Cat C Upgrade

So the day arrived… I got upgraded from Cat D to Cat C and the gravy train of podiums (24) and wins (15) is now over.

It was coming. It’s been coming for a couple of months but the last series that I raced in D didn’t have the opposition to push me to break the category boundaries. Despite backing off once dropped last night a Cat B sandbagger pushed me over in the first 20 minutes of the race.

And I’m happy they did. Racing in Cat D was becoming boring and my progress had stagnated. I’m now looking forward to pushing myself in the coming weeks in the DBR Ride’N’Roll League and seeing what I can do. It’s just a shame my points won’t carry over from D to C.

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I’ve had some fun in Cat D:

• 10 January 2020 – My first FTP test… 198 watts.
• 14 January 2020 – My First race. Finished with a 1.6 w/kg average power and 1.9 w/kg twenty minute power.
• 11 February 2020 – My first podium. Bagged 3rd place in the 3R Watopia Flat Sprint Race over 6.1 miles. Also managed 2.5 w/kg for those 6 miles.
• 18 February 2020 – My first win! Won by 1 second in a 8 lap race over 16 km with a 2.4 w/kg average power.
• 24 June 2020 – My first series win. Came 1st in the DBR Boer Cykler Cup with 483 points including 4 wins and 2 second places.
• 24 August 2020 – My first MAX points series win in the Team IRL Without Borders Race. Managed 300 points with 6 wins. My final series in D.
• 7 September 2020 – Upgrade to Cat C with an FTP of 268 watts. A 70 watt gain from 10 January.

I had said that I would love it for my last Cat D impact to be a race win to secure the 300 point IRL series on the Champs-Élysées and I did it. I was buzzing!