In this case I do. The "masters" field begins at age 50. My point is I like riding with the cat 1/2 to gauge how I'm doing compared to 24 years ago when I raced against Whitehead, Grylls, Van Haute to name a few.

My daughters, on the other hand, can decide between two junior groups, the cat 5 or women's groups. All the omniums consist of a tempo race, snowball race, and a points race, which was prominent in my decision to race Encino that day. :wink:

George, you don't have to race with younger guys because there are masters races at most track events.

If oversights are never pointed out, then they can never be improved. What is that saying about squeaky wheels?

Thanks Kevin for stepping up and pointing out where the grease needs to go.

Ron

Kevin,

I say race where your team is racing. If you were selfish, you'd ride the 45+ group and trounce them like you and Larry did at Berkeley's TTT.
As for the P/1/2 group, I can understand your nestitation. Now that I'm cat 2 on the track, I MUST race against the younger guys (though many are 30+) and without any teammates. I plan to do that at Encino's track the weekend of Madera' stage race. This weekend I race against Malcom Hill, Steve Strickler, Mike Mueller, Dave Worthington and Larry Shannon and still remain optimistic that I'll be top five at S.D. Cyclovet's Omnium.

Maybe I'm crazy,

George

GFMeilahn wrote:Kevin,

I apologize for not reading your data correctly. :shock: The 35+ 1/2/3 group's dilemna is indeed unique. Yet you could still choose to race in another group: 45+ or P/1/2.

George

And yet I want to race with the 35+ group, not the 45+ or pro1/2 groups. Is it a character flaw in me that I want to race with guys 10 years younger than me, but not 25 years younger? Is it selfish that I want to race the category that the rest of my team is racing in?

I'm still looking for a reason as to why it's a good idea to make life more difficult for the 35+ group. I suspect that it was an oversight and I have communicated with Bob about this. I also hope that with this oversight brought to Bob's attention that perhaps the schedule can be rearranged next year to make everybody's down time reasonable. Something that surely would not happen if I kept my mouth shut and took it like a man or picked a different group to race with.

i'll be pretty psyched if we get 50 riders for Madera this year in the 35's.

it's not an ideal situation ... but, it's a lot of categories to toss together for those two stages, and - i think somebody ends up getting the short end of it.

i don't mind it being our group. we've got enough experience to make the best of it and are probably the best qualified to do it.

mhernandez

Kevin,

I apologize for not reading your data correctly. :shock: The 35+ 1/2/3 group's dilemna is indeed unique. Yet you could still choose to race in another group: 45+ or P/1/2.

George

The Women 1/2/3 have a similiar situation, but none are complaining about it AND they may not have any other category to choose from. The author of this post has TWO other choices. :roll:

The Jesster wrote:Does it really matter, so long as the whole cat has the same disadvantage? You're only racing against your own.

It's not so much about advantage/disadvantage as it is about reality and logistics. When is the last time you left a race site within 1 hour of your finish? Assuming 1 hour to race 25 miles leaves us 1:40 to pack up, drive to the TT (hopefully not getting lost!), get something to eat, monkey with equipment, warm up and race. I'm sure that lots of people will want to bolt on a set of aero bars, etc. All assuming that our crit starts on time!

And if you are lucky enough to go last it might mean the difference between not getting a warm up (first starter) and getting a decent warm up (last starter). Assuming 50 starters, one every 30 seconds.

And, if one of the groups has 5:30 between crit start and TT start then surely we can do better than 2:40 for the M35+ age group.

thats tough... I know it might seem like a while but that race always has a way of getting hectic... and the crit is always running late.

Does it really matter, so long as the whole cat has the same disadvantage? You're only racing against your own.

The race before the 35+ 123's is the 45/55 and it starts at 12:00. Ends around 12:50, and then everybody sits around for an hour until the 35+ 123's go? Lunch break?! There's no lunch break in road cycling events!