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Anybody here upgraded to a 3 after 50?

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Anybody here upgraded to a 3 after 50?

Old 12-02-08, 08:48 AM
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Anybody here upgraded to a 3 after 50?

My racing age onmy next licenses will be 50. I'm thinking I should start focusing on Masters races.
However, I'd like to be able to upgrade to Cat 3 first just as a point of pride.

End of the season, I had several top 10 finishes in Cat 4 races, and the fitness to win, or at least place, with some better tactics.


My question is whether it's reasonable to think I can get better at age 50.

Anybody else here work their way up in Category at an advanced age?
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Old 12-02-08, 09:11 AM
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I'll be 46 in February. The thought that 50 is an advanced age is kind of depressing, lol.

I can't tell you if it's probable, but I can tell you it's worth trying.
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Old 12-02-08, 09:26 AM
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Merlin I think we've all tangled with a few geezers who had lots of mojo and pain to dole out, so why not? There's a few old bastiges in my club I consider playing hard with very carefully.
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Old 12-02-08, 09:32 AM
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Originally Posted by merlinextraligh

My question is whether it's reasonable to think I can get better at age 50.
I think you can. I'm just a couple year younger and I am sure that I can still improve with smarter training. Having a better base to build on each year should help too. The drop-off in fitness will come when I have to cut back on training through injury or burnout or life getting in the way.

I have lots of friends and teamates who are around our age (late 40s - early 50s) and are threes. But most of them race with the masters. I'm told that NorCal masters racing is tough but I don't have a frame of reference having done only one out of district race.
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Old 12-02-08, 09:34 AM
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I encourage you to upgrade, then focus on masters. "Point of pride" is reason enough. As far as getting better at 50, not sure. Your situation may be different. I, on the other hand, have nowhere else to go but up.

Do it.
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Old 12-02-08, 09:46 AM
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I upped to 3 at age 40 (this past year). Go for it. I actually plan to use the Master's races as training for the Cat 3 events I wish to do well in.
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Old 12-02-08, 10:03 AM
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I have been under the impression that points scored in Masters events count towards an upgrade. Why not race a few Masters 4/5s and get the points that way?
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Old 12-02-08, 10:20 AM
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Good show.
When I clicked on this thread I honestly thought you were 'upgrading' to a triple chainring.
Way to keep the power on.
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Old 12-02-08, 10:37 AM
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masters races are harder than cat 3 races, so....
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Old 12-02-08, 10:45 AM
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I'm not speaking personally (I'm only 39), but I know of at least 2 guys who started late and have upgraded to Cat 2 after 50. Then you have guys like Ned Overend who is getting close to 55 and can still climb better than most Pro/Cat 1 guys. After watching these guys, I don't consider 50 old and I feel like a kid.
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Old 12-02-08, 11:13 AM
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Originally Posted by Pizza Man
I'm not speaking personally (I'm only 39), but I know of at least 2 guys who started late and have upgraded to Cat 2 after 50. Then you have guys like Ned Overend who is getting close to 55 and can still climb better than most Pro/Cat 1 guys. After watching these guys, I don't consider 50 old and I feel like a kid.
A personal hero of mine.

OP: I think much depends on where you are starting from. If you feel you are not at peak fitness, you probably CAN improve, but you will need to identify your limiters. You make self-deprecating comments about your weight, so I am guessing that you could shed some pounds and potentially become much faster. (Hell, I could do that, too, but I am tired of depriving myself.)
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Old 12-02-08, 11:17 AM
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I coached a guy who upgraded to cat2 at 52yo. Talent outweighed his tactics for sure.

And you know you can upgrade to cat3 without results? All you need is 25 race finishes in a year. That simple.
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Old 12-02-08, 11:23 AM
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Originally Posted by YMCA
I coached a guy who upgraded to cat2 at 52yo. Talent outweighed his tactics for sure.

And you know you can upgrade to cat3 without results? All you need is 25 race finishes in a year. That simple.
Hope for me yet.
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Old 12-02-08, 11:29 AM
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Originally Posted by YMCA
And you know you can upgrade to cat3 without results? All you need is 25 race finishes in a year. That simple.
Not true, at least out here in Nor Cal. I’ve got a good friend that finished over 35 races last season both masters and E. Best finish was 8th in a crit I believe. He almost always finished in the pack just at the backend.

He submitted his request for upgrade and was denied on the premise that he needed points. I believe the person doing the upgrades can let this one go at their discretion.

...Told my buddy he's a fat slow ******* and if he trained properly the points would follow
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Old 12-02-08, 11:45 AM
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Originally Posted by gsteinb
masters races are harder than cat 3 races, so....
...unless it's a masters 4/5....
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Old 12-02-08, 11:55 AM
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This year, one of my teammates who's 45 upgraded to a 3, and next season I'll be helping my now ex-teammate to get some points and upgrade, he's 49 IIRC.
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Old 12-02-08, 12:01 PM
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A couple of years ago when I was a 38 year old Cat 5, I entered a Masters 35 race thinking it would be easier than the Elite 5 race. It turned out to be an all-categories Masters race and there was some serious pain dealt out in that race.
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Old 12-02-08, 01:21 PM
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My second race ever was a combined 30+ and 40+ master’s race that paid out separately (3 deep each). For the record, I told them it was only my second race but was invited to participate anyway. My first race had concluded 10 minutes earlier.

At the start, the race director asked us 40+ guys to raise their hands so he could circle our numbers with a red magic marker. I counted 4 of us (There were actually 7). I thought to myself, looking at this skinny old man who had to be about sixty, “All I have to do is follow this old goat around for forty minutes, come around him at the end and voila - I’m in the money.”

I lost count of the number of times I got lapped.

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Old 12-02-08, 01:53 PM
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Originally Posted by wanders
I lost count of the number of times I got lapped.
We're laughing with you, not at you...
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Old 12-02-08, 01:58 PM
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yeah them old buggers can really move. Doesn't help being in SoCal either regularly competing against ex-pros and Olympians...
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Old 12-02-08, 02:02 PM
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We've got a 58 year old who is going up to the 2's for 09.
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Old 12-02-08, 02:09 PM
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Originally Posted by cslone
We've got a 58 year old who is going up to the 2's for 09.
Ok, time to HTFU
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Old 12-02-08, 02:21 PM
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Originally Posted by cslone
We've got a 58 year old who is going up to the 2's for 09.
Good, that gives me 20 years to get my upgrade.
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Old 12-02-08, 02:25 PM
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Originally Posted by cslone
We've got a 58 year old who is going up to the 2's for 09.
Wow, that's a big kick in the head. Wow.
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Old 12-02-08, 03:19 PM
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Originally Posted by Coyote2
Wow, that's a big kick in the head. Wow.
Talent in cycling is talent in cycling, no matter the age.
This isn't the 100 meter dash, or the long jump for gosh sakes.
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