[NCNCA] Mentored novice fields

[Raphael, Jess]

Dan (and others):

I agree with you whole-heartedly. The Early Birds are a great program;
one that I've been proud to assist the past few years. But the Birds are
not enough. We - the racers, the promoters, the officials - should do
everything we can to improve the safety of the peloton, especially in
crits. 

Thus, in previous years two of the crits with which I was associated
(Cherry Pie '07 and Albany '06) offered mentored M5 and W4 fields. The
response was mixed -- mostly very positive, but with some negative, most
of which had to do with fact that many racers in the W4 category have
been racing a long time and may not need mentoring.

But mostly the novice racers really dig the guidance. And it was not
hard to get really good mentors to sign up. (We offered a free entry
fee, but I suspect they'd have done it anyway). 

I agree completely that mens' 5's should not be mixed with "competitive"
(i.e. prized) fields.

But here are two practical problems:

1. The womens' novices can't realistically be treated the same way.
There are "career 4's" among the women who should be entitled to race
for prizes.


2. Most of the 5's who are into becoming racers do their training races
at the beginning of the season, so a Cat 5 category really isn't
necessary at all in the later months. They'd have very small numbers if
they were offered. Of course, that puts the spring races at a
disadvantage - especially a race like Cherry Pie that has a short race
day anyway.