Originally Posted by
carleton
Cat D racers must complete a beginners course. Then they must race in Cat D for AT LEAST 4 complete race days before asking the track director to promote them to C. Even guys are are CAT 1/2 on the road must do this!
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After 4 race days and exhibiting bike handling skill AND the ability to keep up speed with the rest of the group, can a person be promoted out of the Ds into the Cs.
That's a great suggestion as well. When I started road racing, I started in the beginner's category, and am slowly planning to move up. With track, we didn't have a choice.
Yes, I was one of the newbies who was in the O-Cup last weekend. Tried the scratch race, and got lapped in the later half. There were 4 of us who had our own race, while the rest lapped us. We kept abreast for almost half the race, before getting left behind. It was a great experience, but it would've been a lot more comforting to try out beginners categories (if available), before jumping in the deep end.
I've also registered to most endurance, structured training courses out there hoping to learn as much as I can. But racing teaches a whole lot more. With the exposure growing, we can surely expect the number of racers to multiply in the coming O-Cups. It would be nice to have some structured capability/age based categories to nurture and test the talent.