Road Racing

https://www.usacycling.org/

Everything you wanted to know about cycling racing in the US.

First thing is to find the regional page and see what races are upcoming, then register.  You can get a license to race (every male starts out as a Cat. 5 and every female as a Cat. 4) or you can purchase a one day license like at USAT events.

Most races will be criterium style with short laps done multiple times depending on the category you race.  They are fast, hectic and sketchy as hell but oh so much fun!  There are also road races and time trials.  For anything but the time trial you must race on traditional road bikes.

We have a few Omniums around here, and I'm sure you do to.  That's a three race event with a crit, TT, and RR.  Lot of people do just one or two of the events, so you could do the TT for sure and dabble in the RR.  You'd be in with the Cat 5s and probably the Cat 4s, depending on how they divide the field.  It would be a lot of fun and a nice challenge to race in a pack, as opposed to just riding in a group.  Even in the lower categories, you'll be riding with some really good cyclists, so it will definitely push you.

I don't recommend Crit racing without a good bit of practice first or even before the tri season.  Crits can be a crash fest if you're inexperienced or if other riders are inexperienced.  Wouldn't want to get hurt before the tri season.

^^^

I would not recommend doing crits unless you have had some training, clinics or something similar to learn how to ride in them safely. Beginner races men cat 5 and women cat 4 have lots of crashes.

I know this from experience...crashed first day racing crits, wrecked my shoulder, wrecked my tri season, total medical cost $10K+.

This year I attended a bike race clinic..2 classes, and 4 3 hour training sessions. I learned a lot but still am not racing crits again.

In another forum I was reading about TT's, I honestly didn't realize they did these separate from Road races.  I am going to look into those.  While I am pretty confident in my bike handling ability I am getting too old to crash from someone else running into me.

Rick, any good resources for them on the East coast?

peloton isn't so bad...I ride at the rose bowl occasionally and it goes 100+ deep.  I can hang for about 20 minutes before I am dropped (speeds around 30mph)...so who knows if I am any good or not. 

A road race will be somewhat less frantic, but as a Cat 5 (or Cat 4, as they often race together, at least in Washington) the pack is going to be a bit nervous. Basically every one jumps on every twitch of a move at the front of the pack. Breakaways are pretty rare (though I was able to pull them off on occasion -- that was MANY years ago).

Hone some pack skills before you jump in, though. Go on some group rides where you're in a pack of at least 25 going down the road at speed. Get comfy with that -- it'll go a long way towards keeping you alert throughout a race so your guard doesn't drop from mental fatigue.

Here is our district:

http://www.mabra.org/

Riding in a peleton with riders who know what they are doing is easy.  Riding in one with inexperienced riders is just plain scary, as I found out this Wednesday.  This is likely to be the case in a cat 4/5 race so just be extra cautious.

I road raced as an adjunct to my tri-training and found it great way to sharpen my riding skills and stay very fit.  Have fun and remember, no aero-bars....

Matt Cazalas
Technical Writer

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