Was marshalling a race with my roadie club today. I’ve been thinking for a while about giving it a go.
This particular race was an elite race and I’d have been off the back for the whole thing which I wouldn’t want to do for my first race.

So how do I go about finding an appropriate race and what do I need to do re a licence and other prep?

Where are you?

join a club

(though I’ve never joined a club and never raced)

(just actually read your post – can’t your club point you at a race ?)

i would suggest join a club, if only to get used to riding in a bunch, do a few chain gangs, etc. Beyond that have a look at the british cycling web page and your looking at Cat4 races for a start,

First off, do you already have a racing licence? No big deal if not, it’ll just cost you afew quid more on the day (you’ll need to buy a Day Licence in addition to the entry fee).

Have a look on British Cycling, click on events then select your area, narrow it down to road races and see what there is. You’ll be restricted to Regional level events (Regional A = 2/3/4, Regional B = 3/4 and regional C+ = E/1/2/3/4 or sometimes 4th only). The number refers to the category of racer and as a newcomer to the scene, you’ll be a 4th Cat when you buy a licence. You should be able to get an idea of how difficult the race will be by looking at the categories it’s open to and the distance, the map link on the webpage may also give you an idea of how hilly it’ll be.

Choose your race and enter – some you can do online, others you’ll have to download a paper entry and send it off with a cheque.

Turn up on the day, ride as fast as possible.

Easy! 😉

Have a look here:
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/membership
for more stuff about racing licences, BC membership etc.

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk is your friend.

I asked where you were in case there was a closed circuit to hand. If your with a club, your peers! should be able to help. They should be able to tell if you’re ready or not
I don’t mean to sound an arse, but if someone suggests to me that they want to race. I recommend training hard this Summer and Winter and prepare to race in the Spring with a few early season ones as testers.

You will need to train more.
You will need to train a lot more.
You will get shelled out at first.
You will realise you need to train more.

I’m a bit off’ish at the moment because a newcomer caused a lot of injury and damage to bikes last week as well as effectively ending my race.
He actually packed, and turned right across the bunch, then left to get the others. Strangely he had a huge grin on his face?

You will need to train more.
You will need to train a lot more.
You will get shelled out at first.
You will realise you need to train more.

Or be very very clever.

Speak to the people in your club and pick their brains for advice.
Handicap RRs (also known as Australian Pursuit Races, or APRs) are good for starting out, because you ride in an ability related group with a handicap advantage, rather than a traditional mass start.
It is fairly late in the season now, so be prepared to treat this year as useful experience for next year. Have fun!

Meant to add – if you buy a full racing licence from British Cycling, wait until July as the price drops by 50% then (due to their only being half the seaosn left). £16 instead of £32.

In the meantime, try out a couple of local races on a Day Licence.

Cheers for the info.
Dulwich Paragon (south London are my club – I’ve had a look and there’s loads of info on there – we have a closed circuit round Crystal Palace Park so I’ll start there and see where it goes.
They also do track racing at Herne Hill which could be fun 🙂

we have a closed circuit round Crystal Palace Park so I’ll start there and see where it goes.

Not very far I’d imagine given that the circuit is currently closed until repairs can take place:
http://ukcyclesport.com/all-news/82-latest-news/5950-no-tuesday-palace

Try Hillingdon (West London), they have regular crit meetings there.

I’ve notched 17 points in my first season – train lots but thats not lots of miles.

Most races are 30m ish but fast – get on the Turbo – i was fitter in feb after 4 turbo interval sessions a week. Not as good as climbing as i am now but more explosive power for catching bursts. lots of 1 to 1:30 all out efforts. Use a HR and hit zone 6 a few times but warm up and down strictly.

Never drop that wheel thats in front of you, a 10-20 second burst of complete death to keep on that wheel can save you a whole load of pain dropping off the back and trying to get back on.

Box clever – tuck in dont be sucked onto the front but if you have legs give it a go, groups of 5 are easier to win from than a bunch sprint of 30+, just statistics really.

If your suffering more than likely others are too, thats when you give it a go. I once remember reading that from Jens Voigt!

Just 3 more?
Getting out of Cat4 ASAP is great if you can. All our first season riders have got their 3rd cats already. Obviously you can select races that’ll give you the points or pick the tougher 2/3/4 races.
If you’re over 40 there is vet specific racing as well.

Most clubs have training rides / chain gangs where you can quickly find out how quick you are (or not) on a road bike. I used to get dropped at the same time as Emma Pooley on our club’s Chain Gang when I first started racing – only she got better and better each year (Olympic Silver Beijing 2008) and I didn’t…..

oldgit – Member

You will need to train more.
You will need to train a lot more.
You will get shelled out at first.
You will realise you need to train more.

Or be very very clever.

Not much use if you can’t hang on from the off though 🙂

Unless being clever means hiding in the bushes until they come round again…

Not much use if you can’t hang on from the off though

If at any point you need to hang on your in trouble.
I mean things like staying on or near the front. Using a good wheel. Actually yelling at slackers to do some work. Otherwise it’s just a quick group ride.

As I’ve said I’m no contender, but this is racing. I know I sound a ****, but really there is no point just sitting in, never doing any work and never coming anywhere just to say you road race.