I bought a bike in the beginning of January and have been riding twice a week and have worked myself up to doing 30 mile rides in about 2 hours on the weekend. The more I read about cycling the more I think about racing. There is a series of 4 crits starting on February 23rd with one a week between them.

The bike I have is a late 70's early 80's steel bike with some decent older components, is this typical for many cat 5 riders or are they all carbon riding machines Do you guys think its to soon for me to start racing or is this pretty normal for cat 5 riders? If it makes any difference I'm 24, 6 foot, and 175lbs (I know a little heavy for this sport ).