How long do the category ratings stay in effect? Say I race and make my way up to a Cat 2, then take X years off. When I come back am I still a Cat 2 or do I start over.
typically you get ranked one category lower.
If you were a 2, then you come back as a 3.
However, I don’t think 4’s come back as 5’s.
Yeah and we have a guy who was a pro a few years ago, so they won’t let him come down and race in the 4s - too bad for us! lol
Depends how long you’ve been gone, and your local rep has some discretion. I came back after 13 years away, and heart surgery, so I downgraded to a 4 (huge mistake, but I had no confidence in my ability and weighed 250 lbs).
I always get thrown back with the 2’s.
Well, this depends on if you are asking terms of down the road, or past history. About 4-5 years ago the USCF implemented a new database system requiring a change to a new computer system and in the process, the old system with the historical data sat idle. I raced quite a bit as a Cat 2 and was occasionally granted provisional Cat 1 status during the 80’s but opted to enlist in the military at the end of the 80’s. Although I continued to ride and even raced in some road events put on by the military, but did not apply for a USCF license again until 2000! I had called the USCF offices in 97’ to enquire whether or not I could renew as a Cat 2 and was told that as long as I was in the archived data on the old system (I was) that it would not be a problem. Jump forward to mid-year 99 and I again call the USCF with the intention of actually renewing only to find the new system has been implemented and that the historical data had been purged.
Now in actuallity, I am pretty sure the data was still available but the person that operated/maintained the older data system (80’s main frame) has left the USCF and none of the current personnel had a clue how to access the older data. Regardless of the reasons, the USCF held that unless I had applied sometime in the last 5-years, held a license with a comparable sanctioning body such as the UCI, or one of the other state run organizations, or could convince the local USCF rep to sign off on the renewal, then I would have to start over with the Cat 5’s! Fortunately in my case, I had held a UCI license in the past and there was also some USCF personnel who remembered me. I renewed as a Cat 2 but honestly sometimes (especially during 90-minute crits) I find myself wondering ‘what the heck was I thinking’ while working hard not to get dropped by some those twenty-something speedsters!