mollusk

Is this you?

mattm

But is that measuring synapse-losses?

spinwax

Yeah, it is a tough one finding a helmet.

johnybutts

But how many Watts per kilo?

cat4ever

I haven't read any replies, but a 'successful' cat 4 rider is an oxymoron.

umd

A successful cat 4 was one who isn't anymore...

Nimitz87

aren't you a former cat 1 or 2 though as well?

Chad

Out-The-Back

Good to know, more confirmation I need to work on my flexability and maintaining a more aerodynamic position. Not surprising though, one more thing to work on in the off season.

Damn, UMD, I want your numbers...nice!

I can technically upgrade to a 3 but know I'm not ready and it would only be based on one discipline that you can kind of cheat in and based on hand picked races that suited my strengths and minimized my weaknesses. Consequently I'm going to wait until next year and see what kind of results I get from my training this off season.

spinwax

LOL, yeah at one time. I quit racing as a Cat 1 junior over 20 yrs ago. Don't base anything I do now from that. LOL I started racing again just last yr and started out as a 5 like any new racer. Went from a really soft 220lbs at 6ft in 2008 to 155-56 race weight in 09. Things change. I am a lot older and slower now. Still having fun though. I love to ride and love to race. It is amazing I got out of it for so long. I just want to finish my races and have a blast hanging with friends!!!

There are quite a few people I ride with that did the same thing. One of my best friends out here was a pro. Won some giant races in the late 80s and early 90s. He quit racing for 15 yrs. He is back with a vengance and winning not only 35-40+ stuff but he just won a Cat 1-2 RR a few weeks back at 40 yrs old. It is great to see guys coming back to what they love. Unfortunately life sometimes gets in the way.

kudude

don't let your points expire

Nimitz87

see that has a lot to do with genetics and outliers IMO your former pro buddy is a good example how long has he been back before going back to cat 1-2?

not saying anything against ya...when you're fast you're fast. good luck with the knee.

Chad

guadzilla

I should correct myself - I meant flat back while in the drops, not the hoods. Original post also edited.

pjcampbell

LOLz... reading this thread makes me wonder if I should downgrade.

pjcampbell

if you can upgrade, just do it.

here as a 4 you have to wake up at midnight to register for races which fill up instantly. I guess if you like stacked fields then it is good. ive never had a problem registering for a 3 race. But now I am seeing more and more of P123 and NO 3 category races which is fun.

spinwax

Due to the fact he never let his license go, he came back as a 1. I was 20yrs without a licence. They offered to put me back in as a 3 or 4 but I decided to start at the bottom again. Smart choice. It is fun working back through the ranks.


Thanks for the well wishes. I hope to be racing by March. I really hope the EuFlexxa injections work. I have only heard good things about them.

shovelhd

I was out a little longer and I'm contemplating getting back in next year. I don't know if they'll have my records on file, but if they offer to put me back into the 4's I'll take it. The M50+ races around here finish in about the same times as the 3's, so I'd want to work up to that, and I'd like to avoid the 5's if I can.

Good luck to you, and I hope your knee heals up.

umd

I think we beat that one to death a few days ago. Moving on...

guadzilla

Hey umd, on a slightly OT note - do you know your Cda? Given that you and I get approx the same speed at the same wattage (based on your 220W speed), I figure this will let me know approximately what my number is.

Thanks,
V.

currand

I'll add one more data point to the study. I've recently won two cat 4 crits. One flat and technical, one 4 corner with a short but somewhat steep hill. Won the first off the front solo at 3.45 w/kg. Won the second out of a 3-man break that lasted most of the race. 3.37 w/kg in the break, and my "sprint" was 9.3w/kg.

The first was a night crit and it had rained recently. They were scared to corner fast and couldn't see me once I got away. They took back 14 seconds of the 18 second lead I had with one to go. The second was technical and I got away in a turn and spent 3 hard minutes chasing the break. From then we made all our time in the turns (more turns than I can count, including a almost 180 degree turn). We ended up putting a half a lap on them. The break stayed because there were 3 of us in the turns not 50. I won the "sprint" because I was able to hold my power a little longer (but just barely) than the guy behind me.

Moral of the story? better to be lucky than good. Neither of these tactics will work as a 3.

umd

I don't, but I've found that if I put my numbers into here I often get pretty close to what my power meter tells me. So either the assumptions for cda and crr are close enough, or they are both off by enough to cancel each other out

botto 

the subject line is enough to lead me to believe that this thread is chock full of fred. am i correct?

guadzilla

Cheers! I'll play around with it. My puny power needs all the aero help it can get in order to try to crack the sub-hour 40k target.

caloso

Nah. It's more 41 Refugee than Addiction.

mollusk

correct

Lower case "fred" instead of upper case, if you get my meaning.

I still contend the the 20 watts in the brain are WAY more important than 20 watts in the legs. Especially at Cat 4.

Once you get to the Euro Pro circuit it doesn't matter as much because you have a race radio and a DS that can replace the 20 watts in the brain.

Out-The-Back

It's not like that here, 5's fill up first, 4's...not so much. If there's that many racers, why don't they do more than one race..time?

If I don't upgrade, I loose half my points..no biggie. If I can't get them back quickly, then I probably shouldn't be a 3 anyway. One other consideration is that my team doesn't have any 3's. If I stay back and help a couple 4's upgrade with me I think it'll be a much easier transition and I'll have more fun/be more successful.