Are you male or female? Either way the rules are the same. Under USA cycling rules, women may enter and race with men but men cannot enter women's races. This happens often with Pro and Cat 1 women. They enter P/1/2 elite men's races for the competition and to improve. Promoters can mix categories. If you line up together and start together, then you may work together. The combined fields are scored separately. If you are saying that the 50+ men are combined with the Cat 1/2/3 women, I find that odd and have not seen races promoted or sanctioned that way. However, if it is done by the race promoter, then listen to the instructions at the start. The moto refs enforce the rules during the race.
In USA cycling sanctioned races, different groups starting at different times are not allowed to work together. If you are in a Cat 5 race and go OTB and a P/1/2 peloton goes by, you cannot hop on the back and get back into the Cat 5 peloton.
Last edited by Hermes; 02-28-11 at 11:02 AM.