Hi All! Well, it's official, after four years of racing, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 70+ races, I finally earned my first win! All that preparation for last month's Death Valley Stage Race paid off. I placed first in my category, and third overall. I wish I could say my category had more racers (four), but the other three racers put up a good fight, which makes the win that much sweeter.
Unfortunately, due to my lack of understanding, and to be honest, ignorance, I do not have enough points to upgrade to Cat 3. If I understand it correctly now, due to the small field size, not many points were awarded, 3-points for my first place finish. USA Cycling requires 20-points in a 12-month period to upgrade from Cat 4 to Cat 3, or 20 mass starts, (mass start = 75 rider field). This is why a rider such as myself, who doesn't race crits, has such a difficult time upgrading. I don't race enough races in a season to upgrade based on starts, and the races I do compete in with a 75+ rider field, (ie...Boulevard, San Luis Rey, etc), are extremely difficult to place high in because of the field size.
So what's a rider suppose to do? Well, I'm going to begin by doing my best to be in top form earlier next season, so I have a better chance of placing high in the early season road races. That coupled with entering the big climbing events such as the Death Valley race, Everest Challenge, etc, should give me enough points to upgrade.
Hope you're all doing well out there! Until next time...
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