Is it wrong to start road racing?

[fredrikw]

finally! i knew i'd seen that quote before, but could never remember where!

he he, considering how much you've been raving about this book I thought you'd be the first to identify it

[Herbsman]

I've just remembered that I'm not very competetive. I don't think I've had a proper race before and I am the type of person who tends to politely let people go in front of him. Will this be a problem? Should I do time trialling instead?

[JohnBarleycorn]

I used to hear a quote quite often, in France

"Put two men on bicycles together, and you have a bike race"

Something changes to us on the bike, I reckon !

I'm totally laid back and non competitive in my normal life. But on the bike, it all changes. You'll have to try it and see. For many, its about being the best YOU can be, and not so much about beating others.

[Big Good Wolf]

You've got me wanting to buy a road bike and have a go at racing now.

[JohnBarleycorn]

You've got me wanting to buy a road bike and have a go at racing now.

You know it makes sense !

[the crazyest vegan]

Road bike are the bomb.

The best thing to do in racing is adopt the "After you" policy, let him on the front, working for you, jump around him in the last few hundred metres and bang, you've won

[philthy builder]

A TLI race might be the place to start.The League International have age category races that you can turn up and ride ( with a helmet and proper road bike).I think you can still pay for day membership but the cost of joining isnt much any way.
Riding with a club or chain gang is the way to get used to bunch riding.My club.Beacon rcc meet at the Black horse in Northfield at 9 am each Sunday for the club run which is usually about 60miles with a cafe stop.I rarely go cos I dont like cafe stops.
Birmingham City Cycles have rides from the shop at the custard factory,Digbeth on Saturday morning at 7 am.The A ride is a fast ride with some good hills and averages about 20mph.The B ride is flat with an average speed of18-19mph with a sprint finish!
Also on Thursday at 6 30 from the shop is a good fast training ride,I would reccomend this if you are going to race as lots of club racing cyclists join on route.
I do the city cycles B ride most weeks and like it cos im home around 9am and have the rest of the day to do other things.It does,however ,attract a lot of sportive riders,tri athletes and other deviants who cant ride in a bunch properly.

[the crazyest vegan]

If you cant ride in a bunch then learn how to before you start racing

[Herbsman]

I've gone off cycling

[JohnBarleycorn]

I've gone off cycling

I've said that so many times !

Usually after a bad race..........

But a sunny bike ride in the country usually restores my love !

Like all relationships, me and cycling have had our ups and downs, but we'd rather be together than apart !

[Herbsman]

2nd season coming up...

Had a win, and a 2nd and 6th last year in a 4th cat circuit race series of 3.

Got 8th in a 80 rider 3/4 road race and 9th out of about 30 in a 3/4 crit .

Got dropped a couple of times and DNF a couple of times too.

This year I want to win a 3/4 road race and a crit, and finish in the top ten of a 2/3/4.

Really enjoyed last season, apart from crashing once (in the race I finished 6th). Got a more structured training plan this year, which hopefully will make me much fitter than last year....