Quote Originally Posted by bluerider
Check out USA Cycling Federation for info on licenses.

Anyone who wishes to race needs a license. I think they have day licenses if you wanted to give a race a go.

CATS go from 5 (being beginner) to 1 (pros). You change CATS by upgrading through points (ie how well you do in your races).

You sound interested, why NOT give it a go?

Don't ask why a Canadian girl knows this stuff, I'm just envious we don't have more races here!
Us girls get to start as 4's since there are not enough of us to go around to justify a 5 field, but with the upswing in interest around these parts they are considering a women's cat 5 for next year. 5 is the easiest to upgrade from - all you need is experience.
Here's information from the www.usacycling.org web site

USCF Road Upgrades
Guidelines and Notes by Category:
5-4: Experience in 10 mass start races that meet the criteria in the table below (qualifying races).
Local Associations may also establish policies where upgrade credit is given for taking a sanctioned rider education clinic.
4-3: 20 points in any 12-month period; or experience in 25 qualifying races with a minimum of 10 top ten finishes, or 20 pack finishes with fields over 50. 30 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade
3-2: 25 points in any 12-month period
60 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade
2-1: 30 points in any 12-month period
60 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade

They've started enforcing a rule that only cat 5 men and cat 4 women can buy a single day license this year.

Some states also have what they call "citizen's races". I don't know if they are uscf sanctioned or not, but they are geared towards beginners.

BTW - I was one of those people who used to say that I would never be able to race, I'm not fast enough, not strong enough, etc., etc. and I've been doing very well - 11th place in my last (3rd) race. So it goes to show you never know until you try.