[NCNCA] Mentored novice fields

[soni andreini poulsen]

That reminds me....
 
Has there been any thought to having a women's cat 5 again?  There are always some fast cat 4s and it isn't an easy place for a brand new racer to get started.  A cat 5 field would be less intimidating for a band new racer.  Also, the "career 4s" would probably appreciate having all the cat 4s to have the 10 required races under their belts first.
 
Soni Andreini Poulsen> Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:21:03 -0800> From: jraphael at co.napa.ca.us> To: ncnca at ncnca.org> Subject: [NCNCA] Mentored novice fields> > 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.> > > _______________________________________________> NCNCA discussion list> NCNCA at ncnca.org> http://lists.ncnca.org/mailman/listinfo/ncnca
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