changing categories
 

does one have to race 10 races before they can switch? wondering if i am out of my element racing (at age 47) in the Cat 4 races...getting 'better' somewhat, training more specifically, but...still blown out of the water. and still having a blast. just wondering should/can i switch to the 35+ category? or is that an even tougher cat?

Even tougher but hey, end of the pack always looks the same. That's where I'll be camping out so I can have fun racing, have a purpose/motivation for training and to kick back and watch the pros do it right!

I agree that 35+ is tougher. I moved up because I like the time slot better. I was finishing in the bottom of the pack in the lower cat, and I'm still finishing in the bottom in 35+, but there are still people around my ability level. The way I see it, if there are a handful of other people I'm competitive with, it doesn't matter much if were at the top or at the bottom. Unless you're winning in Cat 1, there are always people above you anyway.

35+ is an open cat so you can have 1, 2, and 3's in it at local type races. UCI races will have an elite 35+ field, which will exclude the cat 1's but overall 35+ is going to be a lot tougher. Most races have a 45+ cat, which again is open but I would think is a bit slower.

There was a guy here dominating the 35+ C races (we have A, B and C) on Wednesday nights. I looked him up to see how he was doing on the weekends, and I found that he was racing in the 50+ group (he's 57) and finishing around 15 to 20 out of 70. So, now I see that I need to get a lot faster in the next eight years if I want to cat up to the 50+ group when I'm eligible.

The MAC series near you has a 35+, but its Cat 2/3/4. The MABRA 35+ race is only Cat 3/4. So I race Cat 4 in MAC races, like Fair Hill this weekend, and Master 3/4 in MABRA, like Tacchino this weekend.

Between the young studs coming up and a little sandbagging that goes on in the 4s down here, the leader's pace of the Cat 4 is pretty similar to the Master 3/4, although more of the Master 3/4 field is clustered to the front.

thanks for the views...i might just try it later this season or next year.

yeah, i'll be at fairhill...and might just foolishly sign up for the spring mount the next day...haven't done a weekender...wondering if it will be really sloppy or slightly dried out into being more peanut butterish...?!

I'm a cat2 and I race 35+ as my A race for the day. I have a real hard time keeping up with some of these guys too. Some of whom, like myself, go on to do the A race too and actually do well. So yeah 35+ is a lot harder. Also there will be bigger fields in the cat4's which can be really fun at times.