Mark,
Check out
http://www.usacycling.org/events/2002_uscf_champ/masters_road.pdf this should give you a
good idea of the official USCF Master Cat's available by age grouping ... basically its broken down
into 5 year increments 30-34, 35-49 etc... Depending on where you live you are likely to see 35+,
40+ 45+ and maybe a few 50 or 55 + Master races.
As a 52 you will be in the 50+ Cat but can race any of the "younger" Cat's as well, though, these
race will likely be a bit more challenging.
You will find the Master races have fewer racers than Cat 5 races, but the competition is much
tougher, since these guys/gals have been at it typically for a long time and are often former Cat
1,2,3's. On the upside these folks know what they are doing and "stupid" behavior is at a minimum
... that means you are significantly less likely to get crashed out of a race due to some racer
making a 90 degree left-hand turn in the final 20 meters of a field sprint. Don't get me wrong,
there's still aggressive racing and some physical contact but its more "measured". I'd strongly
recommend upgrading to a Cat 4 since many of the Masters races are restricted to Cat 1-4 and
sometimes even Cat 1-3.
As a 50+ Master with 4 years of racing under my belt, I have to say that Masters racing is fun but
quite challenging in contrast with Cat 5, but its much safer as well.
Good luck
james nuzzo
"Mark U." <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm fairly new at this and raced Cat 5 last year. However, I'm 52 years
old
> and was wondering if a Masters category would be a better experience.
What
> are the Masters categories, I can't find a web site that lists them?
>
> Mark
