Well done both. And the guy who sprinted for 8th, was left by the side of the road last night with a snakebite puncture on his racing tubs as he didn’t have time to change wheels. Taxi! Our two young riders Alex and Sam are well on the way to third cat (a second place for each so far). But… for many riders, it will be a steady accumulation of lower placing points. For some it will be no points but a clear improvement in race skills, and then serious training. I raced 38 4th cat races before promotion. Never scored a point at Hillingdon, but learned a lot about racing.
All that matters is that you enjoy it, and the racing is safe. I’m a third cat, I’d like to be second, but the course closest to me (Hillingdon) is a power course, and I don’t have a lot of it. I do better at Cyclopark and should really race Redbridge for the hill. That doesn’t stop me enjoying racing. As a veteran (V50 in fact 😯 ), I can race all the races I want to, including Regional A and the Nationals (circuit and road). For younger riders, you need to become a second cat to race Nationally. And I really don’t fancy those races!