New to Racing- What age is too old?

[Andrea]

I love hearing all of your stories of success!

Thank you all for your advice! I am going to train and race next year no matter what. I really just wanted to see what other women have experienced in the racing scene. I look forward to hearing more success stories in the future! I am really excited to train this winter to see what I can do next summer. I will update everyone to let them know how I do! Thank you!!!!

I would also love to hear some training advice for a new rider.

Good luck!
As for training advice, for now I'd say start building up your exercise capacity. Since a majority of women's races rarely exceed 50 miles (especially if the cat 4 women are split from the other categories), you should get to where you can ride 50-60 miles at a time, and it's not a big deal (you're a bit tired, but you aren't wiped for days or anything). Don't worry about pace for now, just keep it to where you are a bit out of breath, but aren't dead by the end of the ride.
Closer to the start of the season (a couple of months from your first race), you'll need some higher intensity work. You can either do this on your own with interval training a couple of days a week, or you can go to some faster group rides (you can't control your workout as well, but it will help your pack riding skills). I recommend a mixture of both.

This is pretty general- if you want a specific program, check out Friel's book The Cyclists Training Bible. It's got some very good info about testing yourself and planning your training/races.