4th Cat or 3rd Cat

[mlocke]

Hi Guys

A post by AJ made me think

[quote]Marky Mark...have you got your racing licence...if so...let me know...as i'm planning to get a few 4th cat ACCers to target a Saturday Hillingdon race in the next few months !

[kieran]

Hi, some people target the 4th cat only races in the hope of getting points quicker so that they get 3rd cat sooner, this opens up more races for you to enter.

[Daniel Gee]

I have to admit I didn't enjoy the 4th cat only races as much as the third/second cat races even though I've taken several huge kickings-in fourths only racfes the standard of riding seemed pretty sh1t and the brief times I spent in the bunch were pretty hair raising

unless your confident of getting the points to get to 3rd cat PDQ and if your'e happy to take a bit of a beating I'd advise you to stick to the 3/4s @ palace.

You could use the palace races for training get good & strong a then do a couple of the fourth only races @ hillingdon to get your points for 3rd.

Then you can do some road races which are so much more fun

[Marky Mark]

I thought as a race virgin it would of been better to do a 4th first as....... I don't have a bloody clue.

I just assumed that it was better if you'd never raced before to get some race miles under your belt before joining the big boys.

Apart from being a veteran, is there any races lower than a 4th?

Even the pace last week at the Palace looked so out of my league.

[Toks]

Mark Mark, others will have a good idea how strong you are. As I mentioned before if you can ride with the 18s comfortable and can manage the 19s you'll be ready for a 4th only race at most places especally Hillingdon. Personally I don't think that will make you strong enough for Palace. Now some folks advocate keep racing at Palace until you can survive. My response to that would be Yes only if you're comfortable in a genuine 19mph group ride otherwise you're just wasting your time you'll be dropped at Palace every week without fail . I would find that a bit demoralising, but each to their own

[quote="Marky Mark"]Apart from being a veteran, is there any races lower than a 4th?
.

[Marky Mark]

[quote="Toks"] As I mentioned before if you can ride with the 18s comfortable and can manage the 19s you'll be ready for a 4th only race at most places especally Hillingdon. Personally I don't think that will make you strong enough for Palace.

[Toks]

Cool, race smartly, stick with the bunch and Hillingdon should just be manageable

[Andrew G]

To be honest I'd stick with Palace unless a) Hillingdon is much more convenient for you to get to, b) you are really keen to get some points.

I think you are strong enough to race at Palace, and don't worry I'll be there from this week to join you towards the rear of the field . I just race for fun and don't care about about points (which is handy ) but if you want points and get them at Hillingdon in a 4ths only race then at 10 points you'd be a 3rd and be back at Palace. It's all personal choice, but I think Palace has become more of an Addiscombe area so there are more friendly faces there.

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

[quote]Apart from being a veteran, is there any races lower than a 4th?

[Andrew G]

[quote="mrP(Boonen)VT"]Palace is tough, not because it is fast

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

What I mean is that the fast bits are very fast, but overall it isn't, and that is what you need to be able to cope with - the constant overload then recovery.

[kieran]

indeed Paul is right, look at the average speeds for the 3/4th races at palace and compare to Hillingdon, they're slower.

[Andrew G]

Sorry chaps, I was being churlish.

I've not raced at Hillingdon but have averaged over 25mph without breaking sweat in a 4ths at Chertsey, yet Palace is much harder and I tend to average 22-23mph there, granted that includes a fair bit of solo stuff after getting dropped as opposed to cruising round in the middle of a bunch.