Andy Somnifac 

It's way more than just tactics. There's a whole host of techniques and knowledge to learn before even moving on to race tactics.

Psimet2001 

^- This. I cringe anytime a new racer says the words "tactics". I can only think of maybe 2 people that needed to actually consider tactics in a "cat 5" race. One was the brother of a world tour pro and ended up having to deeply consider going pro after his second year of racing. The other ended up a pro within 2 years.

Even then their tactic consideration was more along the lines of "should I just try and drop everyone right at the start or is there value in waiting until closer to the end."

While I don't know the OP and I am not trying to insult anyone I do know I can simply go based on the real odds and say that they aren't in the same group as these two. Therefore any talk of "tactics" simply brings to mind the famous Mike Tyson quote:

Steve B.

That was my thought. When I raced the huge cat 5 races at Prospect Park, Brooklyn many decades ago, it's just a cluster futz of newbies going hard and not understanding anything. There were no teams, as it were. I only ran into this when I raced in New Mexico, where a racing team from the US Air Force had a group of Cat 5 guy's who actually worked as a team. I hung on to them best I could once I realized they were working together.

palisader

This comment has always been in the back of my mind. I won my first race! It was a cat 3/4, and I'm closing in on my cat 2 upgrade. All thanks to classmates starting a cycling club just in time for my senior year. My first race was in March. and I've been going strong since then. Hoping to get more serious over the off season and hit next season with a strong start.

thegruyere

Try joining a cycling club in your city or check with a good local bike store. For example Green Line Velo in Boston seems to be affiliated with Landry's and they have Wednesday rides that the public can join. You can then maybe get in touch with them to join their club.