"Tom Arsenault" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > Sure, but did you want someone to pay for your learning experiences? The start of the thread was
> > about a Cat 2 wanting to compete "outside of the
Tri
> > state area". I personally would be embarrassed to solicit funds to
sponsor a
> > race I would not be competitive in, but to each their own.
> >
> > BTW, even Cat 1s will get their butts kicked by the pros.
>
> This is not necessarily true ALL of the time, although most of the time. I watched a race last
> year, Michelin Classic day 2, where a Cat 2 junior finished 5th in a large and prestigious field
> that contained many pros from around the US. Some of the pros racing were Hincapie, Oscar Pineda,
> Dave McCook, and some others. So it is possible for a cat 2 to be competitive in a pro race, it
> just doesn't happen that often. Harder races make you (if you finish) a better rider.
If a Cat 2 rider is good enough to score in an NRC race (was that race NRC?), then the only reason
they're Cat 2 is they haven't done enough races to become a Cat 1. Let's talk about the rule and not
the exception because that rider would not be a Cat 2 for long.
If we talk about the exception, then we can wax poetic about when John Tomac had to enter Cat 4
races the same year he won the Pro Crit Nationals and how Cat 4s should all be sent to Pro Crit
Nationals because that harder racing will make them better.
Kurgan Gringioni (advocate of the Cat 4 racer being given a plane ticket to nationals)