Local racing competition

KikoSanchez said:

Hi, I am a beginner cyclist(a whole 2 1/2 weeks!) and was just viewing my state's racing association web page, but I cannot register for the forums to ask my question. Hopefully other states use the same categories. My question is what category I would sign up for if I were to race or just ride for fun. It looked to me that 'cat 5' rode the shortest distance, so I am assuming it is the lowest level of competition. Can anyone explain what defines who can ride in what category?

Thx for any help.

Everybody starts in either cat5 or an age limited group (jrs, over 40, over 105, etc)

You move up by placing well and earning points.

I think you have to do at least 10 Cat 5 races before moving to cat 4 though.

keydates said:

I think you have to do at least 10 Cat 5 races before moving to cat 4 though.

I see, so cat 5 is what I should be aiming to train for then. Can anyone give me a rough estimate of how tough cat 5 is? For instance, how fast they might do a 30 miler or maybe just what average mph most of them might run at? Just need somewhere to set my bar 😉