I'm meeting with coach Sunday, and the main topic of conversation (after any quad depth comparisons) will be deciding how/when I'll start competing. The Arizona crit season has started. I don't know what it's like in other areas, but Cat 5 crit's can be survival contests here. Crit is short for the kind of post-race care you need. Given my history of crashing without much help, coach is hesitant about my barging into the Arizona crit scene <pun intended>. But you need to be at least Cat 4 to race the Masters classes, and good 50+ riders, and more importantly, the
teams, race mostly Masters. At least that's what it looks like reading the classes and results. I want to do mostly road races, and it really helps to be on a team. So.. to be on a Masters team I need 10 Cat 5 starts, so I can get into Cat 4. Getting those starts in only road races would take 2-3 seasons, and I'm too old to take that long! Adding in TT's, it would still take 2 years, unless I did a lot of travelling. Hence my need to do crits. The logic is inescapable... I think.
Heck, there is a Tuesday night crit series that would get me out of Cat 5 very quickly. They have a beginner's "D" class start (a 15 minute race), and a class "C" Cat 4-5 start (20 minutes). Nothing bad can happen in only 20 minutes, right?
http://www.mlr.biz/azroadcyclist/flyer.pdf
Maybe I should race in a full suit of BMX gear? Advice, anyone?