Quote Originally Posted by madisongrrl View Post
You live in California, correct? I'll be you get some pretty tough competition at CX races...since California seems to be such a hotbed for cycling.
First, congrats on your races. Be patient and I bet you'll be kicking butt sometime soon. Isn't it a cool feeling to give it everything? Since you raced hard the day before, you weren't able to hold it, but try it again when you're frest and I bet you'll see a different result.

Yes, I'm in CA. They race all the women together here, although they stagger starts. We almost always get lapped by the A women. We have so many national-level racers and world's team members here -- Barb Howe, Sarah Kerlin (national masters champ), Melodie Metzger (national collegiate champ), Josie Beggs, Linda Elgart (national masters champ), Stella Carey (world single speed champ), Rachel Lloyd (world team member), etc. They're really in a league of their own.

I think that's why we've got so many women racing Bs who really belong in the As -- they don't want to compete with these women. It's too bad, because you end up with lots of sandbagging in the Bs, which also trickles down to the Cs. I think if USAC ever really institutes the category/upgrade system, it might change. But the local promoters are still basically ignoring that system.

It's actually frustrating for the As (racing with the beginners) and the Cs (racing with the elites), but at least they give the women a race of their own.