This past season I raced in the Pro/Cat 1 category to see how I could compete with the best riders in New England. I finished somewhere in the middle every race. Which is good. I never came in dead last. But after each race I would complain about how I couldn't keep up with those top guys.USA Cycling made some changes last year to get rid of the Semi-pro category and created the Cat 1 (used to be "Expert") class. Cat 1 was considered on the fence so you could race with the pro's or experts. Those that chose to upgrade from Semi-pro to Pro figured out that they really belonged in the pro field. USAC thought that this change in Category would fill out the pro field and thus give more "competition."
From my point of view after racing a full season in the Pro class I noticed that the same top 5 guys would break away after the first 5 minutes of the race. Leaving me in "No man's land" or hoping that one of the pro guys would crack and I would pass him limping along feeling good about myself for beating a pro. Or they have a mechanical and so it looks good on the results. So even though I finished most races somewhere in the middle I don't think I gave much competition to the pro field. Leaving me with a lackluster feeling of satisfaction. "If only" was the theme all the way home from the race.
Sandbagging- I looked at my results last year in the single speed class and found that if you compared my time to the other cat 1's it was usually top 5. So naturally I thought that I should upgrade to the next level unless I wanted to be labeled a sandbagger. But I think I skipped a step in between. Since I was racing the single speed class I should have upgraded to the geared Cat 1 age group. That would have been the small step that I needed to still be competitive. Geared riders hate being beat by a single speeder and thus it would up the competition. I find that racing for top 5 is much better than for top 15. And the 30-39 group is no joke. They typically are the fastest group and could potentially become the largest too. Plus, Kevin Hines raced his age group one week and then the next week won the pro race at Putney. If I came close to second or third place I might consider myself in contention to actually win a pro race. But the amount of training I do just doesn't get the job done.
Laps-I know that extra laps can make or brake a rider. I found that on some of the steeper courses I would catch some riders on the extra lap. I would get a sense of accomplishment with the extra lap, but I would have to curtail my riding to some degree to make sure I had something left for the final lap. On the other hand I found myself feeling like I needed more time to recover between races and I would feel run down during the week. So maybe racing one lap less per week will help with recovery.
So hear me out fellow Cat 1's on the fence (I know who you are) about whether or not you should stay in the pro class or race your age group. Race with me in the 30-39 age group and not the pro race so that we can have some fun. And let the best Cat 1 win!
I agree. You and Josh should see how you do in the Cat1 age group (You beat the series champion @ Cheshire).
ReplyDeleteand from my experience, no one really care that you're riding a singlespeed.
ReplyDeleteSandbagger! Great. Looks like I'll be racing Cat 2 next year. Actually it would be kind of cool if you, Josh, and I raced together. You know, in regards to the whole singlespeed debate, yeah you have one gear, but your body gets used to that style of riding. And not to mention, there's the issue of bike weight.
ReplyDeleteJust stay in the pro, my first year was exactly like your first year (middle of pack with a couple good finishes at smaller races). Your fitness will come around soon enough. Patience young jedi....
ReplyDeleteI plan on doing some local, shorter, races in '10. I, too, was torn between pro or cat1 30-39. I would be on my SS too.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what I would do. I race against pros in the longer races (50/100milers, multi day). Shorter hasn't really been my 'thing' for the past few years but I want to mix it up a bit in '10 (shorter, local races and then a few multi-day events).
Probably just stick with cat1 30-39. I agree, they tend to be the most competitive of the groups.
J,
ReplyDeleteWhat are you thinking? You belong in the open class.................Period.
I got my ass handed to me every race with the execption of the lone W @ glouster grind.
Open class is where the real local comp. is.
Listen to Monte, stay where you are.
Your very consistent and it will pay off.
Start a poll, ask your reader's what they think.