner? There is going to be a crit clinic for the first week, which I will take, but if anyone has some thoughts about things I should do or not do, I am all ears.

I'll note that my main purpose is just to have fun and get a bit of training at the same time. I have no illusions about winning, and just about zero ego when it comes to cycling. If I can hang with the pack for the whole race, I will be really happy. Basically, I don't want to get hurt or screw up someone else's race, and I am not uncomfortable with the concept of coming in last to achieve either of these goals.

A little more background: the only other "racing" I have done is in fondos and similar events. I have done quite a lot of group riding with my local club and as far as that goes, I am very comfortable in a group on regular roads. I expect the crits to be different animals in this regard, so I am a bit nervous about that.

So, thoughts?

[FlashUNC]

How comfortable are you with contact on the bike? Touching elbows/shoulders etc?

[beeatnik]

Watch the corners.

[vqdriver]

depending on the type of course and the lower cat riders out there with you, i would just recommend keeping your head up and eyes open. be as predictable as possible, brake gradually and early, pick your line and hold it. assume others will not be doing the same.

[Ralph]

Riding in the back is a lot harder. You are like an accordion. Riding up front is hard also.

[ANAO]

If you have good pack skills, hide in the pack. If you're fit, stay at the front. To prepare for both scenarios, take a friend to a grassy field and practice leaning on each other at low speed, then go home and do 2x20s for a few weeks.

[ANAO]

Off the front is the safest as crashes generally happen about 30-50% through the field (from the front to the back). So try to stay in front of that to stay rubber side down. Also, you have a greater chance of making the split, which is always easier (mentally and physically) than chasing the split.

[cnighbor1]

stay upright!!!!

[shovelhd]

Basically, I don't want to get hurt or screw up someone else's race, and I am not uncomfortable with the concept of coming in last to achieve either of these goals.

That is exactly the opposite mindset that you need to have. If you race afraid, not only will your results suffer, but you become much more dangerous. Confidence is key. You don't have to be confident with winning, but you have to be confident in your ability to follow wheels through corners at speed without opening gaps. You have to be confident when others ride in a less than stellar manner and force you to react. No sudden moves. No avoiding potholes or manhole covers. Glide through them. Be predictable. Be confident. Most new crit racers go off the back in their first race. If you find yourself falling off the back and gap opens, this now becomes your race. You have to give it all you have to chase back on, as if this was the final sprint. Your race becomes not getting dropped.

2x20's are way down on my list of crit workouts. Over unders and race winning intervals are a much more efficient use of time.

Please report back after your race.

[-dustin]

you do the fast group rides?

i'm gonna go a little differently and say stay on the back for this one.

it's early in the season, everyone is excited, some are new...the most dangerous rider is an overly excited, amped up newbie that's strong. why? because he/ she is unpredictable. chill in the back. it'll be hard. very hard.

[ANAO]

That is exactly the opposite mindset that you need to have. If you race afraid, not only will your results suffer, but you become much more dangerous. Confidence is key. You don't have to be confident with winning, but you have to be confident in your ability to follow wheels through corners at speed without opening gaps. You have to be confident when others ride in a less than stellar manner and force you to react. No sudden moves. No avoiding potholes or manhole covers. Glide through them. Be predictable. Be confident. Most new crit racers go off the back in their first race. If you find yourself falling off the back and gap opens, this now becomes your race. You have to give it all you have to chase back on, as if this was the final sprint. Your race becomes not getting dropped.

2x20's are way down on my list of crit workouts. Over unders and race winning intervals are a much more efficient use of time.

Please report back after your race.
Maybe. I did 3x10's at FTP last night after setting a new 1:50 hour PR during an 85km RR on Sunday. Maybe if I lose 15 lbs I'll go to GMSR and be a real road racer.

My mind is all mixed up.

[beeatnik]

No sudden moves. No avoiding potholes or manhole covers. Glide through them. Be predictable. Be confident.

So important for any fast group riding.

[wai2fast]

Here are some advice I was given years ago when I first started racing:

• Get to the front as quickly as possible. It's a whole different kind of racing when you're leading the pack through the corners versus chasing out of corners.

• Don't be afraid to sit at the front of the field. Do some work, then flick that elbow to get the other guys to pull through. If they hesitate, then start messing with your shoes or something. You'll slow down as you stop pedaling and that will encourage the other guys behind to come around.

• For every one rider that passes you, pass two more. This will ensure you never end up at the back of the pack.

• Don't overlap wheels.

• If this is your first crit, then I'm going to assume you're a cat 5. Stay alert after crossing the finish line. I find more crashes occur AFTER the race as guys are exhausted from the effort and veering all over the road.

• Lastly, have fun!

[Hindmost]

After about 20 races you'll feel that you're starting to get the hang of it.

[regularguy412]

I'm a lil late to this party, but I vividly remember my first crit.

I was lucky to have been riding with some of the guys on regular group rides, so my plan was to just try to hang on their wheels and follow. It worked, mostly.

What you'll likely find is that the first 3 laps will be harder than you could possibly imagine. Do your best to hang on. And remember: everyone else is suffering, too. It will subside. Just be ready for the next burst.

Unless you do a lot of traveling around, you'll find that mostly the same guys show up pretty much all the time. After you've gotten used to the pace and can actually 'race', watch for the good riders and do what they do. Avoid squirrelly riders like the plague. Oh. And. Make SURE your equipment is 'right'. Go over it twice.

You have to be mentally tough, not just fit. I didn't even start racing until I was 30 years old. I was in the Vets group (now known as Masters). Most of those guys had 10 years' experience and fitness on me. It took me 3 years of road races , time trials, crits and training before I even FINISHED WITH THE PACK in a crit.

Good luck and have fun.

Mike in AR :beer:

[ripvanrando]

Check the glue

Bon Courage

[azrider]

Expel your bidons with two to go

[93KgBike]

My two cents; stay in the saddle, use the cassette, and pedal the corners. Staying at the front would be nice, sure.

[ripvanrando]

I really have no advice but a tale. I gave advice to a young fellow maybe 40 years ago. Stay towards the front...blah, blah, blah.

He goes off the front of his first Car 4 race.

Cat 2 by end of year.

I never thought.

Just go off the front.

[carpediemracing]

Some reading. I tried to write this for a new racer. We had about 30-35 minutes before each race to do the clinics, so very little time.
http://bethelspringseries.com/clinic/2013-clinic-info

I think the grassy field with side-to-side drills is good. You can do side-to-side drills (where you're bumping elbows/shoulders) on pavement.

The biggest thing you can do right now for pack riding skills is front wheel touching. Others may think of it as "advanced" but I've seen riders introduced to cycling doing about 10 weeks of 2x/week 2 hours drills, so about 40 hours of wheel touching drills. You'll quickly learn that you can master/practice pretty much everything on your own except for contact drills. You really need a dedicated partner or three to do front wheel touching drills. I literally haven't found one in years.

As far as the race goes:
1. Don't work on stuff right before the race.
2. Your gear won't make you get shelled unless it breaks. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
3. Warm up a bit.
4. Corner PARALLEL to the others. Don't worry about the "right line" through a turn, the "right line" through each turn is following the others.
5. Don't swerve to avoid stuff. Ride through it.
6. Don't turn around to look back, just look down. But try to keep your head up most of the time.
7. If you find yourself behind a taller rider with decent mass, they tend to be a steadying force in the field. They don't jump super hard, they usually don't brake super hard. Might be a good wheel to follow.

Have fun! Nothing like bike racing.

[classtimesailer]

Go ride the course this week. Even if there is traffic, do a few laps. I figure your fellow club riders are not very aggressive. You will find that the smallest space you leave between you and the bike in front of you will invite another rider in and you will move back one place. No biggie. It's gonna happen a lot. Move up when there is some space. Move to the outside and move up while keeping an eye on the riders your passing or about to pass because they might move into you. For your second or third race, use your trainer or borrow one to warm up. It makes a big difference on that first lap. We are excited for you.

[Pastashop]

The start of a crit, IME, is almost always insanely hard, which tends to shell the weak and those who didn't warm up properly. :-)

Crashes are plain hard to predict... after a certain age, I don't understand how grownup people still get the gumption to do a crit. :-)

Good luck and tell is how it goes!

PS: if you have to pedal through a corner, you / the group probably aren't going fast enough into it.

[ANAO]

The start of a crit, IME, is almost always insanely hard, which tends to shell the weak and those who didn't warm up properly. :-)

Crashes are plain hard to predict... after a certain age, I don't understand how grownup people still get the gumption to do a crit. :-)

Good luck and tell is how it goes!

PS: if you have to pedal through a corner, you / the group probably aren't going fast enough into it.
What's that last part?

[Pastashop]

The maximum lean angle on dry pavement tends to be greater than what pedal clearance allows with the inside foot down. Hence, one can usually round a corner faster by going into it at a higher speed with the inside foot up and still than that supported by the inside pedal-ground clearing angle.

[Ryun]

If you aren't constantly passing people you will suddenly find yourself off the back.

[shovelhd]

The maximum lean angle on dry pavement tends to be greater than what pedal clearance allows with the inside foot down. Hence, one can usually round a corner faster by going into it at a higher speed with the inside foot up and still than that supported by the inside pedal-ground clearing angle.

True in a large group, not the best in a break or solo.

[ANAO]

The maximum lean angle on dry pavement tends to be greater than what pedal clearance allows with the inside foot down. Hence, one can usually round a corner faster by going into it at a higher speed with the inside foot up and still than that supported by the inside pedal-ground clearing angle.

I guess theoretically. In practice, I've found that the peloton (first 10-20% excluded) generally chooses a line, or lines, where this just isn't possible. If you're the one dive-bombing the corner whilst everyone else is accelerating into and out of it, you're going to make many enemies pretty quickly.

At least at my local crit scene.

[flydhest]

If this is literally the first time ever racing a crit and you are not part of a team, I would think sitting to the back would not be a bad idea.

It is harder, you accelerate a lot more. But if you keep your head up and look at the pack, you can maneuver around people who drop out and see crashes as they develop.

A lot of the advice here is good, but for the second or fifth crit. Just having an idea as to the pace and surging and cornering seems pretty helpful if you have literally no experience with it.

I didn't do it that way, but I started racing with a team and we did race sims and a lot of discussions in advance, so the rest of the advice given above would have had a context for me. Before I raced, though, I am not sure how much of this could have been acted on.

[kppolich]

It really matters on the field, course, and weather.
Overall,

Don't even look at your computer if you have one. Eyes up and alert.
Don't get towards the back few riders as its much harder to respond to the accordion of racing.
Have fun!

[-dustin]

Do not dive bomb corners...unless you're off the front, in which case do whatever you want.

also, don't pedal through the corners unless you're comfortable and confident doing so. pedal strikes can wreak havoc. practice this on your own till you're comfy. but, also, racing will help, as you'll get a feel for what others are doing.

warmups are unique to the individual. i've seen people warm up for 45mins before 45min crits. i've also seen Elite Crit National Championships won on 5 min warmups. this will take time to figure out.

don't wear 1" cuff socks to your first race.

[benb]

Meh..

- If you're 40+ and have waited this long just don't

- Go in aggressive, you need to be confident in your fitness and your bike handling, if you can't do that keep training and working on bike handling.

Don't think about putting your inside pedal up if you're talking your first crit, that'd mean your a cat 5. Cat 5s can't corner for crap. Go practice cornering and learn how far you can lean before you start scraping your inside pedal while cornering. Keep working on it till you can pedal through the corners and know where that max lean angle is. You can lean over even further if you stop pedaling, but you most likely don't need to do that in a Cat 5 crit. Everyone else will be doing that which means they are giving up speed every corner. On a tight course with a bunch of sharp turns knowing this can gain you a bunch of time every lap.

Go to the front and see if you can do it. If you can and it doesn't kill you go off the front. Just do it. No one is going to crash you if you go off the front and it gives you room and gets you in the right mentality. You might just win doing this in Cat 5. The group mentality is always to just let you hang out there thinking you'll get tired. But a lot of Cat 5 crits are short enough you're not going to run out of gas if you go for it. Doing this will improve your mental confidence a lot too. Doing this the lap immediately after a Prime is a great time to attack. Everyone will overdo it sprinting and then the next lap will be slow.. attack while the group is getting back together and before the next sharp corner.

If you are stuck in the pack you need to be able to take lines through the corner that keep you on a constant radius around the turn. This is kind of hard to describe for complex corners but if you think about the turn as a path around a circle you want to stay at the same distance from the center of the circle, this is "keeping your line" and when everyone does it correctly the pack goes through the corner without bumping or crossing lines. Running Outside -> Inside -> Outside lines is a recipe for disaster if you're going into the corner 5 wide in a pack.

Don't contest sprints if you're stuck in the pack unless you really have a chance of winning. Sprints are the most dangerous.. everyone gets squirrely and there are people sprinting who have 0% chance of winning who are just creating lots of risks.. just try to find a safe place to be for these.

[parco]

Get to the starting line early. Be in the front at the start of the race. Practice getting into your pedals quickly. If you get dropped at the start of the race you will have a really hard time catching up. Good Luck.

[GregL]

warmups are unique to the individual. i've seen people warm up for 45mins before 45min crits. i've also seen Elite Crit National Championships won on 5 min warmups. this will take time to figure out.
I'll add that regardless of the type of warmup you prefer, make sure you are ready to go full speed from the start. Similar to cyclocross, you need to be able to go from a standing start to full race speed right away. On a flat course (or any course that starts out flat), make sure you start in the big ring. Practice clipping in quickly and smoothly, preferably without looking down. You will be safer and less stressed if you don't have to worry about front shifting and clipping in at the start.

Greg

[-dustin]

make sure you start in the big ring.
you'll make this mistake one time, and one time only.

[yazel]

Don't pedal through tight corners.. cat 5 isn't worth it.. or really any other time..(or course this doesn't apply to long sweeping corners)

Tell people where you are.. be vocal.. the guy in front of you isn't responsible for where you are, especially coming into a corner. Everyone benefits from you being vocal, including you.

Stay at the front. There is no point ever being in the back unless you've given up on life.

If you want to train.. bury yourself 3-4 times a week. The only way to train for crits is to make the training harder than the racing. Go deeper than you think you are willing to. If your race is going to be 30-45 minutes long.. kill yourself on the bike for an hour. If you can master this, the race will be easier than your training. If you don't care about your result (which you inherently should, a bit at least, if you are going out of your way to pay money to race) then skip this step.

Also have fun. Don't take anything too seriously.. unless someone is just being unreasonably dangerous.

Seriously though, don't overthink it. Just be confident in yourself and have a good time.

[ANAO]

Don't pedal through tight corners.. cat 5 isn't worth it.. or really any other time..(or course this doesn't apply to long sweeping corners)

Tell people where you are.. be vocal.. the guy in front of you isn't responsible for where you are, especially coming into a corner. Everyone benefits from you being vocal, including you.

Stay at the front. There is no point ever being in the back unless you've given up on life.

If you want to train.. bury yourself 3-4 times a week. The only way to train for crits is to make the training harder than the racing. Go deeper than you think you are willing to. If your race is going to be 30-45 minutes long.. kill yourself on the bike for an hour. If you can master this, the race will be easier than your training. If you don't care about your result (which you inherently should, a bit at least, if you are going out of your way to pay money to race) then skip this step.

Also have fun. Don't take anything too seriously.. unless someone is just being unreasonably dangerous.

Welcome to the forum!

[yazel]

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks!

[johnniecakes]

Take your medical insurance card with you and make sure that who ever goes with you knows where it is.

[TEMPLE]

Thanks for the good tips so far! I'll check back in next week and let everyone know how it went. FYI, it's a local series, so I think it's fairly low key. I am not categorized. I know many of the people riding it, and very few of them are categorized as well, so I guess I will be in good company. There are sixteen races in total, and I get a point for just showing up. I may not be that fast, but I am persistent, so 16 points at the end of the series will definitely keep me out of last place!

[shovelhd]

FYI, it's a local series, so I think it's fairly low key.

Don't count on it.

[benb]

Almost no such thing as a low key criterium.. how many people typically enter the race?

IIRC our "local" series had a field limit of 50 for Cat 5 and that was enough to be bonkers, particularly early in the season. Late in the season things would calm down as a lot of the people dipping their toes in had either quit by then or had gotten experience and calmed down.

I actually did my first 3 crits late in the summer the first year I did it, that was probably beneficial.

[estilley]

About to enter my first here at Tuesday night PIR in Portland. Hoping it's not too bananas. Should be fun!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[redir]

Show up to the start line well warmed up because it will go off like a cannon for the first several laps. If you are cold and get popped on the first lap you are done, entry fee's wasted.

Keep your hands in the drops, ride hard, be safe, and have fun.

[notsew]

Thanks for the good tips so far! I'll check back in next week and let everyone know how it went. FYI, it's a local series, so I think it's fairly low key. I am not categorized. I know many of the people riding it, and very few of them are categorized as well, so I guess I will be in good company. There are sixteen races in total, and I get a point for just showing up. I may not be that fast, but I am persistent, so 16 points at the end of the series will definitely keep me out of last place!

Slight drift... I'm impressed that Nanaimo has a 16 race crit series. The roadie scene up there must be pretty hot if they can keep that alive. Its not that big of a town, right?... we'd never be able to sustain that down here in Bellingham.

[zap]

Warm up.....warm up some more.......then hit it super hard then warm down.

Before the race.

Doesn't matter if you finish your warm up 5 minutes (not recommending you cut it that close) before the start or 20.

[earlfoss]

Take all advice with a grain of salt. Don't overthink things.

Have fun, make mistakes, learn, and love the process.

[TEMPLE]

Slight drift... I'm impressed that Nanaimo has a 16 race crit series. The roadie scene up there must be pretty hot if they can keep that alive. Its not that big of a town, right?... we'd never be able to sustain that down here in Bellingham.

It's not a big town, maybe 80000, and very spread out. But, lots of hard working volunteers make it happen. The club here (Mid Island Velo Association) puts on a lot of great events. The crit, as far as I can tell, gets a turnout of anywhere from about 15-30 people, depending on the weather, etc. In general, we are lucky to have good road riding infrastructure and relatively quiet roads, so it's a really good riding scene. The whole island is decent, but Nanaimo has a lucky combination of critical mass and good circumstances. Wicked mountain biking, too.

[Dirtdiggler]

I just ''googled imaged'' Nanaimo.. Beautiful place..

[gregblow]

I assume you are a cat 5. I would recommend stay on the back until the end. then move to the front. these races tend to have speed up and slow down type intervals. so I would not worry to much about getting dropped. at the end of the race with 1 lap to go, move to the front. its the safest place to be. Dont brake in the turns. slow before and pedal thought the turns.

[thegunner]

I assume you are a cat 5. I would recommend stay on the back until the end.

i'm not sure that's a great idea for a 5 field crit. at least in NYC, you get caught behind crashes in every race.

[gasman]

It's not a big town, maybe 80000, and very spread out. But, lots of hard working volunteers make it happen. The club here (Mid Island Velo Association) puts on a lot of great events. The crit, as far as I can tell, gets a turnout of anywhere from about 15-30 people, depending on the weather, etc. In general, we are lucky to have good road riding infrastructure and relatively quiet roads, so it's a really good riding scene. The whole island is decent, but Nanaimo has a lucky combination of critical mass and good circumstances. Wicked mountain biking, too.


Plus you can bungee jump there !!!

https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0SO8y6c..dYFq8AQ1tXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTBy NWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=bungee+jumping+nanaimo+bc&fr=aaplw

Visited here about 15 years ago.

[David Tollefson]

I haven't read all the replies here, so hopefully I'm not repeating myself.

I'll just say the things I normally say to beginning racers...
There are only 4 positions relative to another rider that are safe: in front, behind, elbow-to-elbow, and elbow-to-hip. Anything else should only be considered a transition to one of the safe positions. This is especially important going into and through corners. Keep your elbows relaxed and slightly flared (they kinda act as cat's whiskers, and incidental contact won't become front wheel movement).

Keep your head up and watch up the road. Watch what's happening at least three riders in front of you. Don't overlap wheels. If at all possible, always have an escape route.

The rest you'll figure out along the way. Finding the right wheels to follow, reading the flow of a race, knowing which move to go with, is all an acquired art. Frankly, Cat V races are skittish things, and most of the time unless some one is incredible strong, no one is going to ride off the front, and every move will be immediately pounced upon (thus the constant speed-up-slow-down nature of those races, even at the front).

Enjoy it. Stay alert, stay loose.

[TEMPLE]

So, that was interesting. Some thoughts:

1. It was harder and less scary than I thought it would be.
2. As I predicted, I got dropped several times. Each time was at a sharp corner and off the back I went. Still, I felt safer with my back-of-the-pack positioning for my first crit than getting in the middle of the pack.
3. Felt quite lazy soft pedalling until the pack came back around, but...I'm more comfortable with laziness than bravado.
4. Definitely need to work on tactics and comfort, especially at the corners.
5. It was more fun than I thought it would be. Going to try again for sure. This was supposed to be a no-points "race" but old hands told me it was pretty much flat out. So, it's encouraging to know that at least I won't get dropped even more thoroughly next week.

[-dustin]

Did you suffer like you've never suffered before?

[pff]

what's behind you is not important

on the other hand your front wheel is very important

[carpediemracing]

So, that was interesting. Some thoughts:

1. It was harder and less scary than I thought it would be.
2. As I predicted, I got dropped several times. Each time was at a sharp corner and off the back I went. Still, I felt safer with my back-of-the-pack positioning for my first crit than getting in the middle of the pack.
3. Felt quite lazy soft pedalling until the pack came back around, but...I'm more comfortable with laziness than bravado.
4. Definitely need to work on tactics and comfort, especially at the corners.
5. It was more fun than I thought it would be. Going to try again for sure. This was supposed to be a no-points "race" but old hands told me it was pretty much flat out. So, it's encouraging to know that at least I won't get dropped even more thoroughly next week.

I'm curious about the course, and what corner/s you found difficult. Being at/near the back when approaching acute corners isn't great, but for 90 degree-ish corners you might be able to make it work. Field size is critical, it seems there were 30-ish riders so not that big of a field.

Also someone attacked immediately and rode away from the group. That sounds way harder than what a "clinic" would normally be.

[TEMPLE]

I'm curious about the course, and what corner/s you found difficult. Being at/near the back when approaching acute corners isn't great, but for 90 degree-ish corners you might be able to make it work. Field size is critical, it seems there were 30-ish riders so not that big of a field.

Also someone attacked immediately and rode away from the group. That sounds way harder than what a "clinic" would normally be.

How do you know all this? Strava or do you work for the CIA?

As it happens, it was the sharpest corner that gave me the worst problem. I'd say it is around 90 degrees, and there is a very mild uphill leading into the corner, and a slight downhill and a swooping turn a couple hundred metres after the corner (i.e., not one that needed any braking). For the tight corner, the back of the pack slowed down quite sharply while the front of the pack carried quite a bit of speed through the turn and kept it going into the following easy turn. I didn't find the corner very difficult to navigate at speed- it was more having to hit the brakes and then sprint to catch up that tripped me up.

And, yes, as soon as the neutral laps ended, someone hammered off the front and it was nothing like the gentle practice race I was promised. I will bitch liberally about that and critically throw around the word "sandbagger" next week. There was some excellent instruction prior to the crit, however, and I picked up a lot of valuable information.

There seemed to be quite a few more than 30 riders, I think. Definitely there were people riding who didn't post on Strava, and I suspect a few others like me didn't get their timing chip activated (something I am quite happy about in my case).

[carpediemracing]

How do you know all this? Strava or do you work for the CIA?

As it happens, it was the sharpest corner that gave me the worst problem. I'd say it is around 90 degrees, and there is a very mild uphill leading into the corner, and a slight downhill and a swooping turn a couple hundred metres after the corner (i.e., not one that needed any braking). For the tight corner, the back of the pack slowed down quite sharply while the front of the pack carried quite a bit of speed through the turn and kept it going into the following easy turn. I didn't find the corner very difficult to navigate at speed- it was more having to hit the brakes and then sprint to catch up that tripped me up.

And, yes, as soon as the neutral laps ended, someone hammered off the front and it was nothing like the gentle practice race I was promised. I will bitch liberally about that and critically throw around the word "sandbagger" next week. There was some excellent instruction prior to the crit, however, and I picked up a lot of valuable information.

There seemed to be quite a few more than 30 riders, I think. Definitely there were people riding who didn't post on Strava, and I suspect a few others like me didn't get their timing chip activated (something I am quite happy about in my case).

I looked up the club and the results of the "clinic" race :) However it's unclear to me what the course was, and therefore how wide it was, etc.

Corners are almost always a case of "slowing down early to avoid rear ending people and then accelerating to catch up with them". Accordion effect. The way to ease this a bit is to back off before the corner, go through the corner without slowing much, and catching back on to the group as they accelerate.

Back off just a bit first, which will force you to slow early, resulting in you accelerating. Back off earlier next lap, which will result in you not needing to accelerate as early. If you do it right you'll coast up to the back of the field as their speed levels out. In some of my races I'm well off the back going into certain corners and still have to brake to avoid hitting riders. The sharper/narrower the turn the earlier you'll need to slow.

Some example clips:

Cat 2 Somerville. 3rd turn was definitely one of those corners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O7hgXTzodA

Cat 3 CCAP Kermis. The 180 was such a corner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRvrbwugPYo

You have to be able to coast for a bit before the turn so a slight uphill turn won't work.

As far as the sandbagger goes, someone soloing off is really the worst thing for a clinic race. It's not as much sandbagging as just being a clinic ruiner. It's like attacking the beginner shop ride and "winning" it.

I'm going to try and get a ride in so I'll leave it at this for now.