Racing lincences. - Bike Forum

Re: Racing lincences.

donsimon — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 19:09:35 +0000

Thanks all.

Re: Racing lincences.

SpokesCycles — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 18:44:11 +0000

Only BMBS requires a license at top level. I doubt you'd need one to just compete in sport- the Scottish series doesn't.

Any other races (except the DH series) doesn't require one at all.

Re: Racing lincences.

njee20 — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 17:04:05 +0000

No, the whole point of the BC license being UCI certified is that it'll do you abroad. The UK system is far easier than the Spanish really.

You have non-ranked races, notably the Gorrick series in the South East, no national ranking points are on offer, but anyone can race any category. You could buy your first bike and race elite the next day.

There are ranked regional races, which require a licence for elite and expert, and if you have one in other categories you accrue points for your national ranking.

There are National (BMBS) races where you need a licence for all categories except open if you race more than one event. You can't even race one even in expert or elite without the appropriate license. You will not be ranked nor gridded in the series without a license.

Basically... If you're here for a couple of months and want to do an XC race you don't need one, you probably won't do more than one BMBS, you're not going to be able to race expert or elite anyway, as they'll only issue you a sport licence. That's no real use in itself unless you want to gain points and become an expert.

Re: Racing lincences.

donsimon — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:36:47 +0000

Spanish Federation has been forced to crack down a bit following the Contador case and numerous other anti-doping infringements by Spanish riders so they've begun to get their house in order a bit and start doing things by the book...

I'm talking about the Madrid Federation and not RFEC, which is one of the reasons I don't fully understand the British set up.
Assuming you race crazy-legs, do you race abroad and, if so, have you had to pay for two licences?

Re: Racing lincences.

crazy-legs — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:30:55 +0000

Letter of Authority again usually applies to Road (and often CX) racing abroad - it's very common for UK riders to go to Belgium and France to gain experience of bigger races where the standard is considerably higher than here. The rider phones or emails BC and requests the Letter. It's just emailed out as a pdf, says that the rider is a paid up member of BC, insured for racing etc. Sometimes foreign race organisers ask to see it, sometimes they don't.

Re: Racing lincences.

offthebrakes — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:23:43 +0000

Letter of authority? Never been asked for one of those, but then I wasn't doing anything UCI-sanctioned.

Re: Racing lincences.

donsimon — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:05:01 +0000

Some European events require you to have a licence from your own national body. I've never done a race in the UK that's needed a licence but I've twice ended up paying for one to race in France or Italy.

British Cycling say that, and I quote, "All Full licences issued by British Cycling are UCI recognised therefore can be used to race outside of the UK", and that, "Any licence holder racing outside the UK would also need to request a letter of authority from British Cycling for the specific country in which they are racing."

This is something that I'm looking at too as I know some folks who want to race over here, but knowing how the Madrid Federation is..... :cry:

Re: Racing lincences.

donsimon — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:00:50 +0000

Lots to think about, so people generally don't have licences then? Here in Madrid, we have regional federations and licences, it's obligatory to have a licence for racing in Madrid. The licence entitles you to race, covers insurance and repatriation if I need hospital or burial(!!! 8O ) in the UK. The Madrid federation has recently sanctioned lots of riders with a 1 month ban from competition for racing in an unauthorised/ non-federation race, so licences are important from my point of view.

For mountain bike racing there is no need for a licence to race in regional races?

For BMBS, you need a licence, correct?

After a quick look at the BMBS site it seems that the races draw fair crowds and the level will be quite high, no?

XCRacer.com is the best resource for racing info?

Slightly, but less tahn before, confused, Madrid.

Thanks so far.

Re: Racing lincences.

offthebrakes — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:58:40 +0000

Re: Racing lincences.

missingfrontallobe — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:56:18 +0000

Just get ride membership, nearly all the benefits of bronze through gold but at a fraction of the membership. Got MFL jr membership too mainly for third party liability in case he runs into a parked car or something stupid like that.