Back in the day everyone was a 4 starting out. Cat 5s were only reality in jokes, like Cat 6s are now.
I only ever got upgraded once, to Cat 3.
I thought I won only one race, but when I checked my training diaries one night, I realized I won 3 races out of the last 4 that I did. The last race was a points race crit, and I won 4 of the 5 sprints (the one I didn't win, I almost caught the 2 man break at the line and got 3rd by like 10 feet). I turned around after the sprint and asked the official if I won the race. The official laughted and upgraded me on the spot (they carried stickers and could do that back then).
That was, um, a long time ago. ha. 23 years ago.
cdr