Racing cat infos

[Eden]

Hi,

I am just interested in how this works. I know for woman it start's at Cat 4, how fast/strong do you have to be to get into Cat 4.
Are there some webpages to get more infos?

Thanks
Therese

Anyone who wants to can start racing as a cat 4 - there are no minimum requirements to get a license and sign up for a race. I always suggest that anyone who is considering racing get some group riding experience before they try it - just to make the whole experience safer for themselves and everyone else and I also think that the mentorship of a team is a great thing for beginners - but neither is strictly required. If you want more information about racing and licensing in general go to www.usacycling.org
(if you are thinking about racing this year, I'd suggest buying a one day license at the event(s) - the yearly license is Jan-Jan, so would expire very soon - unless you plan on doing a lot of racing between now and Dec 30 it would likely make sense to do one days at $5)

Now if you are asking what does it take to win, or even what does it take to keep up with the pack- there's really no good answer for that..... a lot of people who are thinking about racing ask "how fast do I need to be" and seriously there are so many factors that determine what it takes to race, that you can't just say if you can go X mph then you can race and be good at it. You also have to take into consideration bike handling skills (if you slow too much on corners or are uncomfortable riding close to others, that can detach even a strong rider from the pack), whether or not you have the endurance for a race, whether or not you can deal with surges in the pack. Whether or not you are individually fast may not keep you in, unless of course you are so fast you can just ride away from everyone else.... (and that tactic will probably only work in the 4's), but seriously there are people who could always beat me in a TT, that never could manage to hold onto the pack in a road race.

So what's my point? - you have to try it to find out. And do not get discouraged if you don't stay in right away. You may just have things to learn about pack dynamics and nearly everyone gets stronger eventually.