Which Category is good for me?

Fetus

Hi everyone...

After about a 3 year break in cycling, I am getting back into the sport. My training schedule at the moment consists of 80-150 miles of riding per week. I can usualy maintain an average speed of 18-20 mph when riding by myself and the few times I've ridden in a group I can maintain an average speed of 22-26 mph. I haven't worked on my sprinting very much since I'm still early in my training, but the few times I've checked I can get up to ~35mph. I used to race mountain bikes 4-5 years ago, I mainly competed in the sport class. I would like to start road racing next year but am not sure what category I should start in? What are the average course lengths for various catagories? And what speed do the different cat groups normaly ride at?

Any help and/or advice is much appreciated

Eden

You don't exactly have a choice. Everyone (male) starts as a cat 5. Once you've done a certain number of mass start races you can move up to a cat 4. After cat 4 you have to get points (that means placing in races - look at usacycling.org for all of the rules). The only real choice you get is whether or not to race masters if you are over 30 or 35 in some races, everything else is earned.

from the usacycling.org web site
Guidelines and Notes by Category:
5-4: Experience in 10 mass start races that meet the criteria in the table below (qualifying races).
4-3: 20 points in any 12-month period; or experience in 25 qualifying races with a minimum of 10 top ten finishes. 30 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade
3 - 2: 25 points in any 12-month period
60 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade
2 - 1: 30 points in any 12-month period
60 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade

Fetus

That's pretty cool, I did not know that... Thanks

Fetus

What is the average distance for a cat 5 race?

SquadraOvest

Where? Crit or road race? Cat5 road races - 25 to 65 miles depending on the race and your district. Cat5 crit - 30-60 minutes.

asgelle

There's probably a lot more you don't know then. You probably should read the rule book at the USCF site before entering your first race.

Fetus

Well... I just finished reading the USCF rule book (very good advice Asgelle). I'm surprised by the structure and discipline of the organization... almost intimidated actually . It sounds like a lot of fun and also gave me a little more direction in what I should do in the off-season to be better prepared for my first race. I can't wait for fall and winter to be over with up here in Michigan so I can start racing next spring.

Thanks for the help everone

capwater

Talk to some folks at your local bike shops. There are many local races to get started in; both crits and road races. Fitness levels aside, if you have never raced a criterium style race, you will need to get used to it. It's very fast and very tight, many opps to crash. Go check out a couple as a spectator. The other thing is get involved with some training rides, they tend to be faster than riding by yourself and teach you how to run a paceline and ride in a pack. Good luck, we've all been there!

Fetus

I have done a couple crits in the past, however, they were mountain bike crit races (very low key community sponsored events). I must say, the rush you get in a crit with the spectators cheering you on is AWESOME!!! I'm not certain that I will have the skill or strenth do a crit next year though, thats another type of training.

RapDaddyo

There appear to be a large number of bicycle clubs near you, especially at Ann Arbor. It is highly likely that one of the racing clubs has a training crit every week. These are good to ride in to get used to crit racing and bike handling in tight quarters. You can get at least a partial list of local clubs at the USA Cycling website. Good luck.

Fetus

Thanks Rap... I've checked the website and spoken with a few bike shops in the area, everyone I've spoken to is recommending me to join the ann arbor velo club. They do crit training sessions weekly, unfortunaly my work shedule doesn't line up for the dates that they are available, and from what I've been told, the club stops doing the training rides later this month.

Thanks again for the info and help

onlyone

Ciao a tutti gli amici ciclisti!!!

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