"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - What's your defining moment that got you the upgrade?

I’m a Cat4 racer and will probably for be Cat4 for a long time to come. I’m curious what some of you bad a** 1/2/3’s did to get your upgrade.

What was your defining moment that got you to move up from Cat 4 to 3 or above? (besides the required wins) What did you do? Did you increase your time on bike? Hire a coach? Secret weapons? Shots of JD and beer?

Just wondering.

I was ranked number 4 cat 4 in the country and #1 in the state, and had 15 upgrade points. I applied for my upgrade and was turned down. That pissed me off, as I had planned on not racing any more last season. I decided to register for one last race and basically said to myself that it was do or die. I went off the front at the starting line, and won the race by 4 minutes over the 2nd place finisher. I reapplied for my upgrade, and got it.

I had enough upgrade points.


to be less of an ass...i started riding with people who are fast. this made me slightly less unbelieably slow

One very rainy criterium on a dangerous course in Frankenmuth, Michigan long ago. 80 riders started, 8 finished.

1st place
1st place
1st place
2nd place
1st place
1st place

Pick any of them I suppose.

One very rainy criterium on a dangerous course in Frankenmuth, Michigan long ago. 80 riders started, 8 finished.

What happened to the other 72???

There were three sandbaggers in a race, where I needed 5 more points. These guys had their points for 3 months, and were finishing the season as 4s (strange, I know -- the prizes are sooooo good). Their sandbagging caused me to ride outside myself and race the perfect race. Anyway, I pwnd them in the final 100m. I got enough ahead that I could go to the downwind gutter in the crosswind, and got the win. One of them had his front wheel even with my rear, and he was coming up...

That was my 6th race as a Cat 4.

I was ranked number 4 cat 4 in the country and #1 in the state, and had 15 upgrade points. I applied for my upgrade and was turned down. That pissed me off, as I had planned on not racing any more last season. I decided to register for one last race and basically said to myself that it was do or die. I went off the front at the starting line, and won the race by 4 minutes over the 2nd place finisher. I reapplied for my upgrade, and got it.

Entertaining. Race report anywhere? So you basically solo'd line to line?

that'd be a boring race report lol. I'd wanna see the numbers

Yeah, it was a completely solo effort. I caught somewhere around half the field that started in front of us, and they started 5 minutes before us. I was yellin at em not to draft off me as I went by :p


that'd be a boring race report lol. I'd wanna see the numbers
I dunno, no powermeter. It was only 24.2 miles, and I did the 4/5 race because I knew there was no way the 3/4 race would meet the field limit for getting points. So with details, my win is a bit anticlimatic, and I confess I'm pretty embarressed that that was my first win. The last race I did before that one was the GMSR and I got removed from GC contention by a nasty crash 60mi into stage3. I was expecting to get all my upgrade points at the GMSR, but alas...

As for the race in question, IIRC my time was 1:04 for the 24.2 miles, with 1900ft of climbing. So about 22.7mph

Mine is extraordinarily dull. A few top 5's, then I did a 4-stage race where I got two 3rds, and a 5th. That was enough.

Overreach for 8 months then taper.

1st place
1st place
1st place
2nd place
1st place
1st place

Pick any of them I suppose.

Good work!

My races as a 4
7th
1st
9th
8th
1st
4th
1st
for enough points. all defning :).

What happened to the other 72???

Probably crashed.
Possibly quit.
Possibly abducted by aliens.
Definitely didn't upgrade.

Well, I'm far from a bad azz but "defining" moments in my brief racing "career":

the good: winning the last stage (criterium) of the 2006 tour de toona cat 4 points race

the bad: being dropped from the pack in my 1st race ever; being dropped from a breakaway that I rode in for 40 miles in my 1st season during the district road race championships (100+ degrees, my team promotes the race so I was working corners all day prior to riding, hard day).

the ugly: 6 turn downtown criterium, pouring rain our entire race (11 inches recorded rainfall that day), 3 of us breakaway on lap 1. With the help of a very wet technical course kept increasing our lead until we lapped the field. Crashed last lap while trying to set up to come around the other 2 riders in the break, got up and rode across the finish line (about 400M away from my crash) bloody, azz hanging out, and very wet. Since our breakaway lapped the field I still got 3rd, but an ugly disappointment.

The "good" was a great feeling, but the "bad" and the "ugly" motivate me to train harder more than does the "good".

Defining moment, that has nothing to do with upgrade points:

Last weekend, bombing down a hill at college regionals crit. Two people in front of me touch, the guy directly in front of me locks it up, I lock it up. We both endo, ride our front wheels about half way down the hill, land with my rear wheel at about 30 degrees off of straight, slide for a bit, straighten 'er out, and keep hauling at 30+.

Last year, that would have been a crash, a significant loss of blood, and at least talking to an EMT. Nice to know the people around you can handle their bikes when you move up.