My goal this year is to cat up from 4 to 3. Really the issue is not "IF" but rather "WHEN". The obstacle at this point is not speed; I can keep up with the cat 3s on my team. I just don't have enough race experience to justify making the request to USCF.

My team's head honcho is in favor of catting up as soon as possible rather than staying back and being a sandbagger. You aren't going to become a better cyclist if you race against people who aren't as fast as you are. Also, if you continue to dominate your field over and over again, you end up looking like a weenie and your team ends up looking lame.

If I race only in Alabama and Mississippi, it doesn't really matter what category I am in because there aren't enough women participating in the sport***, so all cats are grouped together for one race. This is why I have to keep up with the cat 3s: I don't have a choice. (And in the end, it benefits me because racing and training with 3s has made me stronger.) In other states where the sport is more popular for women, such as Tennessee and Georgia, they divide the women into two groups: Cats 1/2/3 and Cat 4.

Thus, Cat 3 is a difficult place for a female cyclist to be, and it's also a difficult place for a male cyclist, because in the men's section, they often divide them up into three groups: Cat 1/2/3, Cat 4 and Cat 5. I think the Cat 3 men on my team do pretty well. It's better to stay out of the beginner categories (Cat 4 women, Cat 4/5 men). The beginners are more dangerous because they have less developed bike handling skills (which equates to more crashes), and they tend to be divas who do not know much about effective team race tactics.

So, my general plan is to head over to either Georgia or Tennessee as soon as I am ready to peak in my periodization cycle, and try out a Cat 4 only criterium. This will be a good indicator if I am ready to cat up. If I do well, then I am going to send in my request to cat up.

Note to non-cyclists: Road cyclists are grouped by categories of speed; men's categories (aka 'cats') go from 1 (fastest/pro)) to 5 (beginner), and women's cats go from 1 (fastest/pro) to 4 (beginner).

*** This non-participation thing with women really sucks. I would like to see more local women get into road racing.