Originally Posted by
chucky
You know what I think is absurd? Roadies who wouldn't know what fast was if it bit them in their pansy ass lycra shorts. A roadie friend of mine recently told me I could qualify for CAT1 just based on my average commute times in traffic. My response? "I'm not interested in playing around."
Your roadie friend isn't much of roadie 'cause he doesn't know what he's talking about. There are specific requirements for moving from one category to another. Getting from 5 to 4 isn't too hard. Taking a racing class alone gets you part way there.
It get's more difficult as you move up. You earn points based on where you place in sanctioned races. The larger the field and the higher the finish, the more points you get. I don't think you get any for a "really fast commute time".
So a Cat 1 ranking is not something you qualify for based on talent alone. You have to earn it over time by consistently proving yourself to be among the top in Cat 2. And of course you don't get to Cat 2 without first proving yourself in Cat 3.
This is my understanding of how it works anyway.