If you’re just catching on, I had to survive two races at Barry Wolfe this weekend to reach my overall quota of ten to upgrade to Cat 4.

Seeing how this is a Part 2, spoiler alert if you haven’t read yesterday’s piece yet, but I survived.

Whether Cat 4 racers are that more skilled or riders in their 20’s and below are that reckless, the Cat 4/5 30+ race was a lot more steady that the one before.

Riders didn’t seem that shaky, I fell comfortable when trapped in, not a lot dangerous kickouts. Things like that.

While this race was supposed to last ten minutes longer than the one I just completed, the added distance did little to shift things around.

There were a couple of breakaway attempts that never materialized and I didn’t feel like I neared going into the red at any point until the final lap.

Once again, my finishing skills were the low light: I took the final turn way too wide, I thought I had another gear, I didn’t put myself into position into grabbing another wheel. The little things.

Still, I’m starting to realize that at least I am putting myself into a position where I can screw things up instead of not being the race at all.

Will I still continue to do crits to improve my skills? Maybe.

So far, I’m finding the fields out in the Santa Claritas and Westlakes to be thinner than the ones around the Compton area.

Super, big packs still worry me, as it only takes one bad apple to ruin the tree. Having a little more space to maneuver is still my comfort level right now.

Seeing how crit season is wrapping up, this maybe done for racing for the year, which is too bad. I have the opportunity to race as a Cat 4 now, but I’ll probably wait until next year.

Still, I’ll miss the competitiveness and the camaraderie at these races. Until next year?