Mouton

Hi folks
Im looking to enter a race coming up in a few weeks, and the schedule lists "Public Men & Women" as one of the categories. Does this have a specific meaning in cycling? People racing without spandex? What?

Thanks
A

urbanknight

People who don't have a USCF racing license. If you don't have a racing license, that's where you'll be as well. Be careful, those people (and probably you too) don't know how to race in a pack and can cause crashes easily.

Pizza Man

If you've never raced before and don't have a license you can race with the Public, which is not governed by USA Cycling rules, so there is no field limit, but you can't use this race for an upgrade if you want to start racing seriously.

You can also race in the Cat 5 race, which is novice racers. This requires a license (annual or 1 day which can be purchased for $10 at the race) and does count for an upgrade. USAC rules limit the field in mass start races with Cat 5 riders to 75 max, though many races only allow 50 or 60.

A third option is if you're over 45 you can race in the 45+ (or 55+) races, but these fields will have several strong Cat 1/2/3 riders who will drop most novices in the first mile.

The public race is usually a mix of recreational riders and a few Cat 5's who signed up to late to race in the Elite 5 race.

Mouton

Ok! I think I know which group to avoid! PizzaMan may have identified this race as the Mt.Tam hillcimb (and he would be right) so at 5% grade I think there isnt TOO much risk of a high-speed crash. Lots of slow and maybe some falling over sideways though!

Barca

Public races (races without license, one day or yearly) don't count for upgrades. Cat 5's w/ license do.

Mouton

I am picturing the Public Men & Women group being full of mountainbikes. But thats just a guess? Who else would WANT to climb that hill?

urbanknight

Any wannabes who recently watched the tour but don't want to fill out and application and pay for a license. That's who.

Dead Extra #2

Don't let yourself think they will be slow. I did my first race in the "citizens" catagory. It was faster than the cat 4 race. (ABR only has cat 1-4 and citizens, plus age groups)

Pizza Man

Here are the results from last year:

https://www.ncnca.org/road/2005/MtTamResults.html

The winner in the public men was 46:39, and the Pro/1/2 winning time was 45:12.
But the fastest time of the day was the 45+ winner in 43:35.

The Pro/1/2 race was slow & tactical, while the 45+ guys had teammates pulling them on the flats to help get a fast time.

DrPete 

A couple seasoned racers have told me that the public/citizens' race can often be more than you bargain for. After all, anyone who does not have an ACTIVE, CURRENT USCF license can register. So if you're a former Cat 2 racer who just isn't all that into it anymore and let your license lapse, it's your only choice of race. It can still happen in the 5's too, because lots of races require anyone buying a 1-day license to race in Cat 5.

The sandbagging potential in those races is apparently IMMENSE.

Mouton

That is really weird how the top finish in all the categories are so close. I guess I dont see the point of Public Mens if their times were ALL within the range of cat 5 times?

urbanknight

I think USCF doesn't want unlicensed riders mixed with their licensed riders. Most likely to avoid crashes by untrained riders or sandbaggers as mentioned above. I think if anyone notices you winning too many races in Cat 5, you get bumped. Is that right? I know I got upgraded to 4 automatically when I was racing 10 years ago.

Pizza Man

+1 (Although I don't know if there is an automatic upgrade from Cat 5 to Cat 4, it's usually just based on 10 races, but if you win too much in the 4/5 combined races you will get an automatic upgrade to 3 eventually)

I was talking to a friend tonight who raced in the public race last year (he wanted to race Cat 5, but got there after the field was full). He made the mistake of starting near the rear of the pack.

Now for those of you who do not know this course it's 4 miles of flat on the highway before the climb starts. In all of the racing groups from Cat 5 on up, the pack always stays together for the 1st 4 miles because guys know not to let a gap open up in front of them. In the public race, however you can get some recreational riders mixed in the middle of the pack who have no experience with pack riding and don't understand the concept of drafting, and they'll let a gap open up in front of them.

Anyway, my buddy got caught behind some slower riders while 10 guys rode off the front. He had to chase solo in the wind and didn't catch them until the base of the climb, and by that time he was much more tired than he would have been if he had been riding with the lead group.

So, if you want to compete and not just complete the race then go for Cat 5.

bvfrompc

For the three Citizen/Beginner races that I have taken part in, it has been a group of complete newbies, recreational riders, dads of juniors, racer wanna-bees (read me). Generally very low key, everyone pretty friendly and always a great experience. Any way you slice it, its racing, a great way to dabble in the sport and if someone or a small group can rip the legs off every, good for them, enjoy your race. You get to experience fun things like going forward to take a pull and having a guy ride next to you instead of behind you (still cracks me up), you get to see guys with long pants on with the legs cuffed (true story), you might even see a kickstand (once in a lifetime). If its a cit/public/beginner race, remember why your there, to enjoy yourself, and have a ball. I always try to remember I'm not going to get paid for this, so take it for what its worth.

Mouton

That sounds more like the spririt of the thing! In this particular race however it doesnt look like its going to be that way.