Cat 3's (and above): how did you upgrade?
05-27-09, 01:15 PM
#51
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Points 4-3 (27), was focusing on top tens but after 8 or so top tens I started placing.
3-2 have 75% of my needed points so far this season, just started my mid season break at the moment but don't forsee an issue racking up the needed points in the Calcup series mid July through sept.
Only bummer is with my team the higher you get the less team-mates there are to race with haaah jealous of the 4's lately with 10+ deep. About 6 or less active 3's (split between crit and road racers) and a couple 2's...I may sandbag the 3's for another season. :-)
3-2 have 75% of my needed points so far this season, just started my mid season break at the moment but don't forsee an issue racking up the needed points in the Calcup series mid July through sept.
Only bummer is with my team the higher you get the less team-mates there are to race with haaah jealous of the 4's lately with 10+ deep. About 6 or less active 3's (split between crit and road racers) and a couple 2's...I may sandbag the 3's for another season. :-)
05-27-09, 01:19 PM
#52
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interesting that cat 5 is the only category you won't get kicked out of; i see your point; the question comes from watching some races with some local notables, and from hearing stories about how they consistently dominate; but i might be mixing up category races of all ages and age group races of all categories and in what type of races they dominate in
Racing isn't always about the strongest guy winning anyway.
05-27-09, 01:20 PM
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I call BS on this. In my experience there are a select few very strong riders that blast from 5 - 3 or even 5 -2 in one season. The overwhelming majority need more than one season to get to 3 starting from 5. Especially if you live someplace with a truncated race calendar (like here in BC). There just aren't enough races to grab the 40 points needed to get to 3.
05-27-09, 01:32 PM
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One guy on our team seems to be doing it. He got out of 5's early and is consistently placing in 4's and racing often. He's not typical from what I can tell. We just had another guy upgrade to 3 and he's been racing for 2 years.
05-27-09, 01:51 PM
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there is hope after all
05-27-09, 01:56 PM
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Making a kilometer blurry
05-27-09, 02:04 PM
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Road Upgrades
Guidelines and Notes by Category:
4-3: 20 points in any 12-month period; or experience in 25 races with a minimum of 10 top ten finishes with fields of 30 riders or more, or 20 pack finishes with fields over 50. 30 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade
05-27-09, 02:05 PM
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Since I'm about to do my first 4s race, how many points do you get for placing on the podium?
(Not that I expect to, but I'm more or less curious to see how long it'd take to get to the 3s here in NE.)
(Not that I expect to, but I'm more or less curious to see how long it'd take to get to the 3s here in NE.)
05-27-09, 02:11 PM
#59
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https://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=580
Road Upgrades
Guidelines and Notes by Category:
4-3: 20 points in any 12-month period; or experience in 25 races with a minimum of 10 top ten finishes with fields of 30 riders or more, or 20 pack finishes with fields over 50. 30 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade
Road Upgrades
Guidelines and Notes by Category:
4-3: 20 points in any 12-month period; or experience in 25 races with a minimum of 10 top ten finishes with fields of 30 riders or more, or 20 pack finishes with fields over 50. 30 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade
05-27-09, 02:26 PM
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Points awarded for Criteriums and Circuit Races
Number of Starters
Placing 5-10 11-20 21-50 50+
1 3 4 5 7
2 2 3 4 5
3 1 2 3 4
4 0 1 2 3
5 0 0 1 2
6 0 0 0 1
Points awarded for Road Races
Number of Starters
Placing 5-10 11-20 21-50 50+
1 3 7 8 10
2 2 5 6 8
3 1 4 5 7
4 0 3 4 6
5 0 2 3 5
6 0 1 2 4
7 0 0 1 3
8 0 0 0 2
9 0 0 0 1
05-27-09, 02:44 PM
#65
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Let me throw this out: how many of you upgraded from 4 to 3 without any wins?
05-27-09, 03:13 PM
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05-27-09, 03:15 PM
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05-27-09, 03:32 PM
#68
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I ended up upgrading to 3 with 25 races (in Oregon, the experience standard has been simplified to needing 25 races) and 18 of my 20 points. Three days after I upgraded, I placed second in a 3/4 race. Within the following few weeks of upgrading, I've had two wins in Cat3/4 circuit races (so even if I hadn't upgraded on experience, I'd have my points anyway), and this Monday I placed third (won the field sprint, but there were two off the front) in a Masters 30+ 1/2/3 circuit race. All at PIR, for those who are local to Portland.
Turns out I can sprint with the 1/2/3s, but can't climb worth sh*t.
Turns out I can sprint with the 1/2/3s, but can't climb worth sh*t.
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Cat 2 Track, Cat 3 Road.
"If you’re new enough [to racing] that you would ask such question, then i would hazard a guess that if you just made up a workout that sounded hard to do, and did it, you’d probably get faster." --the tiniest sprinter
Cat 2 Track, Cat 3 Road.
"If you’re new enough [to racing] that you would ask such question, then i would hazard a guess that if you just made up a workout that sounded hard to do, and did it, you’d probably get faster." --the tiniest sprinter
05-27-09, 04:21 PM
#69
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I upgraded on top 10's from 4-3, but I was only a few points shy of having enough to upgrade. I had a few podiums, but never got a win. This season I upgraded from 3 to 2 by using points from a couple of road races, a solo win in a crit, and GC from a stage race.
05-27-09, 07:56 PM
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I personally think it is harder to race a Cat 4 than a Cat 3. That could just be me. When the fitness is there a Cat 3 race is an easier race (talking about tactics) to race. When I was racing cat 4 but had much greater fitness I ended up doing a lot of the work because I got impatient. Just my personal opinion!
05-27-09, 08:09 PM
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