New to Cycling and want to race?

KeSs

Ok, i figured that I would start this thread to help some people out. It wasn't all that long ago that I had no idea where to look and how to get involved in competitive cycling.

There are 2 types of racing; the first type is simply "citizen" races. These races are pretty much races in around your state that are held where you DO NOT need a USCF license to compete. These races are still competitive and fast paced so don't be fooled.....the 2nd type of racing is highly competitive, but you MUST have a USCF racing license to compete. So in other words, if you have plans to be a pro then USCF races are for you.....

Here's how to start, first you must obtain a USCF license, you can obtain one by going to the official website: https://www.usacycling.org/
Here you will find a ton of info on all kinds of stuff!

But before to buy a license its best to find out if you will even be able to get use out of it. Different clubs in your area will hold USCF events, to find a club in your area go here: http://www.usacycling.org/clubs/ ; click on your state a browse through the list of clubs, try to find one that is close to you and compatible with your schedule and what not.

Ok, so now that you have some what of a idea of what is involved you can head out and start looking for some races. Go here: http://www.cyclingcalendar.com/ ; go there and fill out the area on the top, it will show you a list of upcoming events in your area.

Here is my advice though, before you go out and buy a USCF license be make sure that competitive cycling is something that you want to do. Go to a couple of those "citizen" races I was talknig about before and compete. See where you stand, if you hate it then i wouldn't recommend competitive cycling. But if you LOVE it like i do then get on out and be a pro!

I will also add this part just because I know some people are curious. There are different types of races you can do, I am really only knowledgeable in ROAD so thats all i am going to cover, here are the different types of races you can do as a road cyclist.

Road Race: A good example of a road race is the Tour de France. Its a race on a road from one point to another.

Criterium: These types of races are fun for spectators because its all localized. You race around a course and do laps, most of these criterium tracks are .5 mile long.

Time Trial: Time trials, o yea, the most difficult to compete in. In a time trial you start the race by yourself and finish the race by yourself. It is you against the clock.

Track: Im not to familiar with this type of racing besides what i have seen in the olympics. But this race is held indoors on a track. I beleive the track is called a "velodome" (might be wrong). There is different types of racing that goes on, from groups of 5 to a 3 man team to one on one.

keydates

Track is mostly for sprinters, and is apparently very different from road riding.

KeSs

don't live there so i really never looked into it. If you can provide info on it then post away

faye04_27

Track racing takes part in a velodrome. Normally a 250m track at a 43 degrees sloped angle. There are sprint events, n endurance events such as the madison.
I personally think track racing is the best type of cycling!

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andrewrech

IMHO, it is certainly the purest.

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A. Rech

faye04_27

but how can't you know a velodrome!

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macca1234

track cycling is gay. road racing is betta. . at least on road you can ride up hills and stuff whereas track is just going around in circles its more for the city folk track is......and i hate it .

dice2833

Now, I'm not a track racer, but if I were you, I wouldn't call it 'gay'. I KNOW those track racers would slaughter you in a race...those racers have A LOT of power!

whoawhoa

The last thing we need is people hating on different sects of the sport. I used to skateboard and got tired of all the crap: "vert skaters suck" "tech skaters suck". Many track cyclists road race as well but prefer the track. As far as training, i'm sure it may be a little boring to ride around in circles too much, but you can always do you're miles on the road, and do specific stuff on the track. I've never raced or ridden track but the racing looks super fun, especially the pursuit and points races (just my opinion). Have you ever actually tried track? Road racing can be pretty damn stupid sometimes too. From what I've seen most trackies actually race their bikes which is more than can be said for many road racers.

gee.bike

some of the best riders in the world ride the track or have ridden the track.
tyler farrar
george hincapie
greg lemond
vatcheslav ekimov
michael rogers
robbie mcewen
brad mcgee
leon van bon
luke roberts
sven krauss
michael rich. and a ton more

don't say track cycling is gay, you have no idea what your talking about

macca1234

lmao, gee what a response! im sure there not actually gay... but why do assume they would beat me in a race most track riders struggle on hills coz they dont need to worry so much about weight. unless ur talking about a track race in which case they would kick my arse.

i respect track riders but it doesnt tickle my pickle so much as road racing maybe calling them GAY was a bit harsh. WOULDNT IT GET BORING THO?

whoawhoa

Dude, you don't think the riders Gee listed above would destroy you, even straight up a hill? And most pursuit type riders can be fair road riders too, they're not too heavy and have massive power, it's only the sprinters that would flounder on the road. And track racing looks anything but boring to me, but that's an opinion.

macca1234

ok shut up! im from down under and we know when someones being sarcastic i didnt think u were all tightasses. dont take things so seriously. in my opinion track racing has NO appeal to me. give it a rest.

macca1234

replying to wowo's comment again you presume a track cyclist could beat me when you know nothing about how good i am. why is the word GAY such a big statement and who cares if you diss out another code of cycling its all in good humour unless ur a tightass! and take things to seriously.my mates & people who i like to hang around with have a sarcastic nature and so do i, so sorry AGAIN if any of you actually thought that all people who ride track are infact homosexual.

so wowo take a chill pill DUDE!