For those of you who have moved up the Cat rankings

A light bike doesn't replace good fitness.

Moderator: Moderator Team

Ypsylon
Posts: 1397
Joined: Wed May 24, 2006 6:25 pm

by Ypsylon

phourgenres wrote: I've never really understood how these lead riders decide to sprint, do they just just arbitraily pick a point from the finish line?


That depends. If your 10s sprint is 2400W, you want a 10s sprint.

If your 10s sprint is 801W, you want to take off with 30s to go. So it depends on the finishing straight and wind conditions.
"Nothing compares to the simple pleasures of a bike ride," said John F. Kennedy, a man who had the pleasure of Marilyn Monroe.

barry78
Posts: 56
Joined: Sun Feb 13, 2011 3:03 pm

by barry78

i was upgraded from cat 4 to cat 3 last year on points i won, for me the area where i seen the most improvment on my power numbers over the season was 5min power, good 5 min power will have there of there abouts coming up the finish.

Raced 3 times as a cat 3 this year so far placed in my 2nd race, power numbers are all up about 10% across the board, races dont seem any harder just bigger bunches and postioning is more important, as a strong cat4 last year i could ride at the front of the bunch the whole race, dont think i have the numbers to do that in cat 3 with all the attacks

went from about 3.8 watts/kg to 4.2 watts/kg ftp cat 4 to cat 3

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



phourgenres
Posts: 212
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2011 7:19 pm

by phourgenres

Thanks for the feedback, Barry and Ypsylon.

johnsonj718
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:45 pm

by johnsonj718

Competitive Category 2: FTP = 4.63 Watt/kg. Max Sprint wattage = just shy of 1500. 68kg

Chiva
Posts: 328
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 11:05 pm

by Chiva

barry78 wrote:i was upgraded from cat 4 to cat 3 last year on points i won, for me the area where i seen the most improvment on my power numbers over the season was 5min power, good 5 min power will have there of there abouts coming up the finish.

Raced 3 times as a cat 3 this year so far placed in my 2nd race, power numbers are all up about 10% across the board, races dont seem any harder just bigger bunches and postioning is more important, as a strong cat4 last year i could ride at the front of the bunch the whole race, dont think i have the numbers to do that in cat 3 with all the attacks

went from about 3.8 watts/kg to 4.2 watts/kg ftp cat 4 to cat 3


I'm Cat 4 and last summer my peak hit 4.2 w/kg. My "A" race saw me get 4th in TT about 13 sec away from 2nd place and 45 sec away from 1st. On the circuit race I got dropped (barely, but its all the same right) on the last hill by a lead group of 15 guys. Tried to bridge back but strong wind, gap got bigger and finished 2 minutes down. Next day 80 mile mountain stage was killing it, then on some big rollers halfway through, at 8000 ft elevation I was behind a guy who got gapped and as soon as I tried to go around, the first 8 guys saw I was gapped and put the hammer down and dropped me hard. I never caught back on. Bike racing is so incredibly humbling. It is such a tough sport.

So, 4.2 w/k was NOT good enough to win that Cat 4 stage race. Although both times I got dropped were mainly positioning errors on my part (not being in the first 5 guys when I needed to be). I didn't have the strength to make up for my lack of tactical savy. That has changed:) I will say the top 5 guys were pretty dang fast. Especially going uphill. They all were about 1/2 my age too. Lol.

barry78
Posts: 56
Joined: Sun Feb 13, 2011 3:03 pm

by barry78

Got 2nd in cat 3 race satruday, then got dropped on the final climb of a race on sunday, shit happens
Interesting thing lap 1 final climb i avaeraged around 320 watts on the climb 2nd time round 290 watts and i was out of the lead pack.
Still think i need another 20 watts at threshold to be where i wana be get upgraded out of cat 3

Post Reply