"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Preregistering for Midwestern Cat-5 races?

Obviously this will depend on the event but how important is it to pre-register for these races to verify entry?

I preregistered for my first of the season next Saturday a little over a month ago i think but in looking at the schedule of races, it's hard to commit so far ahead because of work. Do these fields tend to fill up far in advance? Is it too diverse to know?

The Burnham Spring crit, which is next Saturday, filled up pretty darn quick, they actually opened a second cat5 field because of all the people on the waiting list.

Also the Kevin Spring Racing series next week at the Calumet Park filled up quickly as well.

So yeah, I'd say if you want to do the racing, you need to pre reg or your chances are low to nothing to get into the race.

Some will fill-up while others will not. I get a sense from the previous years results.

Burnham, Tour of Elk Grove, Chicago Crit, Downers Grove....they get filled. Fox River Grove Challange had room last year.

The Winfield crits were near full on Sat, if not full. The Sun cat5 40+ had many open spots.

Fox River Grove Challange had room last year.


Maybe that has something to do with the hill...

Is it a matter of registering ASAP or will 2 weeks get you by? Again, i realize it's tough to know on an event-to-event basis...

Some of the event registration websites let you see how many people have signed up already so you have an indicator how many spaces are still left.

Maybe that has something to do with the hill...

Is it a matter of registering ASAP or will 2 weeks get you by? Again, i realize it's tough to know on an event-to-event basis...

Which specific races are you looking at? I did around 20 races last year. My general observation is that the need to pre-register will be greatly impacted by the location of the race, the organizing body, the time of day, if it's 4/5 combined, and whether or not you're looking at masters.

IE. Masters (30+) memorial day races (ABR) = no need to pre-register.

Winfield twilight crit (4/5) = probably need to register.

Spring super crit = early registration mandatory.

Downers Grove last year had the 8:30 cat 5 race sold out about a week or two ahead of time. The 8:00 cat 5 race that am did not fill.

If you're heading up to do one of the Kenosha Velosport races in the next couple of weeks (which I can't suggest highly enough) there's not really a need to register early.

Some will fill-up while others will not. I get a sense from the previous years results.

Burnham, Tour of Elk Grove, Chicago Crit, Downers Grove....they get filled. Fox River Grove Challange had room last year.

The Winfield crits were near full on Sat, if not full. The Sun cat5 40+ had many open spots.

yep. it depends how popular/important the race is. I was only unable to race one event last year and that was more admin mix up than anything. If I wanted I could have pushed it, but my heart/legs weren't there anyway...

If the race has pre-reg available then you will also know if it is full or near full...so, really it does not matter all that much. Here's why: Once you know if you can race, you will also know if you can race.

Works great.

If you're a 4 or 5, it's to your favor to pre-reg for races in Chicago/Illinois. Stuff sells out real quick around here. Hillsboro-Roubaix was closed in an hour, same with the Leland Kermesse.

I find it hard to pre-reg three months in advance of a race, just owing to the fact I could be ill/hurt or busy with more important non-cycling activities, but y'know, if you're out killing yourself on the bike to get into race condition, you just have to take that chance.

Zombie thread...wtf?

did someone just bump an year old TQ thread?

long live TQ! later.

Doctor Who? Year old thread? Hmmmm.