theres def an element of that but it can also reward racing a lot and being consistent/strong across disciplines, imo. i'm proud of my standing and regard it as indicative of my wellroundedness. i havent "hung around" for as long as most of the 4s who have upgraded this season. plus it recognizes time trials and gives points a little differently (deeper and 2x for championships). if i had the points i would upgrade, but i dont yet, i do however have BAR points from being a decent climber desipte not being a little goat, a decent TTer despite having no TT bikes, and a fast recoverer who can top 10 a stage race, and mostly someone who shows up a lot cuz i love racing, not just to fill a team minimum.

by your logic anyone who ever wins anything is sandbagging and shouldn't be winning but should be competing in a harder field. i think you get TO a harder field by winning, not being mediocre for long enough in your current field.

anyway the only reason i brought up BAR here is cuz top 3 BAR get to upgrade and i was was challenged as to why i havent upgraded yet. i will probably get BAR upgrade before i get a points upgrade, and will take it.

nobody, least of all me, is anti upgrade, or suggesting anyone should sandbag, i think brian and i are just arguin that its reasonable to want to excell at one level before going up to the next one. it sounds so intuituve to me that i'm surprised its being met with so much contention.

OP has been racing for 3-4 years and his fitness is not up to cat3 packfill. to me that suggests doing it for the card and bragging rights more than the challenge. theres plenty of challenge and development left for him in 4. so, i asked him the question.

like brian said, at whatever level, cat4 to UCI, you cna show up for fun/to sit in or you can show up to participate and affect the outcome and to learn. i've learned a lot being at the pointy end of the 4s tht i wouldnt have learned being in the back of the 3s.

for the 10th or so time, i'm not telling anyone what they should do, i jsut asked the OP a question about facts he made available and i got dogpiled by 3rd parties.