Originally Posted by
nayr497
Wait, is this true about 10 hours of training and Cat 3 level? I know there are A LOT of variables here, but I ride around that many hours each week (for fun, not "training") and I've only ever done a charity ride/race and it was with Cat 5 cyclists and I was by no means the lead dog.
Just asking. I really have no desire to race, as I spent a majority of my life playing competitive sports and ride for fun and exercise. I've only ever done two ride/races and both were with Cat 5 people. I've also only been truly a road cyclist for a year or two. Just inquiring, as Cat 3 seems far beyond my level at this point.
Like you said, there are a lot of variables. Waterrockets I think said he does 8hrs/week and is doing quite well. If you ride too much, you won't be able to get the intensity you need to do well in racing. If you want endurance you need to ride a lot, if you want to get fast you just need to ride fast, but you also need a good aerobic base to build on.
It also depends on what type of race you want to do. I enjoy road races more than crits, but it's probably more of a chicken-and-egg type thing. I like to ride a lot, so I like races that are long, so I ride a lot. The race that I won was a 70 mile road race, which is on the longer side for cat 4, which gave me an advantage. At the end of the race I was the freshest and was able to use my high 5-minute power/weight to get the jump on the pack on the incline leading up to the final corner to the finish. Which is a good thing, because my sprint sucks.