This is not a plan per se, but the best thing I ever did when improving my cycling was ride with cyclists. Dont think because you are drafting it is easy. My club used to do Wed night crits in a 1k corporate park with guys from Cat 1-5 and it kicked the shit out of me. I used to say that there was simply NO WAY I could push myself that hard solo. Surging, closing gaps, trying in vain to break away - man was it brutal. BUT....it totally improved my cycling.

Dave Luscan is all you need to know! He's probably got 100 watts on you, so let us know when you get there and we'll show you the next step ;)

If you ask more specific questions, it would probably help you get better answers.

-Physiojoe

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-Physiojoe
Instagram: @thephysiojoe
Cycling coach, Elite racer on Wooster Bikewerks p/b Wootown Bagels

If you want to go from Cat5-> cat 1 the fastest you need 2 things, neuromuscular power & psychosis. Bang elbows in the front of crits and outsprint everyone with your 1700W sprint. Otherwise it takes years of developing the aerobic system to do well in stage races to get upgrade points.

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Ride Scoozy Electric Bicycles
http://www.RideScoozy.com

Hmmmm... there are faster ways, no sprinting required.

EPO. Ask anyone. All the cool kids are doing it

anybody care to share his story? i joined the forum last year and probably missed it

I don't think you can get to cat1 without good parents. That's like saying you want to play d1 college football in the sec. Sounds good but not everybody has the stuff.

Most cat 3 cyclists are phenomanally good compared to the average triathlete. Most cat2's are in another ballpark all together. And that's about as far as most people can get if they are really dedicated.

Racing. Lots of it.

You will have to dig, but here is an excellent example ... http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...=Show+user%27s+posts

There are several ways to get an upgrade to Cat 2 or 1, depending on your abilities. Generalizing, but you can climb, TT or sprint your way there, or a combination of all three.

I second this.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

CrossFit, paleo, PowerCranks, and yoga.

probably not everyone has the genetics to be a cat1, unless you are very patient and cherry pick your races =)

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

GT makes a good point.

There is a syndrome that can occur when bidding for your cat 3 upgrade if youre not careful. Alot of riders lose their itch if you get too wrapped up in race reg and pack fodding, you might even want to sell your bike and pack it up.

-Quality training
-Race your strengths
-Pick your courses and disciplines
-No pressure from the club/team to race.

It can take you over 20+ races to get your C3 license or just a handful if your pimp hand is strong in a specific road discipline.

Enjoy yourself out there.

To upgrade you have to win so find the slow races, you will move up then....

My buddy went from 4-2 in 3 months.

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"Remember the lumberyard, go balls out!"

i hear lots of anecdotes about how its easy to win bike races with this trick or that trick

strangely all of them can sustain huge power for a long time too.

I'm not saying tactics and skills and cleverness don't matter. I'm just saying huge power opens up a lot more tactical options and allows you to make mistakes and try again. Whereas if I make a mistake I am blowed up. =)

like carl spackler - "try something, if it doesn't work try again." shit man, once I try something I'm done.

Maybe I need more mental toughness =)

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Actually, the OP would need 3, the third being a road bike

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...string=iron;#3022027

John

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Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

learning to bike race just takes some time for nearly everyone. One rider in 200 will quickly upgrade right through to cat 1, it's very rare.

You just need to do some club and sanctioned races, do some intervals once a week, hopefully with others and find some decent training partners with similar goals. Intervals usually progress from long 20 mins tempos to stuff as short as 20-30 secs over the course of the spring. In addition to intervals, sprinting once a week is important.

Riding in training crits and road races will help you get comfortable moving around the group and changing speed.

Mostly just enjoy the sport, it's hard but satisfying.

Yeah, cat 1 takes serious natural talent. Getting to cat 2 is possible with excellent training and races smarts, plus racing a lot of cat 3 races to get upgrade points. I don't think it's possible to get past cat 2 w/o really good genes.

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http://www.jt10000.com/

I rode my bike a lot (500 hours yearly) for a bunch of years and then for 18 months I only rode my bike with additional volume. More was more. I have done structured intervals year round since 2002 but I didn't get caught up in what was the perfect interval at the perfect time. I had good parents/very high VO2 max.

This is some of what took place last year:

https://sites.google.com/...om5531to5139in1-year

This last part is really funny though....I'm still a Cat 5! With attending races as a coach nearly every weekend, I simply won't ever make 10 bike races in a 12 month period. And our local USAC rep is a stickler for the 10 race rule. No exceptions, I have asked more than once. And I'm ok with that. I like the thrill of road racing and crits, but I was pretty much put together to be a time trialist and triathlete. I don't think I could ever get to Cat 1 anyway. And the Cat 1-2s really love the Cat 5 triathlon dude being the state TT champ! Especially the ones with more power but crappy positions.

The blog post this year will be about how much of that power can be maintained on 6-8 hours a week cycling + runs and swims instead of 15-20 hours of straight cycling. Any guesses?

the thought of you in a cat4/5 race is killing me right

lol

do you ever do them and just clown everybody?

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

So do you want to be a Cat 1 or just have a better bike leg in Triathlons? There is a huge difference in the two. Without dedicating yourself solely to the bike you will never get to Cat 1. The swim/run component takes too much time away from the hours needed to get that far. Also running kind of smashes your pure cycling legs.

Dave Luscan did what you have to do. Base>Tempo>Lots and lots of Threshold Intervals> VO2 intervals to polish it off.

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Heath Dotson
HD Coaching:Website |Twitter: 140 Characters or Less|Facebook:Follow us on Facebook

I have done a couple flat crits that were kinda silly.

you should do one and just aim to make as many people drop out as possible. attack from the gun, ease up, attack again, ease up, repeat until nobody is left.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter