How do you know when to upgrade your race category?
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by Robert AnnisAlongside shaving your legs and crashing, upgrading your racing category is a right of passage for nearly every competitive cyclist. But how do you know if you’re ready?
Luckily, USA Cycling has pretty specific guidelines mandating upgrades, which you can find on their Category Upgrade Information page. But, like everything in life, there are exceptions. If you’re dominating your 50-rider Cat 3 races every week, officials can force you to upgrade to Cat 2, even if you haven’t met all of the listed criteria.
USA Cycling Midwest Regional Coordinator Larry Martin handles up to 1,000 upgrades a year across all disciplines. He says only about 10 percent of requests are rejected, most of which are due to incomplete paperwork. Martin suggests your race resume include at minimum your results, field sizes, race distances and dates.
“The more thorough you are, the better your likelihood of getting approved,” Martin said. “One-sentence requests — we’ve had them before — are most likely going to be rejected. A lot of the time they (the requesting rider) think someone local is handling their upgrade, and that’s not always the case. We’re willing to go the extra mile for you, but you do have to supply us with the info we need.”
Multi-discipline and younger riders often present the most challenges for officials.
“We’ve had some Cat 1 or 2 mountain bikers want immediate upgrades to Cat 4 on the road,” Martin said. “But the dynamics of racing in a pack in a road race is very different than what they’re used to, so the skill level might not be there.”
It’s a similar situation with young, strong riders who are dominating their fields, but haven’t yet mastered safe riding techniques. Those riders are often required to take specific classes before being allowed to upgrade to a higher category.
Some riders prefer not to upgrade so they can continue winning at their current level. Sandbaggers often get away with it for a while, but are typically forced to Cat up after complaints from their fellow racers. Luckily, that rarely happens – Martin estimates he gets a half-dozen or fewer such complaints each year.
Cat 2 racer Ryan Shean of Team Upland Brewing p/b Sustainable Cycling hopes to Cat up a level before the end of the season, having 10 of the 30 points needed to move up.
“It’s scary at first, but racing Cat 2 is way more fun (than the other levels),” Shean said. “You’re racing on the edge more, plus I like to push myself.”
Shean suggests racers try training with higher-level riders before making the jump. If that’s not possible, just prepare yourself to get spanked for the first few races in your new category.
“I quickly found Cat 3 riders were more skilled than the Cat 4s I’d been racing against,” Shean said. “They took corners a lot faster than what I was used to and I had to sprint to catch up nearly every turn. When I went from 3 to 2, I realized how much more strategy was involved and how much faster those races were. One of my first races averaged 28 mph and the field was constantly strung out with guys constantly attacking.”
Shean has never had an upgrade denied, but joked he wished there was one time USA Cycling officials weren’t so efficient. Out with some racing friends last year, they goaded him into requesting an upgrade to Cat 2, which he did on his smart phone. The next day when registering for the state criterium championship, he discovered his upgrade had already been approved.
“It was a tough race,” he laughed. “Make sure you only hit that upgrade button when you know you’re ready.”
This Article Published April 30, 2012 For more information contact:
