Originally Posted by
caloso
I was in the exact same boat as you when I signed up for my first race, although it was M35+ Open. I thought "it's a bunch of old guys, how hard could it be?" Turned out, HELLA hard.
The masters race is going to be full of Cat 1s, 2s, maybe a former pro or two. Around here, the 45+ is almost always harder than the Cat 3 race.
I mostly race gravel now, not road. Most gravel races (at least, the ones I've done) have
only age categories. My age category is usually 50-60, or 55-65, something like that...And I often would've placed HIGHER in a lower age cat. I can recall one race a couple years ago, when I was 4th in the 55-65 cat, and I would've won the 45-54 cat.
There are a lot of fast old people out there. I theorize it is because (1) their kids have long since left home and (2) most marriages have grown comfortable, and so there is plenty of time to train. And since earnings tend to peak in the 50s, more money for gear and race fees.