Cat 4 upgrade! yes!

Well I'm now officially a cat 4 Roadie! How did I do it you ask? Simple. All you have to do is enter 2 criteriums and lose real bad. Then convince the Official (Diane Fortini) with some clever words and maybe a Pajama gram. Saying something like "These guy's in cat 5 suck, I eat pieces of shit like them for breakfast," (You eat pieces of Shit?) This, on the other hand, would not have helped my chances of sweet talking her to victory. Why did she upgrade me?

Here is the email I sent and her reply:
Diane,
I raced 2 races at Bethel and felt really comfortable riding with
the groups. Criteriums are very interesting to race in. It's almost
like playing chess. It seams like the ones who win the races "hang out"
until the end and then punch it for the finish. I felt like the group
was going slow and I wanted to up the pace and so I spent most of the
time pulling and attacking on the hill. On the last lap of the
Criterium de Bethel I had a decent gap at the top of the hill and it was
only at the bottom of the hill that I was unfortunately caught. I feel
like if I was in a higher level I would be more evenly matched for the
overall race, not just the sprint at the end.
I have had lots of riding on the road experience with group rides over
the last 3 years. Most of my riding is on the road.
I would really appreciate it if you could upgrade me to a cat 4 road.
Thank you for all you do,
James Harmon

Hi James,
Believe it or not you were next on my list to e-mail. I had been away on
vacation all last week and I have been catching up on upgrades so I wanted
to follow-up with you on how the racing has been going. What good timing you
have! I am going to go ahead and approve your upgrade to cat 4. You will be
able to print your account page and/or approval notice to use at
registration until you receive a cat 4 sticker for your license. I will send
you the sticker tomorrow. I will use the address on your USAC account page
unless you prefer it go to a different address.
See you at the races,
Diane

So it was some kind of supernatural force playing us like puppets for some bigger cause to save the planet or keep people out of jail. I was next on her people to email! I was next! When she said "I'm going to go ahead and approve your upgrade to cat 4" I was flooded with emotion and relived that I can proudly walk up to the registration desk at Battenkill and hand them my licence with a sticker that says I'm a cat 4!

Thinking more about Battenkill. I've discovered that Battenkill is a really good thing. It has nothing to do with winning. The 30+ 1234 group is going to kick my little ass. It's all about preparing for the entire season. What better way to get in shape then to ride around with 25's on. If I go up there and get dropped on the first hill then fine. If I flat out then fine. It really doesn't matter. What matters is that I am in better shape this year then last year at this time thanks to BK. Burger King... No that would not work. I've gotten sick more times at Burger King then any other fast food chain. Thank God that I don't eat like that any more.

Last night Josh and I went on a ride. Josh took out the big gun and I had just put on my 25's. What a difference the extra weight and rolling resistance can make. We started out with the old man group and then he just punched it up some hill and I knew it was time to go. I'm glad we didn't stick around with the slower group for long. I like the guys I just get board very easily. From there on out it was a race. Worse then the criterium I did on Sunday. I was beginning to wonder if I should have stayed in the OMG. Josh was killing it and I was hurtin'. Now I know all this time how he's been feeling with those 25's. After we hammered around Lake Waramaug we took the dirt section up to West Morris Rd and flew down some sick dirt. Josh was ahead of me when he caught some air off the top of a hill and kicked his back wheel out. It looked so sick on his road bike. He is so Rad! Then right at the end of the dirt I got a flat with my new "puncture resistant" tires Michelin Litheons. I picked up a nail that went right through the top. I guess that would puncture anything. So it was a goood ride. 2 hours of battling with one of the best riders around was awesome!