If you stick with bike racing long enough, you are bound to rack up a number of achievements. Some may be private accomplishments such as straining up one of the iconic climbs of the sport – Alpe D’Huez, Mont Ventoux, Mt. Washington, McKenzie Pass come to mind. While others may be more publicly acknowledged – winning a race, winning a stage race, winning a national championship, signing a pro contract! All good stuff, but may we at Downeast Racing contend that one of the most memorable days, or most desired goal, in any cycling career, is the day you graduate from cat 4 to cat 3. Why is that?
There are a number of reasons why this singular achievement, fairly low on the totem pole of cycledom studliness, elicits such a sense of satisfaction. Anyone who races knows that the 4’s represent the bottom of the pile when it comes to racing hierarchy. Sure, there is the cat 5 class, but graduating from 5 to 4 (participate in 10 races) doesn’t represent rough & tumble, tooth & nail, run over your grandmother to win achievement. No, entry into that domain is reserved for the 4’s and an unforgiving domain it is. The 4’s represent the first time you have to earn your way up the totem pole. No medals just for showing up. It represents the first time you face your strengths and limitations and figure out how to apply them. It’s the first time you get truly pounded by greater talent and realize that there is a lot to learn in this sport of bike racing. So that is what you do, you go about learning and gaining strength.
Sure, there are some guys who blow through the 4’s like nothing. Yes there are guys who start the year as a 4 and end the summer as a Cat 1. Yes it happens but it is oh so rare. For the vast majority, making your way out of the 4’s is a tooth and nail climb fraught with the ever present anxiety of “do I have what it takes?” There are a number of things that uniquely contribute to the difficulty of the 4’s.
- There is a wide disparity of talent. You have guys entering the sport without that many miles on their legs or finishes fresh in their minds versus guys who have piled on the miles and gained a few years of racing experience
- The fields are always huge. Being the base of the pyramid, there are many more riders clamoring to fill the 125 or so racing spots. The bigger the field the lower the chances of placing
- You’re usually racing solo – no team. The racing is more chaotic because it’s a free for all without team organization. There are fewer friendly wheels to grab and follow to the line
- Desperation for results is high – probably higher than for a Tour de France win. Guys will do crazy things in order to place and get their upgrade points
- Due to inexperience, there are many more crashes in the 4’s. Unfortunately, crashing is part of the learning experience. It takes time, but after a while you can anticipate all the trouble areas and proactively avoid problems. For most, it takes a few scrapes to get to that point
Eventually you gain experience. You gain strength. You develop allies who help you get to the line. You gravitate to the races that fit your winning style – hilly courses for climbers, flat courses for sprinters, crits for the truly insane. And you start getting results. And the day comes when you step on the podium to collect your medal and the announcers says, “This is Johnny’s (or Susie’s) last race as a 4 because he’s earned his upgrade points and is now eligible to be a 3”. And that is as proud a moment as you’ll have in any sport because it announces that you have grown in strength, toughness and talent. That you have faced the chaos of the 4’s and persevered. And with it comes the greater respect of your peers because they know how difficult the initiation process is.
In closing, we at Downeast Racing understand how hard achieving cycling goals are and we wish you the best of success in your endeavors this year.
Amen.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Buben on the front.