Off the Front of the Pack--Cat 5

[gntlmn]

Let's say I'm a little afraid of riding in the peloton in a Cat 5 race because of the likelihood of crashes. Many of the riders are inexperienced, and I'm a little worried I'll be involved in a pileup, no matter how well I myself maneuver. So I keep training with the objective of riding at the front of the pack and beyond, and my first race I win by riding away from the pack, never getting behind anyone.

How long will they allow me to race Cat 5? Will a win of this nature dq me from future Cat 5 races? Will they automatically bump me up to Cat 4?

 

[gntlmn]

By the way, this is totally hypothetical. I don't have the ability to do this. I was just wondering how it would be treated.

 

[keydates]

All I've heard is that you have to race at least 10 Cat 5s before moving up. I guess that includes if you win, but I don't know (never raced before). There may be special circumstances if you consistently blow the competition out of the water.

 

[Salsa Rider]

The USCF uses a point system to determine race class and natioal standing. Simply put if you finish well, but not necessarily in first in large races you will move more quickly than if you crush people in the smaller ones.

A full description of how you garner points and how many it takes to move up are available at the USCF website

http://www.usacycling.org/results/results_rankings_technical_uscf.pdf

It's pretty convoluted, and I'm making it simpler than it is, but there is no minimum # of races, rather they use a maximum # of points over a three race average.

(So I guess the minimum is actually 3)

 

[asgelle]

The USCF uses a point system to determine race class and natioal standing. Simply put if you finish well, but not necessarily in first in large races you will move more quickly than if you crush people in the smaller ones.

A full description of how you garner points and how many it takes to move up are available at the USCF website

http://www.usacycling.org/results/results_rankings_technical_uscf.pdf

It's pretty convoluted, and I'm making it simpler than it is, but there is no minimum # of races, rather they use a maximum # of points over a three race average.

(So I guess the minimum is actually 3)

You're confusing rankings with upgrade points. The rules for upgrades are at:
http://www.usacycling.org/rulebooks/2004_uscf_rulebook.pdf
page 172. 5-4 upgrade is only by experience after 10 mass start races (distance and field size are given in the rulebook.

 

[Salsa Rider]

You're confusing rankings with upgrade points. The rules for upgrades are at:
http://www.usacycling.org/rulebooks/2004_uscf_rulebook.pdf
page 172. 5-4 upgrade is only by experience after 10 mass start races (distance and field size are given in the rulebook.

Cool, Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Rompinrhino]

Your going to find it difficult to break and stay away from a Cat 5 group. Cat 5's dont let anybody off the front, they think they have to chase everything down. In the pro ranks you'll see riders off the front a lot because they know that they can reel them in when they want. So be prepared to work.

 

[gntlmn]

Your going to find it difficult to break and stay away from a Cat 5 group. Cat 5's dont let anybody off the front, they think they have to chase everything down. In the pro ranks you'll see riders off the front a lot because they know that they can reel them in when they want. So be prepared to work.

I guess that's one way of avoiding crashes. Just ride off the front of the pack, and figure you'll eventually get reeled in and dropped even from the pack. Maybe some day, the victory will be yours, especially if they begin to think this is the idiot who doesn't know what he's doing. heh heh.

As crazy as this sounds, I think it would be the approach I would take. I don't like the idea of getting crunched in a pileup.

Maybe I should just start out with TT's if I get my fitness level quite a bit higher.

 

[Daremo]

You will rarely ever find someone just riding away off the front .........

I only did five Ct. 5 races when I started racing years ago. In my first one, my teammate and I DID ride the group off our wheel - we just got to the front and had some really hard pulls, nobody could hang with us. It was pretty amazing, and very rare. But because it was windy, no one was willing to chase us down for long periods of time. So we just rode our asses off, and finished over a half lap ahead of everyone (about a mile and a half in front of them).

The only other break away that got away in one of my 5 races I won because I was the best sprinter by far out of the 10 guys. We still only had about a minute on the pack though. And that is with ten guys working together pretty well.

Ct. 5 races are all about individual results. Everyone wants to do their best, there is almost never any team tactics involved, it is every rider for themselves. And you can move up to 4 anytime, all you have to do is ask your local district official to move you up based on a few races of experience, or scoring points for results. That's how I moved up then, I got a first, two seconds, and two thirds. There was no reason for me to stay in the 5 group then as I usually crushed them in sprints. So I moved up.

Now I'm back into the sport after a long hiatus, and have my license again, but not the same kind of fire about racing. Maybe next year after I get more miles into my legs, and more fat off my belly .......