esp. since most races (at least in socal) are P/1/2... but the point remains even if they were big enough races to have a 2 only field.

rubbing both sides, not an aero frame (tarmac).

+1

I think you are selling yourself short.
I believe that you and I have a lot in common having started young and risen quickly. What will be your limiting factor (as you and I have discussed offline) is focus and other things in life pulling you in a variety of directions. If you remain focused I think you could have a great future...

unpossible

I have always struggled with this myself...

I am a middling Cat 3. This season, after hiring a coach and actually putting my PM to good use, I began to see form and a few points. But to get to Cat 2 would require more focus on bike racing and training than is personally reasonable. To paraphrase Tom Ritchey: family, career, upgrade. Choose any two.

But I am totally fine with that. I had a lot of success and satisfaction working for an up and coming teammate who just upgraded to 2 in his second season of racing. We'll have a new crop of neo-3's next season and I am looking forward to mentoring and working for them as well.

Had I been racing in 2013 the mentoring of new riders is what I was looking forward to so I admire you for doing that. Though many don't realize it cycling involves a great deal of personal sacrifice.

I think in truth most guys can't get beyond their conceptual misconceptions of what they need to do to excel at the cat three level to do it. It's really quite possible on very few hours. In fact, you're probably better off. The limiter for most folks is not doing the right kind of training, and the right kind of rest, not volume.

Primarily the reason is it isn't fun. It hurts a lot, and takes a lot of focus. Those fun piddling around BS rides tend to go away also.

Agreed. Like the great Bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman said:
"Everyone wants to be a bodybuilder but nobody wants to lift no heavy ass weights."
Much can be said for guys who race.
I get asked all the time in the gym about my transformation from last October to now, answer is always the same - I bust my ass, I train like an animal, I eat like a beast and I rest. My work ethic is like no other. I get up at 3:45 am to make sure it gets done and it sucks. A guy came up to me the other day and asked me (in front of my wife and another friend) how big I was and what I looked like under my hoodie. We all burst out laughing, my friend looked and asked him why he has to make everyone uncomfortable with his questions. My wife looked at him, smiled, and said he is a beast AND completely clean, he just does everything the right way and makes the sacrifices to be like that.
As garbear said there is a more effective way, it just isn't any fun...

+1. Just like it's not possible for most to upgrade out of the 4's on points. Those who have it easy think it's easy for everyone else, except it's not. That said, i would agree with the sentiment that those who upgraded to the 3's in fewer than 10-15 races can probably make it to the 2's sooner or later.
talent is wasted on the youth, again. And while you are at it, learn some empathy as well.

and +1 to the points on the right training. Before i got to the 3's i harbored some incorrect notions on what it'd take, namely, CTL of 100 or above and 13-15hrs/week. Then i hired a coach, and the said coach wanted me to focus things that i didn't want to do, and i wrangled with that for a bit as those things i wanted to do worked well (enough) for me in the past and i didn't want to change.

I probably ended up doing 10-12 hours on the hard weeks (that includes ~3hrs of commuting /week), and my race season CTL never went over 75, but i had some good races and results to show for it. I absolutely despised the workouts that were assigned by my coach when i started but came to realize that he knows enough to wear Stars & Stripes and send his riders to nationals, so i did things his way.

For the next year, i'd like to average a bit more, perhaps 11-13hrs/week, but really, i don't think i need to spend too much more time per week to upgrade out of the 3's.

i should also mention that when my FTP went from 275-->305, i really didn't get many results. I did have a somewhat good looking number, but that was all. I was really hoping to get to 325 this season but was probably at 305-310W for most of it, yet i ended up doing a lot better. At the end of the day, there are way too many metrics out these that don't mean much and people rarely focus on the metrics that matter. I'm okay with that as a)i paid for that knowledge, and b)it tips things in my favor.

That was the hardest part of this season. I had no motivation, and just didnt work towards my goals. I got 4 upgrade points, versus the 35 i wanted, and i probbaly will not get asked onto a bigger team for next season (ships already sailed). It sucks to look back and see that i "wasted" a season, but i enjoyed my summer of just being a kid. It was the best summer i've had in a long time.

mods this needs a sticky

Luxuriate in this. There will be lots of time to have responsibilities in the future.

you guys are making marriage and kids sound like a bundle of joy

"competitive" is a different matter. i would bet that any cat 3 rider -- in theory -- could go to enough races, take enough chances, and eventually make it. it would be more about rolling the dice enough rather than improved fitness. improved fitness would, of course, help.

Sweet.

I'm a "real" 2!!!

Horner took back 22 seconds on Nibali, now trails by 28 seconds. As an old guy, I think this is just so cool. :) Of course, if it turns out that he's not clean, I'll be that much more pissed.

just assume that they all have equally optimized doping programs

Wanted: Powertap with Campy 11speed freehub, wireless, cheap
Anyone know of any?

Fwiw it doesn't seem like it needs to be 11-speed specific, my campy PT from 2009 works fine with Campy 11.

Kids make you faster. I didn't win my 2nd race until my third child was born. All my best cycling performances have come since. Now I have a 7-yo tandem partner who begs me to do more miles when we're supposed to be heading back home.

you're the guy who keeps touching the pot on the stove expecting it not to be hot, huh?

'tis the season: (for some)

http://i.imgur.com/nu8BLmU.jpg