Hammonjj

We've discussed it countless times, where is the hardest racing scene in America, but I've never seen anyone mention where the easiest one is.

Fire away!

WonderLake

Iowa.

Nick Bain

i would guess where its colder.

SalsaPodio

No

teetopkram

Alaska

WonderLake

Yes.

veloboy971

Definitely not FL...well unless you're on the juice

VA_Esquire

Botswana

SalsaPodio

I guess I don't know that well since I've only raced in Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa . It's not like people are slower in certain states. The fast people in Iowa are going to be just as fast as the fast people anywhere else, which has been my experience when racing in other states.

BrainInAJar

BC (Canada), because they made training races worth points

StefanG

I would think its relative to field size. The larger the field size, the better chance of having stronger riders. x% of riders in any given field are going to be "strong" compared to rest of field. So, the larger the field, the greater the number of relatively "strong" riders. Which states have the smallest CAT field sizes?

WonderLake

Except there are less of them. You think I'm just picking on Iowa?

himespau 

See if we told you, then everyone would go there to race and it wouldn't be easy anymore.

teetopkram

zigmeister

Agreed....

EventServices

Used to be Michigan. Not any more. There are a ton of new riders who are f-a-s-t.

carpediemracing 

Races that suit your strength, either early spring or late fall. Peak for the spring or keep going after everyone burns out in July. It's like drafting - move your peaks so they don't coincide with everyone else's peaks. Around here people focus on stuff like Battenkill or the big June/July races. Therefore I would try and peak in March/April, take 3-4 weeks almost off from mid April to mid May, then start up again to ride well by the end of July. I'd have two peaks, both in "build" or "burnt out" phases for other riders.

For riders with low FTP (200-220w), decent jump (1200w), and a reasonably w/kg ratio (2.8-3.0 w/kg is fine), Bethel Spring Series, at least until the rider is a Cat 2.

Based on some talks with other winners and placers, sprints peaking at 900-1200w will win at Bethel in the 3s. Avg wattage will be 160-200w if playing the sprinter game, about 220-250w normalized power (a teammate who worked for me did 379w normalized though).

I've been racing for many years but I can't place quite so regularly as I do at Bethel. New Britain is a good race for me. That's about it. Pretty much all the other races are not very good for me. So pick your races carefully.

gbot

Or you could look at it as them just removing all the training races and replacing them with real races.

mattm

Every area has cat4 lifers.. so it realy depends on who you are, not where you are.

cmh

Oregon. Not necessarily because the fields are slower than anywhere, but because there are race series 3 nights a week in the summer that count towards upgrade points in addition to road races and crits every weekend. The more you can race, the more upgrade points you can target.

Also, I'm not aware of any Cat 4 or Cat 3 lifers here that are winning many races. Sure, there are fast people every year, but most often they are in the next cat the following year.

Out-The-Back

I guess I don't get this mentality.

1. If you're not doing well and have to look for easy races to get points, once you get them and upgrade, you'll get your arse handed to you.

2. If it's because it's one of your goals to cat up, have you really reached your goal?

I know this is common, and this is just a general question, but am I missing something?

kensuf

so are you sayin' you're on the juice?

pjn0629

Sufferfest, in your basement, during the winter.

aggro_jo

"First place is out riding right now"

caloso

I'm just in it for the innertube primes.