German amateur racing

Dan777

Hi,

I am moving to Munich and would like to know about racing over there. i have raced cat 4 races in england and is there a similar system in place in germany? i have checked the rad-net website for info but it isnt that clear. any information would be greatly appreciated.

thanks.

NicFrance

you have three categories in germany: A, B and C. As a beginner you start in C, moving up according to your performances. you can find the rules here:

http://www.rad-net.de/html/verwaltung/reglements/wb-strassenrennsport_04-2008.pdf

look chapter "Auf- und Abstiegsregelungen Männer" (p.12)

enjoy the racing

Dan777

thats great, thanks for the info. would you say cat C in germany is the same as cat 4 in britain? better standard? worse standard?

NicFrance

i have no idea about that, as i never raced in great britain.
anyway, i think there is no real rule as the races are very different depending on the quality of the parcours, the number of racers (maximum is 220), the time of the season and other factors.
usually you have pure cat.C races, but in some races it's mixed with B (and sometimes even with A) riders. with A riders it's always very tough, as they try to split up the field right from the start. and in some bigger races (especially in late season) it can be very hard because you have A riders who degraded during the season (for injurie for example) and now have one of their last chances to move up again before the season ends.

Dan777

thanks for all your info mate, if i have any other questions can i PM you?

thanks again.

NicFrance

sure.

(but to be honest, i don't know how this works. am i getting informed that there is a message?)

knedlicky

I had a C licence in Germany a few years back, I mainly used it for time trials. It costs considerably less than one in the UK but membership of an affiliated club is obligatory. This doesn’t always have to be a pure cycling club – some sports clubs are affiliated to the national organisation (BDR) because they have cycling sections, e.g. I got mine through a ski club. Usually someone in the club (the Sportwart) does the paperwork for you as part of their function in the club.

I’d guess about a third of races are criteriums in towns, the circuits being of about 1-2 km length, flat and closed. For these, good cornering technique in a bunch at speed is essential (wasn’t my forte). I’d also guess another third of races are circuits of about 10 km outside urban areas. Race distances for adult riders range about 50-100 km.
Speed at C licence criteriums is probably 41-42 km/hr average, reaching 55 in the sprint. A tight circuit might mean the field is restricted to 100 riders, but most C licence races don’t anyway have fields that large, maybe 40; limits might only play a role when several categories are in the one race. Race entry costs about the same as in the UK.

You’ll probably find about 20 races a year you can enter within 100 km of Munich, as well as 40 randonees and (if you increase the distance to 150 km) 5 or 6 French-style cyclosportives in the Alps.