MSU will be my first collegiate race, 3rd race in all. I raced cat 4/5 last week at UW-Parkside.

It sounds as if I have a choice of entering D or C. Is this true, or am I forced into D? If I have the choice between D and C, what should I take?

28/50 at UW-Parkside after a failed (accidentally solo) break-away attempt (lasted almost 2laps/2mi) and no final sprint.

Thanks.

C is the highest category you can race in college if you're a cat 5. If you're comfortable racing cat 4/5 races, then race C. They are pretty much the same pace, maybe a little slower.

It depends upon what your regional coordinator will allow, but I think they would let you race C's. It should be okay for you. D races are silly short.

MSU will be my first collegiate race, 3rd race in all. I raced cat 4/5 last week at UW-Parkside.

It sounds as if I have a choice of entering D or C. Is this true, or am I forced into D? If I have the choice between D and C, what should I take?

28/50 at UW-Parkside after a failed (accidentally solo) break-away attempt (lasted almost 2laps/2mi) and no final sprint.

Thanks.


I recommend to my team to start the lowest as they can go. If at any point they have a shot at leading the standings in their division, THEN and ONLY then, I recommend they upgrade.

I'm a C (4/5) rider. Yes, I can keep up quite easily with the 3/4 (B) field (as I have done in non-collegiate races). I race where I do because I'm not winning... nor do I expect to. How could I possibly be a sand bagger?

I vote start in D's. If you pwn the field, upgrade to C's. To me, its better to start out doing well, than start out getting pwn3d.

On the other hand, if you are strong enough to hang with the field and have a good sprint, I think it's worth racing the highest category that you are allowed. (I surprised myself with a solid showing in my first B race since I have a decent sprint.)

I'd start in C's, but that's just me. D is pretty slow, slower than 4/5 races. If you were able to hold on there, you should be fine in C's

I'm a Cat 4 as well. I race B's right now, will move up to A's in a couple weeks. It won't be pretty, but since I've been in the action for all my B's races, it probably can't hurt.

In your case, just go with C's and see how it pans out. If you really have a bad time with it, you can always go to D's.

its a tough choice

i could race b's or c's. like cruzer, i could easily keep up with b's, but im not winning c's by any means. plus itd be nice to get some points in c's if i did start to do well.

i say it depends on your goals.....uscf upgrade points, divisional pts for the team, personal glory - stay down.

becoming a better rider - up.

Thanks for the advice guys.

The C's race at 10am, which is 9am CST. That means I would have to leave my house at 4am to get there...no thanks.

I'll do my intro race in D's and if I place well I'll try and do C's from then on. If I somehow place (ie, 1/2/3), are there awards or a ceremony thing? I've never stuck around for something like that and don't want to bail if there actually is...

Thanks

Race C if there is any doubt in your mind, don't make the same mistake I did and get called a sandbagger haha.

I recommend to my team to start the lowest as they can go. If at any point they have a shot at leading the standings in their division, THEN and ONLY then, I recommend they upgrade.

I'm a C (4/5) rider. Yes, I can keep up quite easily with the 3/4 (B) field (as I have done in non-collegiate races). I race where I do because I'm not winning... nor do I expect to. How could I possibly be a sand bagger?

I vote start in D's. If you pwn the field, upgrade to C's. To me, its better to start out doing well, than start out getting pwn3d.


+1 this advice as I think it's good advice. It never hurts to get experience trying to attack in a situation where you're not absolutely sure you'll get drug back right away...

How long are D races anyway?

I recommend to my team to start the lowest as they can go. If at any point they have a shot at leading the standings in their division, THEN and ONLY then, I recommend they upgrade.

I'm a C (4/5) rider. Yes, I can keep up quite easily with the 3/4 (B) field (as I have done in non-collegiate races). I race where I do because I'm not winning... nor do I expect to. How could I possibly be a sand bagger?

I vote start in D's. If you pwn the field, upgrade to C's. To me, its better to start out doing well, than start out getting pwn3d.

No doubt it is better to do well, as long as you are still pushing yourself.

Just out of curiosity, do you think your expectations about winning races are common? Personally, I am trying to win pretty much every race that I enter. I've only actually won once, but have had a lot of top fives. It is just hard for me to imagine riding with the expectation of being packfill. Being pretty competitive, I'm not sure that would be much fun for me. That's not to say that I think people shouldn't race or can't have fun without trying to win. I'm just wondering how common this mindset is.

1.7 miles.

Not really but pretty much.

I am in a different conference but the only awards ceremony was for the series at the conf. championships...

No doubt it is better to do well, as long as you are still pushing yourself.

Just out of curiosity, do you think your expectations about winning races are common? Personally, I am trying to win pretty much every race that I enter. I've only actually won once, but have had a lot of top fives. It is just hard for me to imagine riding with the expectation of being packfill.

Well... I feel like trying to win every race, and expecting to (realistically) win are different. I try to win every race I enter.

I feel like the former is normal, the latter is sandbagging.

Thanks for the advice guys.

The C's race at 10am, which is 9am CST. That means I would have to leave my house at 4am to get there...no thanks.

I'll do my intro race in D's and if I place well I'll try and do C's from then on. If I somehow place (ie, 1/2/3), are there awards or a ceremony thing? I've never stuck around for something like that and don't want to bail if there actually is...

Thanks

Some races there are. Others there are not. Its kind of hit or miss.

Ok, makes sense. I guess I take having a decent sprint for granted because I have only been in a few breakaways and that is a hard way to win a race!

Ok, makes sense. I guess I take having a decent sprint for granted because I have only been in a few breakaways and that is a hard way to win a race!


haha. I feel like I'm in the same position as the OP, but with B and C. If you look at the opening weekend ITT results, I'm an "above average" C rider (20something out of 100), but an "average" B rider (30something out of 70). I've had that "packfill" feeling before where you're just redlining the whole time, you can't attack, you can't pull the field, you basically can't do anything except just ride... I hate that feeling. In C's, I can attack the hills, try and break away... etc., etc.

While I don't expect me to be completely "useless" in Bs, it is nice to be able to try and win using some strategy... like breaking away, or hamming up hills to get people to fall off.

The MSU race is a 17.6mi road race for D, 22 for C, 31 for B, 51 for A.

Most D crits are a weak 20min but can go up to 45, so I'll probably do this one cat D road race and then move to C.

haha. I feel like I'm in the same position as the OP, but with B and C. If you look at the opening weekend ITT results, I'm an "above average" C rider (20something out of 100), but an "average" B rider (30something out of 70). I've had that "packfill" feeling before where you're just redlining the whole time, you can't attack, you can't pull the field, you basically can't do anything except just ride... I hate that feeling. In C's, I can attack the hills, try and break away... etc., etc.

While I don't expect me to be completely "useless" in Bs, it is nice to be able to try and win using some strategy... like breaking away, or hamming up hills to get people to fall off.

The opening ITT results from the Rutgers weekend didn't really show much as far as where people should be. In the Cs I finished 57th and the went on to get 2nd in the crit and 6th in the circuit.

My teammate got 3rd in the TT, packfill in the crit and won the circuit.

There's a whole lot more to racing than how fast you can ride a TT, whether its 2.8 miles or 24 miles.

The opening ITT results from the Rutgers weekend didn't really show much as far as where people should be. In the Cs I finished 57th and the went on to get 2nd in the crit and 6th in the circuit.

My teammate got 3rd in the TT, packfill in the crit and won the circuit.

There's a whole lot more to racing than how fast you can ride a TT, whether its 2.8 miles or 24 miles.


i call the availability bias.