My own goals and race achievements

[RoadRaven]

Hey there Bike Goddess

The grades here are basically arranged by ability - its not a national standard at all.

The club champs and national comps are organised by age (so I would be Vet 1 or 2 if I entered a local or national competition)

Ramblers itself arranges itself on ability for the weekly races... so entry level racers begin in F. Its slower paced than all other grades and a shorter distance (usually between 20-25km).

E is a longer distance and slightly faster pace. E grade bridges the gap between F and everyone else.

The hardest move will be from E to D which is faster and longer.

D, C, B and A all ride the same distances, but at faster and faster paces.
In our club in A grade we have several national and international riders, so our A grade is a much higher calibre than some other A grades around the country and of course there are no women in A grade. I don't think there are any women riding in Ramblers B grade either - though I may be mistaken.

My long term aim is to get to D grade... if I can do that I have a chance of picking up places at club level in local competitions. If I could get to C then I would not embarrass myself at national level - however, thats a heckuvva lot of work and at my age D is (hopefully) an achievable goal.

Here is the link to the club and if you are interested you can check out times and distances to give you an idea. The home page also explains a little about the grading and what the club does...
http://www.ramblers.co.nz/
If you are interested in knowing what the courses are I can describe them for you and might even be able to find a pic.