Track Cycling: Velodrome Racing and Training Area - Sandbagging. What gives?

So I went back to the velodrome I used to race at as a junior to watch for old times sake, and they did some flying 200m for some sprinter's series they were doing. The Cat 1/2/3 guys had a couple of low 12s, a couple of high 12s, and some mid 13s. The Cat 4/5 guys were all in the mid 12s to low 13s. I was thinking of getting back into racing just for recreation, but there's no way I could keep pace with those guys, who obviously should be upgraded to 3s... save for the one guy who kept flying over the red line (imagine what his 12.5 would have been if he could control the bike!). Anyway, what gives? This sucks!

Probably some delayed upgrading to keep their points in the race series, but it's also a big jump when you upgrade to suddenly have to race against 1's. They may also be fast and not have good mass start skills yet.

good point bitingduck

i saw too many people upgrade here "just to be in a faster group" and few of those riders had the handling skills required in higher categories.

Keep in mind it's the time of year when everyone is flying. Also mid 12's is really not that fast for someone who races often, even if it's only on the road. The very first 200m I ever did was s 12.8 and that was in a class learning how to ride the track. I was pretty late starting the wind up and that would have easily been a 12.3-4 had I jumped at the right spot. I was only riding 100 miles/week and had only done one crit before that; I was hoplessly off the back within 3 laps.
My guess is some of those will be cat'ed up at year end. At East Point the fields were often too small for the race to qualify for upgrade points.

As bitingduck said, baseing cats on 200m TT times could be way off course.

I have no background in biking, buying my first real one 2 years ago. I have never ridden farther than 22 miles, and plan to race consistantly on the track.

My first 'Tournament" TT time was 13.6, the second 13.2 and I still was not able to stand and jump. I fully expect to be high 12's next year...but I will still have only been on the track at race pace for 20-30 laps. If they were to automatically upgrade everyone based on TT times, I would be a 3, racing with 1's before I was confident/capable on the track.

We also do not get upgrade points for sprints, so I do not know if I will ever get above a 4..since sprinting is all I really care about. If, in 2 years or so, I was doing a low 12 200mm TT, would you consider me a "sandbagger"?

Good points, I guess I can't judge everything by a 200m trial. Still, maybe I'll wait another 10 years and then start racing with the Masters :D Believe it or not, the fast Masters riders there ride in the 1/2/3 group, and mostly dads race Masters.

I race both masters and 1/2/3 if the age cutoff works for me (40).

not sure how the system works here strictly speaking, but once you go up, you dont go down.

I've already been told to start 'sandbagging'. The open's are just around the corner......

We have A, B, C, D grades...