CAT 4 Racing for a Newbie

PatBoySlim

II returned to cycling this year after a 20 year break, I currently taking part in club C rides around 40 miles with an average of around to 12/14 mph average pace.

I was considering taking part in a closed circuit CAT 4 race but I’m concerned I’ll get left behind as I really am a newbie.

The club are advertising it as for new riders and those who have never competed before.

I'm in 2 minds what to do. I'd love to try it but don’t want be so far behind its embarrassing!

Do you think I should wait until next year when my fitness has improved and I have 12 months cycling under my belt ?

Advice please?

amaferanga

Do you do rides either solo or in a group that are much quicker than 12-14mph? Do you do rides where you ride as hard as you can go and/or do intervals? If the answer to these is yes then definitely give it a go. If not then maybe give it a go, but you may struggle.

I did a circuit race a couple of weeks back that was for 4th Cats only and there were guys getting dropped after a lap or two - can't really see the point in paying £10 or more to do a race and only sticking with the bunch for a few minutes.

PatBoySlim

The 14mph includes some long steep hills, but no I dont do any other rides but I do feel i'm not being pushed hard enough to improve my fitness

amaferanga

I think if you're not used to going balls out for half an hour, sprinting out of corners, etc. then you'll find racing very tough.

This is my Garmin log from the 4th Cat only circuit race I did.

danowat

Best thing to do is to try it, but I fear that with your quoted average speeds, you'll get pretty much slaughtered.

I've done some novice crits, and the avg speeds are upwards of 21mph

-steves-

amaferanga wrote:

I think if you're not used to going balls out for half an hour, sprinting out of corners, etc. then you'll find racing very tough.

This is my Garmin log from the 4th Cat only circuit race I did.

Just a question of curiosity here.

Just looked at this Garmin upload and noticed the heart rate, is an average of nearly 200bpm very high, let alone the 250+ bpm? Just seems really really high to someone totally non technical to me? :oops: Is this normal? I ask as I have a heart rate monitor, it does blue tooth to my smart phone and can work through Endomondo, but never knew what I should be getting on there?

kettrinboy

Ok if your race had some long steep hills, why not find a short flat circuit on quiet roads about 1-2 miles long and ride 5-10 laps as fast as you can and see what you can average,if it is still 14 mph then i suspect you will get blown into the weeds.

amaferanga

-steves- wrote:

amaferanga wrote:

I think if you're not used to going balls out for half an hour, sprinting out of corners, etc. then you'll find racing very tough.

This is my Garmin log from the 4th Cat only circuit race I did.

Just a question of curiosity here.

Just looked at this Garmin upload and noticed the heart rate, is an average of nearly 200bpm very high, let alone the 250+ bpm? Just seems really really high to someone totally non technical to me? :oops: Is this normal? I ask as I have a heart rate monitor, it does blue tooth to my smart phone and can work through Endomondo, but never knew what I should be getting on there?

I've explained this in the comments on Garmin Connect - its due to a flapping jersey (it was very windy and I've shrunk a little this year so my jersey isn't a tight fit any more). My actual max HR is about 184. You'll notice that the last bit of the HR trace looks much more normal once I'd worked up a bit of a sweat and the flapping jersey didn't cause the same problems.

-steves-

amaferanga wrote:

-steves- wrote:

amaferanga wrote:

I think if you're not used to going balls out for half an hour, sprinting out of corners, etc. then you'll find racing very tough.

This is my Garmin log from the 4th Cat only circuit race I did.

Just a question of curiosity here.

Just looked at this Garmin upload and noticed the heart rate, is an average of nearly 200bpm very high, let alone the 250+ bpm? Just seems really really high to someone totally non technical to me? :oops: Is this normal? I ask as I have a heart rate monitor, it does blue tooth to my smart phone and can work through Endomondo, but never knew what I should be getting on there?

I've explained this in the comments on Garmin Connect - its due to a flapping jersey (it was very windy and I've shrunk a little this year so my jersey isn't a tight fit any more). My actual max HR is about 184. You'll notice that the last bit of the HR trace looks much more normal once I'd worked up a bit of a sweat and the flapping jersey didn't cause the same problems.

Thank you, quite a relief I have to say as I was hard pushed to get 180 for any length of time

nochekmate

A couple of guys that I am riding with have started Cat 4 racing and are struggling to get in the points at the moment, but they are reasonably strong riders - the races that they have been in have tended to average 24-25 mph, so for the OP's quoted average speeds, there will have to be some very steep hills in his ride!

Anonymous

Only done 1 race so far this year, it averaged 25.5mph for 1hr10mins.
Hard work!

evsy

NapoleonD wrote:

Only done 1 race so far this year, it averaged 25.5mph for 1hr10mins.
Hard work!

i too have been thinking about racing.

do you get pulled on much by the pack (i mean in terms of speed?)

ive only been riding for a couple of months but i really want to try racing but i dont want to be out of my depth and get dropped, which i think would demoralise me.

Anonymous

Yeah, I'd probably manage 21-23 by myself. The average speed doesn't tell the true picture though, it's the constant changes in pace that makes it hard.

The only way to find out is have a go yourself!

racingcondor

I'd add a couple of things.

Although the posts above are right, most 4th Cat Crits average 24-25mph for an hour that alone is misleading, as a rider in one you can sit in the middle of the bunch and get sucked along doing very little work (as long as you can hold your position in the corners) even at that speed.

I think it would be useful to have some more information from you. 1) What's your top speed (i.e. sprinting for a very short distance) and 2) What can you cruise at consistantly on the flat.

I'm currently about fit enough to race 4th Cat crits (slow start to the year for me, I'm a 3rd) and can sprint to around 33mph and hold around 22mph on the flat solo if I'm pushing. On my last lap of Richmond Park (7 miles, basically flat) I averaged 21.3mph at a sustainable effort. Thinking back to my fitness when I started racing I suspect I'd have averaged about 19mph for the same.

There is no better way to get fitter though than race an hour in a bunch that's faster than you (well perhaps there are but racing is much more fun than the turbo...).

evsy

well like i say i havent been riding long. but i find i can hold 20mph on the flat and on a 35mile course with quite a few hills (1700ft of climbing) that i do i have a best time of 1hr 55mins.
so im not sure if im ready for racing yet. :?

Chip \'oyler

Do a bit of digging around and see if there is a local 'chaingang' in your area. Get yourself down there, explain your situation and just sit at the back for the first one. If you can keep with them then your fitness is OK, this will also give you an idea of race speed - sitting at the back will also allow you to see how it's done without causing any problems for the other riders.

Then go to the next one, and try to go 'through and off' with them. This will give you some experience of riding on a wheel, cornering with a group etc. Keep going down for a month and then you will be ready to race