Youth Racing , Grass roots and Development

lfc_westy

hey. As some of you might know from previous posts. I am a 15 year old lad who loves the bike. i want to see myself in that green jersey or yellow or both one day. but how do i get there?

Train hard. work hard i know i have people who will push me to do that, but i mean how do i actually get there.

is BC got any grass roots days where i can go down talk to some people, race or just get to know thing

My good friend told me about championships and schools champs but only briefley. what are they and how do i get there and win !

also is there any youth development schemes going on?

It would be great if you could shed some light on my situation. Lack of knowledge !

Bronzie

Are you a member of a club yet? If not, I'd suggest finding a local "Go-Ride" accreditted club and speaking to the club coaches as a first port of call.

There are probably quite a few events aimed at youth riders on over the summer hols - have a look on the BC Go Ride section and see if there is anything local that you could attend.
http://new.britishcycling.org.uk/goride

Are you racing regularly at the minute? If not, try and find out if there any regular youth events in your area. Also consider the track if there is one nearby as this a great way to get into racing.

To reach the Tour is a great dream, and if you have the right physical abilities, now is the time to start working your way up the ladder.

Robert Millar describes his transition from schoolboy racer to the Tour as a sucession of steps up the ladder, and each time he reached the next step, he was looking to move up again in spite of the naysayers that told him he'd never make it.

Good luck!

shockedsoshocked

The biggest advice my fellow club mates have given to the young lads at the team is don't burn yourself out! Enjoy cycling, but don't feel you have to be out everyday doing epic milage (we physically have to restrain a lad your age in our team now he's got th summer off, otherwise he'd be doing 80 miles in the moors everyday!).

Like Bronzie said, get yourself into a team and they'll guide you along.

jimycooper

hi, i am also 15 and the best thing you can do is join a club like the others have said.
from there hopefully there will be a coach who will know about all the local races. try and get to them if you can and get yourself known as a good rider localy. then you can progress from there.

also, races in our age group are really short in comparison to some of the epic rides you are probably capable of... so its pointless doing massive endurance training at this age, and when you get into 2nd year u16 you could do more of that sort of thing to get ready for the massive/scarey trip that is JUNIOR ranks... :shock:

good luck man

lfc_westy

cheers guys, yeah i am already in a club and have been for a few months, theres a race or tt every Tuesdays , its mostly TT because my club does time trials, one of the members in my club is 17 and national champ for his age in TT i think dno what length, he just moans at my taste in music or the fact "im not fast enough" but the fact i beat him in my firds road race was the icing on the cake for me.
enough of that, but yeah i just wanted to know where you go with this and everything my other friend joe is captain of his uni and he rides with us, he is constantly telling me to be out 5 times a week for an hour including 2 club rides with the 6 weeks off i have, on the club rides we do 50 miles plus on a bad day

mr.-marty-martin

were abouts in the country are you?

train on gear restrictions is one bit of advice...

for youth events you want to be training short intense stuff, but still throw in longer rides, as they ad strength and endurance...

love2ride

I'm 14 and love cycling too.
I do mainly tt because there aren't many closed circuit races near me. I do a bit of track. I've reduce my milage because before in the holidays i was doing 50 miles every day but then i was told by one of the older experienced coaches to focus on shorter stuff and only do one or two longer rides a week.

bikeboy123

yes, the bc has, its the talent team, you have to be amongst the best in the country to get onto the program...

are you competing at a national level yet? next season ( since the seasons almost over ) i would suggest going to a national round, as this will be a real eye opener to how good alot of the riders are in the country.

small steps first...there's no dummy guid to becoming a tour de france rider, alot of the time tour riders were just born with the rigt stuff.

there is the school champs run by the bsca, these are generly not as hard as the bcf national champs as alot of riders dont bother turning up...

the national champs for youths has just passed, it was in london ( a got a decent result, 6th in the a cat )

you cant jst roll up and expect to win...there's no guide to winning, you've iver got it or you havnt tbh...

jimycooper

talent team has stopped

bikeboy123

i dont think it has m8, i think its just changed

it used to be like regional, and they've ended up with far too many riders on talent team, so its just one national team now with more selected riders

correct me if im wrong but it was what i was informed by a talnt team rider

jimycooper

yes your right, but if your not on it now, its almost imposible to do because they are picking the best of the current team for the new national telent team.

bikeboy123

very ture...