Too old to race?
 

I'm 49, back to riding after 10 years. 20 years ago I was a Cat-3, but I know I can't ride with the young guns now, esp in the hills.

Does USA Cycling have a Geritol category these days?

Yes, it's called Masters.

Screw that, race category...
Just work your way back into it, there is no reason you can't be competitive again.

You ask that question at 49? Sheesh! There are people over 50 racing Cat1. Get training. And check out this sub-forum, since you almost qualify:

http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdispl...ll-Disciplines)

You are too young to be complaining about age. Seriously. You can race in the master's category, but around here the 45+ category is a lot more competitive than the cat3 category.

Find a level you like competing at, practice, enjoy, and have fun!

I would imagine it's not the old-guy part that makes it more competitive than the 3's, it's the cat 1/2 part.

Fixed that for you.

Busta's back.

Around here M45+ is almost always harder than Cat 3. Safer and smoother but harder.

Depending on your location there may be a lot of M45 cat 4 or cat 4/5 fields in races. M45 cat 4 is often the fastest filling field in NorCal.

If you have your old USCF licence number you may be able to convince the district rep to reinstate you. But as a 3 you'd be racing with the M45 1/2/3 guys and they're really fit. It might be better to downgrade to cat 4, or just start over as cat 5. That's what I did when I came back after 20 years. Since we have a lot of M45 4/5 or 5 fields I didn't race open cat 5 often. The M45 5s are more experienced than open 5s on average and less likely to do something dumb. I mostly do climbing races instead of crits, so I did not find the few inexperienced m45 5s to be a problem as they'd be dropped on the first hill.

I started racing at 47 and never raced previously. So no...not too old. I suck but you'll likely do a lot better if you've done it before. Just do it.

I'd just renew my old license number, assuming USA Cycling still has you in its record. Go out and race Cat 3. If you're not close to being competitive, then ask to downgrade to Cat 4.

I'd try to avoid starting over as a Cat 5. Better to avoid doing the 10 Cat 5 races if you can.

Agreed, you're not too old by a long-shot. There's guys 10 and 15 years older than me, I'm 47, that make me question whether I'm too young to race. Get out there. GL

If you have to ask you may be.

Theres a local 52 year old who kicks my ass in almost every race :)

must suck getting beat by your grandpa.

Much appreciated!

Something doesn't ring true about your post. Back to riding after 10 years but you have over 1,500 posts?

He's a troll/sockpuppet from way back.

father, not grandpa!

Well isn't 40+ pretty competitive?

I think you would rather race with 40+ than cat3 anyway, even if they are roughly the same speed.

But i wouldn't want to start at cat5 either.

It's a common mistake to think that the older guys are more mellow.

To answer your question: 49 is not too old to race.

To point out your age..... you referenced Geritol. Do you still watch The Lawrence Welk Show? ha ha ha ha ha ha


Just kidding.

a..turn off..a..the bubble machine..a

I know a guy who is racing in a 65+ category. He is in his mid to early 70s. I met a guy who races in Boulder who was freaking fast as hell and races. Dude is 65 as well.
They do tend to opt out of crits.

Masters nationals were last week...the best TT was a guy in the 50-54 age group.