Originally Posted by
carleton
Yeah, you and the other women will most likely race weekly with the men of similar skill level in the weekly practice races.
It will be all women in "real" races like velodrome championships, regionals, state championships etc...where there is something on the line (medals, jerseys, USAC points, cash, etc...). "practice" races are just the normal weekly races where nothing significant is on the line. Just local velodrome points that only mean something at the velodrome.
And then there are the FEW women of "a certain age", like me, who race on the track. The 55+ guys are too strong, and no way I can race with younger men. I was dumb enough to try! I do race with the 1/2/3/4 women, most younger than 35, and that's a better experience, but I don't have unrealistic expectations about doing anything spectacular. I use it for the intensity, workout, bike skills, and oh, fun. If I can stay in the pack or even animate things through the first sprint (in a scratch race or points race, snowballs are just too fast), I'm pleased. The cool thing about track mass starts is that if (when) I get popped off the back, I make a trip up to the stayers line and recover for a couple of laps, and then jump back in when the pack comes by.
My concentration is sprint events, I had said "never" on mass starts, and it's true that most women my age won't go near them, but - they're fun, I enjoy them. And I know I'm not going to out sprint or outlast most women who are half my age! But hey, so what.