Espoir? What does it mean?

So I've been entertaining the thought of racing. Need a little help eith some terminology. Tried to look it up on the UCI site, but no luck.

9:20 Category 5 Men / M 15-16 Staging
9:30 Category 5 Men / M 15-16 Start 30 minutes
9:50 Cat 4 Men / M 17-18 Staging
10:00 Category 5 Men / M 15-16 Finish
10:05 Cat 4 Men / M 17-18 Start 30 minutes
10:25 M 10-12 / M 13-14 / W 10-12 / W 13-14 Staging
10:35 Cat 4 Men / M 17-18 Finish
10:40 M 10-12 / M 13-14 / W 10-12 / W 13-14 Start 20 minutes
10:45 Men Masters 40+ Staging
10:55 M 10-12 / M 13-14 / W 10-12 / W 13-14 Finish
11:00 Men Masters 40+ Start 30 minutes
11:00 Trials Demo
11:25 Women / Women 17-18 / Espoir 19-22 Women to Staging

Now I know about Cats. What I don't know is the whole M 15-16 and the Espoir stuff. Anyone care to explain?
Jeni

Found that espoir refers to youth catagories in cycling - working on what the M designations mean - can you post a link to the site that the original information is on. It might be easier to figure out in context.

M = men
W = women

Espoir doesn't really equal youth. Espoir means under 23 years old (or more precisely 19-22 years old).

Juniors = youth (12 to 18 years old).


Jeni, if you're an adult woman, it looks like your only option is the Women's open race at 11:25 (meaning they don't separate the women by category). This is probably because there aren't a lot of women participating in that particular race.

Amateur racing in the US is sanctioned by USA Cycling (not UCI), so if you're in the US you can find the rulebook (which includes explanations for all your questions) at http://www.usacycling.org

Wow, there are enough men all the way down to 13 years old to justify categorisation, but not enough women to even justify TWO categories? That makes me :(

I finally figured out what espoir meant when I went to BikeForums. Here's the link to the race info

http://www.reserbicycle.com/newportc...event_info.asp

So let me get this straight - this means that all women and girls are racing together yes?

It's starting to make sense! Not that I'm impressed I'd have to go with all the other women, I was hoping for a beginners gruop!

Jeni

"Espoir" (French) actually translates as "hope".

Pronounce "(h)ess-poohar" (my written phonetics is really bad).

Ooh.....hope! I like that. and how true is that? The kids still have hope/potential in their cycling careers.

Now about the race. It's a four-corner crit, which means it will be fast and the pack will likely stay together the entire race. Women's beginner crits here in CA average about 22mph. This wouldn't be the type of race I'd recommend for someone's first race, especially if she hasn't participated in a skills clinic or training race.

Jeni, have you watched a crit before? I'd plan to arrive very early so you can at least watch some of the races. This will give you an idea of what to expect (and whether or not you really want to try it yourself).

It appears that they held this race last year (I found the permit info on USACycling but they never posted the results). See if you can find the results somewhere and see how large the women's field was. This, too, will give you a sense of whether or not you might want to do it. If there's 50 women, that would be a bit intimidating. If there's 10, maybe you'd try it.

Anyways, not to scare you away, Jeni, but crit racing can be a scary leap for a new racer. The pack is large and fast, you need excellent cornering skills, and there are spectators everywhere (adding to the embarassment factor). For new racers, I'll typically recommend beginning with a road race or time trial, just to get your feet wet, learn more about the sport, and have a safer experience.

Are you involved in any of the cycling clubs listed on the website? If not, hook up with one of the clubs and see if they can offer some guidance/mentoring.

Okay, I'm starting to ramble.

I plan on absorbing this one and not racing. If it was a road race, I'd more than likely do it. We have Seven Hills Racing club here what was designed to offer the newbies a way in to the sport without being intimidated. They have crit practice every Wednesday night focusing on different things. The guy in charge is a riot and makes everyone feel welcome. Whene deciding whether or not I wanted to join the club, I asked if I could race with my Trek 1000 and he said by all means and that my bike woulnd't be the cheapest thing there!

I plan on taking plenty of mental notes. My friend just did his first race two weekends ago and it was a crit. They let the 4's race with the 5's and Citizens and it was really fast. He thinks he'll stick with RR's and TT's for awhile.

Thanks for all your help!

Jeni

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by velogirl

Ooh.....hope! I like that. and how true is that? The kids still have hope/potential in their cycling careers.

Now about the race. It's a four-corner crit, which means it will be fast and the pack will likely stay together the entire race. Women's beginner crits here in CA average about 22mph. This wouldn't be the type of race I'd recommend for someone's first race, especially if she hasn't participated in a skills clinic or training race.

Jeni, have you watched a crit before? I'd plan to arrive very early so you can at least watch some of the races. This will give you an idea of what to expect (and whether or not you really want to try it yourself).

It appears that they held this race last year (I found the permit info on USACycling but they never posted the results). See if you can find the results somewhere and see how large the women's field was. This, too, will give you a sense of whether or not you might want to do it. If there's 50 women, that would be a bit intimidating. If there's 10, maybe you'd try it.

Anyways, not to scare you away, Jeni, but crit racing can be a scary leap for a new racer. The pack is large and fast, you need excellent cornering skills, and there are spectators everywhere (adding to the embarassment factor). For new racers, I'll typically recommend beginning with a road race or time trial, just to get your feet wet, learn more about the sport, and have a safer experience.

Are you involved in any of the cycling clubs listed on the website? If not, hook up with one of the clubs and see if they can offer some guidance/mentoring.

Okay, I'm starting to ramble.

---