Crit Safety / General Info
To keep everyone safe ahead of the 22 CCC crit season we’ve put together some info about the crit rules, safety and general etiquette.
The #1 thing to remember is that we’re all there to have fun, stay safe, and support each other.
- You cannot win the crit series in the first few weeks, but you can certainly lose it by crashing. Your livelihood doesn’t depend on winning a Wednesday night crit.
- This means being aware of other riders around you. To maintain the “racing line” through a series of corners means you have to be at least 1 bike length ahead before reaching the second corner as all the sequential corners on the track are either “left -right” or “right – left”.
- U19s now able to ride open gearing – but other juniors still on restricted gearing.
- Helmets must have the appropriate AS standards sticker – required for insurance purposes.
- Roos are often on the course. If you are on the front and see a roo call it out and everyone take it easy until the roo hazard is past.
- If there are any multiple grade (eg. women’s races) races and there is the need to overtake another grade, only the leading rider of the overtaking grade is to make the call to the overtaking grade about which side they want to overtake on. The overtaken grade must stay out of the way, ie. stay on the same line/side of the track until the overtake happens. This may mean staying on the race line.
- Dropped riders may be withdrawn at the discretion of the commissaires. If dropped, you must watch for the commissaires approaching you on either side of the track indicating that you are to withdraw from the race immediately. If the commissaires allow you to continue then you cannot become involved in the race. If lapped you may sit on the back of the bunch – not any breakaway. Similarly for women’s races – dropped higher grade riders can sit on the back of another bunch only. Any rider not complying with these requirements will be withdrawn from the race.
- Once you finish please clear the course as quickly as possible – ie. take the short turns after the finish and return to the infield to go through the finish chute. We start the race time clock on the appointed time, so if we start a race late, the race is shortened. We need to keep the program moving to the time schedule to ensure everyone gets their race time.
- The clock at the start/finish is the only clock you can go by – it may be necessary to shorten a race – so watch the race clock – not your onboard computer.
- If you suffer a “mechanical” you can have a lap out (except for the last 2 laps).
- In the event of a “serious accident” the race may be stopped or the race neutralised in the area of the accident. If the race is stopped and then able to be restarted any time gaps between a break and the bunch will be recorded and the race restarted with the appropriate time gaps.