A Cat 2's Delimma

I have been corrected by a couple of sources since this was written and was told that cross will remain a cat 1/2 endeavor for UCI. However, the upgrade silemma for a cat 2 trying to get to a 1 is the same.



USA Cycling delivered several new rules for next season this week. Many of them were innocuous, Skin Suits can be sleeveless and things like that, but one of them was very specific to my situation. The only riders eligible for UCI racing are now Cat 1 cyclists. For us Cat 2's, we are now facing a dilemma.

Now here is the dilemma. I am a Cat 2 racer that races Open Men's races in ACA races. ACA races are 95% percent of the races I do, but it is not terribly likely that I am going to be rolling top 7 in this state. The competition is just so deep. As a 35+ racer I have the option of racing that group and possibly get points for an upgrade, but that forces me out of the Opens. To make matters more complicated, USA Cycling-ACA's reciprocity agreement does not even guarantee that Cat 1 status will be transferred. The only certain chance to move up is to race UCI Cat 2 races and we only see 2-4 of those a year in Colorado.

So what to do? Race Open's for the Colorado Cup points and be able to get good call ups next year and maybe get points. Do I turn all my focus to upgrading and race 35+'s and single speeds? Or do I just enjoy the last month of my UCI license and go race in MA for a small race and maybe even get some points, can they deny me a UCI license if I have points? Or is all of this just silly for a 38 year old who only really cares about Masters worlds in 2013 and in all honesty hasn't finished higher than 33rd in a UCI race.

Who's got a suggestion?


http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/11/news/usa-cycling-no-ban-on-helmet-cams-or-juniors-use-of-carbon-wheels-or-tubulars_150330