Booking races in advance

gthyer

I'm hoping to start racing in the spring and was looking at booking a few road races in advance.

I was wondering if someone might be able to help me out with something that's been niggling me.

I would be looking at racing in the cat4 only events but was wondering what might happen if I entered races in advance and then got enough points that would make me a cat3.

Say, if I had booked 3 races in advance and managed to get enough points in the first two, would I still be able to race in the third cat 4only race? And also, if I did, would any points gained in this race be void?


Thanks.

jibberjim

If the closing date hasn't been reached then you can still race but points do not count - however most races the closing date is the day of the race (in case it doesn't fill) in which case you will not be able to race and may not be able to get any refund.

I thought the only events in the west country were the springtime pursuits which were all cat anyway? Where abouts are you looking to race, I doubt many races fill up that far in advance!

gthyer

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, I'm looking at the springtime pursuits which have an E/1/2/3 race, an all-cat womens and a cat4 only. Closing date for each race is a week prior and there's money to be saved (and priority) if entered in all 3 a week before the first race. As I don't want to predict the possibility of getting any points in the first two, I thought it might be wise to enter all the cat4-only races.

Is this a bit of an oddity for races then?

jibberjim

gthyer wrote:

Is this a bit of an oddity for races then?

I think so - I'm sure the organiser of the series will let you move up to the E123 if you enter the series and upgrade before the finish.

TakeTurns

I know someone who went up a cat so he transferred to the 3rd cat race which was right after the 4th cat race on the same day. You should be able to make a smooth transition without a problem. You can always contact the organiser in advance.

It is slightly unorthodox to apply for races months in advance. If it's going to be an oversubscribed race, then I can understand the reasoning, otherwise I'd leave it till later. You never know what form you'll be in then or what you may be going through. I always leave it till 1 month or pay on the day.

Herbsman

Places in all of the races around here get booked at least three months in advance. Some people target certain races they want to do well in and organize their training so that (hopefully) they'll be on top form for them. I wouldn't call that 'unorthodox', I'd call it 'being organized'.

DavidJB

TakeTurns wrote:

I know someone who went up a cat so he transferred to the 3rd cat race which was right after the 4th cat race on the same day. You should be able to make a smooth transition without a problem. You can always contact the organiser in advance.

It is slightly unorthodox to apply for races months in advance. If it's going to be an oversubscribed race, then I can understand the reasoning, otherwise I'd leave it till later. You never know what form you'll be in then or what you may be going through. I always leave it till 1 month or pay on the day.

Whuuuut?

I've already planned my races until August

okgo

How have you done that? surely most stuff isn't even up yet?

Herbsman

He said 'planned', not 'entered'! You can guess pretty accurately what date most road races are going to be on, as they're usually the same week every year. But you're right, you can't enter online until the 1st of January if I remember rightly.