You would place 1st for the Cat 5s. They almost always place separately, unless there were some complications (camera malfunction, etc.).bauerb said:so if the 4 & 5 fields are combined, is there a Cat 4 winner and a 5 winner? or just one set of placings? so if I am a 5, and place 4th beaten by 3 cat 4 riders, do I get points for being 4th, or for being the first cat 5?
thanks
You don't need points as a Cat5. - TFbauerb said:so if the 4 & 5 fields are combined, is there a Cat 4 winner and a 5 winner? or just one set of placings? so if I am a 5, and place 4th beaten by 3 cat 4 riders, do I get points for being 4th, or for being the first cat 5?
thanks
It depends on the particular race, but in general there are only one set of placings, unless it is specifically advertised that there will be seperate placings. In most cases, unless the race were part of a racing series, they would not have seperate placings.bauerb said:so if the 4 & 5 fields are combined, is there a Cat 4 winner and a 5 winner? or just one set of placings? so if I am a 5, and place 4th beaten by 3 cat 4 riders, do I get points for being 4th, or for being the first cat 5?
You and your team needs the points if you part of a series.TurboTurtle said:You don't need points as a Cat5. - TF
Where I race you would simply get 4th in the cat 4/5 race. No cat 4 and cat 5 winner.bauerb said:so if the 4 & 5 fields are combined, is there a Cat 4 winner and a 5 winner? or just one set of placings? so if I am a 5, and place 4th beaten by 3 cat 4 riders, do I get points for being 4th, or for being the first cat 5?
thanks
Upgrade points.dagger said:You and your team needs the points if you part of a series.
agree. but you can still have "bragging rights" over being the top cat5.mattv2099 said:Where I race you would simply get 4th in the cat 4/5 race. No cat 4 and cat 5 winner.
Since the present rules don't allow prizes for cat. 5 races, bragging rights is about all you're racing for anyway. The actual value of bragging rights for a race at the lowest introductory level of a sport is a whole other debate ...argylesocks said:agree. but you can still have "bragging rights" over being the top cat5.
Note the word "guidelines" rather than "requirements".soup67 said:Technically, the only way to upgrade from a 5 to a 4 is by having 10 mass starts. your placement in Cat 5 races doesn't matter for upgrade purposes.
I know other upgrades "happen," but they are not within the Rules.
http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=580
soup
Less than 10 USCF Cat5 starts. - TFsoup67 said:"USA Cycling may add additional REQUIREMENTS for upgrading at their discretion. Any such changes shall be made available on the website." (emphasis added)
I think in the USCF intends for the "guidelines" to be requirments. That said, I know they are often overlooked. Why is that? I think it devalues the process if everyone isn't required to do their 10 mass starts. Might also get rid of some of the stigma attached to Cat 5 racers if EVERYONE had to go through all 10 races.
Just curious-- who on this board has upgraded with less than 10 mass starts?
soup
But of course! Note the rule doesn't say Cat 5 or USCF. I upgraded with 3 uscf 5 races and about a bazzillion (really 40ish) local grassroots twilight training races.TurboTurtle said:Less than 10 USCF Cat5 starts. - TF
Gee, sorry, but I never bought into the "self-esteem" movement. Winning a cat. 5 race merely means that you are the biggest fish in the littlest pond. Cat. 5 races are merely a stepping stone - and that's all they are intended to be.bauerb said:as for it not being much to brag about at the lowest level of racing: that's a pretty freakin arrogant statement if I've ever heard one. don't know what other are used to, but around me the cat 5 fields run about 30 deep, with 90% plus of the racers being serious riders belonging to serious clubs. I will not try to pretend that these are the most difficult races, but to produce a string of top 3 finishes in cat 5 races around here, does in fact say something about your abilities
Well now you made me look... and you are right, the language looks different from what I remember. My upgrade out of the 5s occurred 3 years ago, so maybe the language changed. Note though, that the 5 to 4 requirements are very minimal 10 person fields, race at least ten miles.soup67 said:you could have gone from a Cat Nothing to a Cat 3 based on your experience alone (40 races? All you needed was 25 field finishes to be a 3).
According to the rules, one needs 10 "qualifying" races. A qualifying crit race for a Cat 5 looking to be 4 is a Cat 5 crit at least 10 miles long with a filed of at least 10. If your training races were not Cat 5 crits or road races, I don't think they qualified. Surely for the race to be a quallifiying Cat 5 race it needs to be USCF santioned?t
That said, people get upgraded all the time for all sorts of reasons. Nothing wrong with it, I just wonder why it is so easy to do and why the regs. are not enforced more stringently.
What's wrong with paying one's dues and doing 10 Cat 5 mass starts?
soup