My immediate response was (in my head), "Are you nuts?" So I wrote back, "I don't know, but if you think it's a good idea, I can request the upgrade from USA Cycling."
My coach responds with, "There isn't much of a fitness difference from Cat 5 to Cat 4," which, to me, is a total bunch of bullsh*t. This guy wants me to upgrade simply so that have a big, heavy-duty guy who can make a hell of a draft to start their lead-out train in the Category 4 races.
Apparently, I'm going to be that guy. How utterly thrilling, but honestly, it is kind of fun to be a part of a strategy to help a team win.
With that said, I applied for the upgrade so I'm now racing the Category 4 field and my first race in Cat 4 was going to happen this morning at the NY Criterium at Floyd Bennett Field. When the alarm went off at 6 AM this morning and I could barely see the building across the street through the window due to all the fog, I immediately got back under the covers. As much as I love riding my bike and as much as I often enjoy racing, I don't get paid to do this stuff. If it's raining and I don't race today, I'll simply race another day. No big deal, so I wasn't about to drag myself out of the apartment and drive all the way to FBF for a potentially wet race.
I bring all this up as, after dinner this evening, I was on Facebook and spotted a friends picture uploads from the foggy race this morning. Take a look at this pic. That's Lester on the left, right? Here--have a look.
That's him, right? Now that I'm in his field (category 4, I'll probably have some fun and see if he wants to try and get into a break with me), I'm looking forward to racing with the guy, or at least sitting in his aftershave-filled draft for as long as possible.
And unfortunately, I don't think Lester won. Here's a picture of the finish, but my friend posted this under the pic:
"Adam Duncan leading the field sprint. I think that Organic rider was lapped and not in it."
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