How fit does one have to be to participate in a CAT5?
 

I'm am beyond scared of competing in any sort of bicycle race, but I really want to try it out - and soon! I was never much of a competitive sport fellow, and I have no idea what sort of skill level to expect riders in the 'starter' category to have.

For that matter, what is generally the average length/speed of a cat5 race?
What are some red flags to look out for before I decide to participate?

:sigh:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=380788

Buy a beater :)

Find a race.

Buy a 1-day license.

Race.

To participate and to compete are two different factors. Anyone can participate, ofcourse, but unless you're relatively fit you'll probably get dropped.

You should be able to reach down, take a bottle from its cage, drink, and return the bottle to its cage all while riding at a good speed and maintaining your line.

one way to see how you stack up (on paper at least) is to get a PT & WKO+ and find your places on the e-wang chart.

You are fooling yourself if you expect everyone in a cat 5 race to actually be able to do that. The question wasn't what skill level should he have, it was what to expect. I wouldn't expect most people do be able to hold their line let alone do it while futzing with a water bottle.

based on my e-wang extrapolations, I have yet to acheive the power of an untrained female.

go race.

Take a pic of your guads and we'll tell you if you're ready.

This is my first full season on BF. Is this what it's like for the rest of the season?

It has its cycles.

Good helmet + bike you don't care about = ready to participate

Well one could always hope all the cat 5s could handle that ...... but sadly, you're probably right.


How about just being able to ride in a straight line?

The best advice I can give is that no matter how ready you think you are, you still may not be ready.

The only way to find out for sure is to grip it and rip it.

Have fun and be safe.

Bike I don't care about? Are crashes really that common?

Still a bit optimistic. And I'm still a Cat 5, so I should know.

I ride rollers a lot and have pretty decent bike handling skills, but there are sketchy riders in 4/5.

Mostly it's people not holding their line going into/out of corners. Some guys weave just from poor pedal stroke.

That being said, I've bumped shoulders, jumped rear wheels, touched hands, and haven't wrecked in a race yet. I took an inside line a couple weeks ago and bounced off a rider who cut me off, bounced off the curb, and then back into the pack, and nobody went down.

My friend in a 4/5 race locked handle bars with another racer, his front wheel went completely sideways, his whole bike hopped off the ground, and then he landed without crashing or anyone behind crashing.

It has its moments.

Not that either

Crashes happen at every level of bike racing, but most of the time they're not too serious (of course, sometimes they are serious...and that's unfortunate). Look, the best thing you can do is work on your bike handling skills, protect your front wheel, and stay away from sketchy riders.

I don't know what your cycling experience is, but you should be more concerned about pack riding skills and bike handling then fitness--nobody will care if you go off the back because you're not fast enough, but they'll be p1ssed if you make them crash.

Yes.

:roflmao2:


Give Blood: Race Cat-5

It's just like a fast group ride, with more carnage. Unless you're out front, be prepared for a lot of unexpected slowing and accelerations. Bumping of elbows and bikes. Don't freak when you hear the bikes crashing aside of you and you'll be all right.
I'd leave the Pinerello at home and go with the Caad9.

Edit: if you can keep up with a decent B ride, you should have the fitness to do a Cat5 race.

Many threes can't ride in a straight line.

My handling isn't too bad, but I have no experience with pack riding. Which I guess just occurred to me as being pretty key haha.

Would I gain these skills from club riding or something? Cause that's another problem of mine. I'm having a hard time finding a group to ride with.

Not to mention I'm afraid of that too haa

god im a wreck

Always faster than you think, but you'll never know until you try...