What are the age classification for racing?
 

I turned 45 today and am still a bit of a novice but I have imroved alot. If I was to get into racing someday, what is available in my age range? Thanks :)

There are two ways to race, catagory or age class.

I.e.

Cat 5, Cat 4, Cat 3, Cat 2, Cat 1, Pro

or

Juniors, Seniors 18-29 (actully any age over 18), Masters 30+, 40+, 45+, 55+, 65+ ,etc. The most common are 30+ and 40+.

Sometimes you will find Cat 4/5 40+ types races also.

The masters races that are not catagory based ^^^ can be wickedly fast but quite smooth, the normal senior level races can also be fast but are generally hairier (more crash prone).

I also depends upon the race-organizer as well and what category groupings they provide. When I put on races, I never broke it up by ages, strictly by cats only. Personally I think it's safer because you're grouping people based upon ability and skill and that makes for a narrower spread between the best and worst in each group. ALL cat-3s have had to make it out of 4s, so there's a minimum ability here.

Whereas a masters 40+ race can have an ex-pro who's a cat-3 dicing it up with a brand-new rider in their very first race. It can create a very, very dangerous situation; not to mention extremely discouraging for the new rider.

Actually, the way age-groups are used is to split fields with too many riders for one cat. So you may end up with a spread like this:

cat-5: 70-riders
cat-5 40+: 65-riders
cat-4: 75-riders
cat-4 40+: 70-riders
cat-3: 80-riders (no split)

This breaks up the big groups into two, yet still maintains close abilities within that group. You select the age breakpoint so that both sets of fields are even-sized. Only 40+ racers can enter the 40+ races, but they can also chose to run in non-aged group as well. Some of them will actually do two races in the same day.

It may be a regional decision, but around here (Virginia), all cat 5s are only allowed in cat 5 races, regardless of age. Only after you upgrade to cat 4 or above can you race in masters 40+, etc. You might want to check with a regional USCF rep to see what the rules are in your area.

This was the classification breakdown for the local crit this weekend.


Juniors 10-12 & 13-14**
Juniors 15-16 & 17-18**
Elite Men Cat 5
Elite Women 3/4***
Elite Men Cat 4
Elite Men Cat 3
Masters 35+ (4/5)
Masters 35+ (1/2/3)
Elite Women 1/2/3
Elite Men P/1/2

ZappCatt's breakdown looks pretty accurate for a typical southern California race. Usually there will also be a 40+ or a 45+ and sometimes a 50+ or 55+ race also. 30+ races are really not that popular in southern California. They are offered but not as often as the other masters categories. Since masters racers can go down in category ( a 42 year old can race the 40+ race and the 35+ race) it is not uncommon to see many masters double up. I have seen Thurlow Rogers win a 40+ race, place top 3 in a 35+ race and then be top 5 in the Pro/1-2 race in one day.