You don't dilute the SM4 by having SM45+4. The 45+$ is always one of the largest racing groups. The 35+4 cat is a bit odd. Same with 35+3 and 35+ Open. You don't see any International Pros over 45 yrs of age. Even Jens (just one special dood) won't be around much longer. The body does not recover as quick. That means more recovery days and fewer training days. Don't mistake this from being able to ride at 60% intensity everyday. We're talking races and intervals --training to be competitive. The 35+ doesn't make sense to me with international pros still competing and winning. A lot of people are seeing great success in their mid to upper 30's and not just with cycling. Someone mentioned that if you can't compete at that level, downgrade. Well, there is no downgrading from a 4 to a 5.
Any promoter that wants to run a fiscally feasible race better ensure the masters in lesser categories have the best race experience possible.
A quick check of BRAC membership here and the largest segment of license holders are Cat 4s between 35 and 55, followed by cat 3s in the same age groups.
I didn't do the research to investigate racer days in these segments, but I'd be awful surprised if they didn't exceed racer days in the senior categories by a significant amount.
This age group is subsidizing all the other racing, whether it be through entry fees, or using their greater disposable income to purchase new cycling equipment more frequently, which is the ultimate goal of sponsorship.
If you feel that the race experience is diluted, by all means race your senior category. However, for the many racers that do this as a hobby, which is all it really is, the categories are part of the appeal, whether it be knowing that everyone in the race has to go to work on Monday, or that you didn't throw down an entry fee to ride by yourself.
Hopefully BRAC will listen to the racers. Not just the elite 1-2s Masters, but the racers that are out there racing and spending money on racing. Yep, actually listen to Cat. 5s, 4s and 3s...
Could not agree more. Simpler is better -- just get back to senior categories and open master's categories.
And if we can't keep it simple, then just go "all in" and have a separate master's license with separate categories, so master's racers can be separated based on ability and not age. Why have a 35+4 with 45 guys and a 45+4 with 55 guys when you could just have a single "Master's B" race with close to 100 guys?
I still follow pro cycling, just less enthusiastically and more skeptically. I've got better things to do, like train!
I would caution against looking back at any period of time as some "golden age" without doping. In the 60s Jacque Anquetil scoffed at the idea that you could win the Tour clean, and he refused to take drug tests.
You don't dilute the SM4 by having SM45+4. The 45+$ is always one of the largest racing groups. The 35+4 cat is a bit odd. Same with 35+3 and 35+ Open. You don't see any International Pros over 45 yrs of age. Even Jens (just one special dood) won't be around much longer. The body does not recover as quick. That means more recovery days and fewer training days. Don't mistake this from being able to ride at 60% intensity everyday. We're talking races and intervals --training to be competitive. The 35+ doesn't make sense to me with international pros still competing and winning. A lot of people are seeing great success in their mid to upper 30's and not just with cycling. Someone mentioned that if you can't compete at that level, downgrade. Well, there is no downgrading from a 4 to a 5.
Can you say Gran Fondo?
Any promoter that wants to run a fiscally feasible race better ensure the masters in lesser categories have the best race experience possible.
A quick check of BRAC membership here and the largest segment of license holders are Cat 4s between 35 and 55, followed by cat 3s in the same age groups.
http://www.coloradocycling.org/member-breakdown
I didn't do the research to investigate racer days in these segments, but I'd be awful surprised if they didn't exceed racer days in the senior categories by a significant amount.
This age group is subsidizing all the other racing, whether it be through entry fees, or using their greater disposable income to purchase new cycling equipment more frequently, which is the ultimate goal of sponsorship.
If you feel that the race experience is diluted, by all means race your senior category. However, for the many racers that do this as a hobby, which is all it really is, the categories are part of the appeal, whether it be knowing that everyone in the race has to go to work on Monday, or that you didn't throw down an entry fee to ride by yourself.
Running the categories like that would make too much sense....you gotta remember this is colorado after all.
Hwy 36 on Memorial Weekend? That is a road to stay away from. Narrow shoulder in spots, lots of cyclists and lots of cars zooming by.
Don't know, don't care.
Hopefully BRAC will listen to the racers. Not just the elite 1-2s Masters, but the racers that are out there racing and spending money on racing. Yep, actually listen to Cat. 5s, 4s and 3s...
Could not agree more. Simpler is better -- just get back to senior categories and open master's categories.
And if we can't keep it simple, then just go "all in" and have a separate master's license with separate categories, so master's racers can be separated based on ability and not age. Why have a 35+4 with 45 guys and a 45+4 with 55 guys when you could just have a single "Master's B" race with close to 100 guys?
I still follow pro cycling, just less enthusiastically and more skeptically. I've got better things to do, like train!
I would caution against looking back at any period of time as some "golden age" without doping. In the 60s Jacque Anquetil scoffed at the idea that you could win the Tour clean, and he refused to take drug tests.