Tour of Walla Walla - Stage Race

[Eden]

Wow! thats a lot of questions
Not all Cat 4's are new. It depends on how you do and how you feel about upgrading. They pretty much don't force women to upgrade unless they want to or they basically win every race, because here you go from a 4 to racing with the pros.... the races almost always are combined cat 1/2/3 without separate scoring. Some of the 4's have been racing as 4's for years and are very good bike handlers. We don't have them in Washington, but some states have "citizen's races". Its a category under 4 for which you don't need a USACycling license.
If you want to move up you need to accumulate points. You get points by getting high placings in races 1st - 6th place get points 7,5,4,3,2,1. 30 points in 12 months is supposed to be an automatic upgrade and 20 points is where you can request one. If you have been racing for a long time it is sometimes possible to upgrade based on experience. For women, since there are so many fewer of us the rules are often loosened a bit.
Anyone who wants to can come and race - there are no prerequisites other than a desire to do it. This does mean that sometimes there are people who may have never, ever ridden in a pack racing. Most of the time it doesn't matter, because they get dropped quickly, but sometimes they are strong - for example triatheletes can often be very strong and quick, but since they never race with other people they can be frigtening to ride with.
This http://www.txbra.org/home/index.asp looks like a good place to start looking for events in your area. www.usacycling.org will give you good general information about racing and you may be able to find some local clubs there too.
As far as what do new racers do wrong in a pack... there are dangerous things - sudden movements, especially without looking, half wheeling (overlapping wheels), pushing the bike back when standing on climbs, braking suddenly, taking a bad line in a curve, over agressiveness - basically pushing people out of the way, not knowing how to corner safely, you get the idea. Then there are things that are just not smart like sitting on the front for long periods of time needlessly, surging in a paceline, chasing your teammates down....

[Mimosa]

You just know when someone is not used to riding in a pack. Last sunday I rode in a group with some inexperienced riders. One of them kept telling everybody around her where she was. Like in a left curve she would shout to me "I am on your left" (multiple times). Or the get really nervous when they get enclosed by other riders causing them to sit almost shaking on the bike (no joke).

The whole race went fine, only some minor errors during the race, but at the very end it still went wrong. Two girls were sprinting for the finish line and one lost her balance coming over the line. Her bike moved to the right and she was no longer able to compensate causing her to ride into the girl next to her. They both had to be brought to the hospital by ambulance

[li10up]

I know on club rides when we have a lot of people and I get stuck in the middle I get a little nervous. You just don't know what the people around you are going to do. How would someone get experience racing in a pack prior to starting to race CAT4? Is riding with a large pack with your club good enough experience? It all sounds so exciting. I've seen some youtube videos of races and it looks pretty scary...people moving all around within the pack...but it also looks so very cool...a living, morphing entity.

[Mimosa]

I think what you are doing with the clubrides already helps a lot. You can't be better prepared, you just have to take the next step and join a race. In my experience it's not that scary because you all ride at the same speed and in the same direction. Of course you have to keep being alert, that's one of the hard things about racing ... keep being focussed!

[SheFly]

Does your club offer a racing skills clinic? Are there any in your area (maybe another club)? this is something that our club offers that is great for new racers. Teaches everyone basic skills like pacelining, as well as incidental contact, what happens when you touch wheels, etc..

Don't be put off by my comments, or Eden's. We have been racing for a couple of seasons, so have some bike handling skills, and know the intricacies of racing. Like Eden's area, if I upgrade I am also forced to race with the pros...

That said, there is no way to tell how you will do besides jumping into a race. Most people will be pretty helpful, and will give you pointers. If someone yells at you, it's more because they want you to be aware of what you are doing - learn from those instances.

Do you have a friend or teammate who has raced? Finding a mentor can also help a lot, even if you don't race in the same categories. And Mimosa is right - the club rides definitely help to get you comfortable in a pack.

Good luck!

SheFly

[Eden]

Look on your local calendar and see if you can find anything that is labled a training race or that might have a class before hand or mentors that ride along. We have both around here. Tuesdays there is a circuit race series that has beginner and cat 4 categories for women and has ride along mentorship. Thursdays there is a crit series that has a beginner/cat 5 field (unfortunately no separate womens field, but women and juniors get half off the entry fee...) that has a class before the race that is free with your entry.
She Fly is totally right there really is no way to tell if you are ready than to jump in and try it since there is no experience quite like the pack, but I would strongly encourage basic group riding skills to any one first. At very least you should know how to safely draft and paceline and you should know how to corner safely. You should be comfortable riding in your drops, epsecially through corners and down hills. Don't get discouraged or insulted if someone says something to you. It can be tense and since no one wants to fall they can get vocal. Just try to listen objectively - you may be doing something without realizing it.

[AZSpinner]

I enjoyed reading about your stage race. Congrats on the top 10 finish! As a rookie racer, I appeciated the tips you gave Li10up. I'm looking forward to hearing about your next race!