4th to 3rd Cat

TheDrunkMonk

If you get your 10 points at 4th cat, are you immediately a 3rd cat and therefor elligible for 3rd cat races? Or do you have to wait for an ammended license to be sent out?

And does that happen automatically? Or do you have to apply for it?

Questions, questions.....

gsk82

you should probably do it straight away but i've seen results of 4th cat races with new thirds in

amaferanga

You should automatically get your new 3rd Cat licence and I think mine took less than a week. Not sure about entering 3rd Cat races before your new licence arrives.

TheDrunkMonk

Just to clarify: If I had 10 points, I can just call myself a cat3?

And does a new license just get sent out?

Just for extra confusion.... we have a 7 race categorised circuit series near us. So if you enter as a 4th cat, ride 4 races until you get over 10 points, is your series over as a 4th as you get promoted to the 3rd cat series? If you were very good I guess you would have enough points to be a cat2 by the end of the 4th race. I digress I guess that's a question for the organisers.

amaferanga

10 points in a season and you'll move from 4th to 3rd Cat.

My licence was sent out within a week without me doing anything so assuming this is standard practice then you should get your new 3rd Cat licence soon.

TheDrunkMonk

Sorry amaferanga, I was typing the reply to the second post as you answered my question with your first.

Thank you.

P_Tucker

Could be wrong, but I don't think there are any 3rd cat specific races - the Reg B race category is for 3s and 4s. Thus, unless you are planning to enter a Nat B race (E123) then it won't make any difference.

monnet

Road races are pretty much all mixed cat (3/4; 2/3/4 etc) but circuit races at the low end are very often split 3rds only and 4ths only with an E/1/2. They're not as common as 4th only races but there are enough of them about. I suppose like 4th only races they are there to pick up easy points.

monnet

Hmm, sorry, posted before I'd finished.

The gist of Tucker's point is right though - you'll mostly be riding in Reg A and B anyway so whether your a 3rd or 4th won't matter in terms of being eligible (of course it might help organisers to decide whether to give you a place).

FWIW, I'm in the same situation (just moved up, waiting for my confirmation). The reason I want it all thorough asap is so I can put 3rd on applications and list my points which will, hopefully give me a better chance of getting a ride, it's not going to change the events I choose to ride - well, I can take my eyes off the 4th cat 'gimmes'. Incidentally, why does a 40 minute closed circuit race win you as many points as a 2-3 hours road race? It's helped my out but it doesn't feel just. Anyone would think BC were trying to get people away from road racing.

jibberjim

P_Tucker wrote:

Could be wrong, but I don't think there are any 3rd cat specific races - the Reg B race category is for 3s and 4s. Thus, unless you are planning to enter a Nat B race (E123) then it won't make any difference.

That's true from a classification system, but organisers can and do decide to restrict it further, down here in the SE there's lots of races which are 3 only or 4 only.

P_Tucker

jibberjim wrote:

P_Tucker wrote:

Could be wrong, but I don't think there are any 3rd cat specific races - the Reg B race category is for 3s and 4s. Thus, unless you are planning to enter a Nat B race (E123) then it won't make any difference.

That's true from a classification system, but organisers can and do decide to restrict it further, down here in the SE there's lots of races which are 3 only or 4 only.

Furry muff.

ozzzyosborn206

monnet wrote:

Hmm, sorry, posted before I'd finished.

The gist of Tucker's point is right though - you'll mostly be riding in Reg A and B anyway so whether your a 3rd or 4th won't matter in terms of being eligible (of course it might help organisers to decide whether to give you a place).

FWIW, I'm in the same situation (just moved up, waiting for my confirmation). The reason I want it all thorough asap is so I can put 3rd on applications and list my points which will, hopefully give me a better chance of getting a ride, it's not going to change the events I choose to ride - well, I can take my eyes off the 4th cat 'gimmes'. Incidentally, why does a 40 minute closed circuit race win you as many points as a 2-3 hours road race? It's helped my out but it doesn't feel just. Anyone would think BC were trying to get people away from road racing.

As you can see from this link circuit races give less point than road races with the same ranking...
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/a ... _Explained

monnet

I know. We're both right, but I take your point.

I've done Reg A crits and they can be brutal. Equally I've done Reg A crits where you just sit in at 25mph for an hour and see how your sprint is. My point really was that you can pick up very easy points by spinning round a motor circuit for an hour whereas 2 and half hours round a road race is a much tougher way to earn a not dissimilar amount of points, especially if your at the back end of the placings.

P_Tucker

monnet wrote:

I know. We're both right, but I take your point.

I've done Reg A crits and they can be brutal. Equally I've done Reg A crits where you just sit in at 25mph for an hour and see how your sprint is. My point really was that you can pick up very easy points by spinning round a motor circuit for an hour whereas 2 and half hours round a road race is a much tougher way to earn a not dissimilar amount of points, especially if your at the back end of the placings.

Well it depends, doesn't it? Crits are a very difficult way to pick up points if you're a diesel climber with no sprint. It's the riders that make a race hard, rather than the course.

lyn1

P_Tucker wrote:

monnet wrote:

I know. We're both right, but I take your point.

I've done Reg A crits and they can be brutal. Equally I've done Reg A crits where you just sit in at 25mph for an hour and see how your sprint is. My point really was that you can pick up very easy points by spinning round a motor circuit for an hour whereas 2 and half hours round a road race is a much tougher way to earn a not dissimilar amount of points, especially if your at the back end of the placings.

Well it depends, doesn't it? Crits are a very difficult way to pick up points if you're a diesel climber with no sprint. It's the riders that make a race hard, rather than the
course.

Exactly, the Tour Series and Elite Circuit Series Crits attract many of the top riders in the country and offer 60 points for a win, yet you can get the same points for winning a National B road race, most of which are lucky to attract a handful of top riders. If its a weak field, its weak no matter how far you ride.

However, if you choose to discuss the flaws in the BC points/ranking system this thread could run forever. You only have to look at the guys who get near the top of the Elite rankings based on riding a shed load of Nat B races and the teams that are ranked significantly higher than they should be for the same reason.

alexjones5

seems to me this is more about basic bike handling. I took part in my first fourth cat race last night (after a 20 year break from racing!), turned out it was 3rds/4ths
I was well positioned towards the front of the bunch over half way in when some guy obviously lost his balance and leaned into me pushing me into someone else, I went down, he carried on.

Talking to someone in the carpark they'd also seen him all over the road so not sour grapes (although I was obviously frustrated and a bit p'd off at the damage to the bike).
Also noticed several other riders not holding lines or cutting across me and others.

Not sure what the answer is though??

Racing's racing and accidents are bound to happen aren't they?

Pseudonym

alexjones5 wrote:

seems to me this is more about basic bike handling. I took part in my first fourth cat race last night (after a 20 year break from racing!), turned out it was 3rds/4ths
I was well positioned towards the front of the bunch over half way in when some guy obviously lost his balance and leaned into me pushing me into someone else, I went down, he carried on.

Talking to someone in the carpark they'd also seen him all over the road so not sour grapes (although I was obviously frustrated and a bit p'd off at the damage to the bike).
Also noticed several other riders not holding lines or cutting across me and others.

Not sure what the answer is though??

Racing's racing and accidents are bound to happen aren't they?

wrong thread.